Introduction and acknowledgements

This eight stories of migrant women contained in this report provide a vital window on the narrators’ experiences of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV) in Ireland since arriving and as part of their migration journeys. They tell of the different forms of DSGBV that each woman dealt with, and/or are dealing with, their attempts to access supports and to address their situation on their own terms, and of their interactions with the authorities in Ireland, as well as with their own communities and wider Irish society. The stories represent different migration contexts and legal situations – from women who have come to Ireland to seek international protection to those who came as dependent spouses or as students, one of whom subsequently became undocumented. One of the women was a victim of trafficking. The countries of origin include two in Southern Africa, one from West Africa, one in North Africa, one in East Asia, two in South Asia and one in Latin America. The women range in age from their 20s to their 40s. The stories were shared by participants in the Irish study of the EU Gender Net Plus multi-country research study GBV-MIG (Gender-based violence and migration) during 2021-22. This is a companion report to From Commitments to Actions: Responding to Migrant Women’s Experiences of DSGBV (Reilly 2023).

Despite significant legal and policy advances to counter DSGBV, it remains a pervasive problem in Ireland. Women’s Aid recorded almost 34,000 disclosures of domestic abuse against women and against children in 2022 and the Central Statistics Office sexual violence survey (2023) revealed that 52 per cent of women and 28 per cent of men reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime. There is little data available on the share of migrant women using services, but there is some evidence that it is in the region of 20 per cent in the Dublin area (Women’s Aid 2019). AkiDwA has also worked on documenting less visible forms of DSGBV that primarily affect women from migrant communities, including FGM, estimating that about 6,000 women in Ireland have undergone FGM (Munyi et al. 2021), as well as early and forced marriages, for which there is growing anecdotal evidence (AkiDwA 2022). Regarding human trafficking, Ireland has recorded approximately forty victims each year since 2019, widely viewed as a severe underestimation, as Ireland continues to be categorised by the US State Department as a “Tier 2” country in terms of its efforts to combat trafficking.

The stories in this report underline the continuation of well-documented additional and compounded obstacles that many migrant women who are experiencing DSGBV must navigate, including: language barriers, social isolation, racism and/or discrimination, limited or no independent income, uncertain immigration status, and a lack of information about existing rights, entitlements and social welfare supports, as well as barriers of “cultural norms and stigma” and a “lack of staff training” of service providers who engage with migrant women (AkiDwA 2020, p. 2).

Representatives of advocacy organisations consulted as part of the GBV-MIG project stressed the urgent need to address gaps in information and awareness-raising by:

• Proactively providing information and interpretation in all relevant languages
• Widely disseminating up-to-date, accessible information about rights, entitlements and relevant services in relation to DSGBV and immigration
• Providing targeted awareness-raising with migrant and minority women about what constitutes DSGBV and supports and services available, while promoting integration of and not stigmatizing target groups
• Implementing human rights-based, anti-racism and cultural awareness training with service providers
• Undertaking public awareness raising and information campaigns on all forms of DSGBV, reflecting the lived experience of migrant women
• Maintaining open lines of communication to enable organisations that support migrant women to update and inform public representatives, policymakers and policy implementers regarding evolving issues and needs

If the above actions were prioritised and implemented, many of the hardships described in the stories contained in this report would undoubtedly be lessened and the gruelling path to survival and beyond, compellingly shared in these stories, would be that much less difficult and lonely.

Acknowledgements

This report was prepared by Prof Niamh Reilly, University of Galway, Principal Investigator of the EU Gender Net Plus/Irish Research Council GBV-MIG Ireland research project. Indispensable research assistance was provided by Brenda Aromorach, postgraduate student, MA Gender, Globalization and Rights, University of Galway. Particular thanks are due to the eight women whose stories are featured in this report for sharing their experiences in interviews. Contributors to the research for this report are Dr Salome Mbugua, CEO of AkiDwA, Dr Nasrin Khandoker, postdoctoral researcher, University College Cork, and Helen Uchechukwu Ogbu, doctoral researcher and University of Galway.

References

AkiDwA (2020, August) Position Paper on Domestic Violence.

AkiDwA (2022) AkiDwA statement to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality, Recommendations 37-41 of the Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality.

Central Statistics Office (2023) Sexual Violence Survey 2022 – Main Results.

Munyi, C., et al. (2021) Female Genital Mutilation: Information for Healthcare Professionals Working in Ireland.

Reilly, N. (2023) From Commitments to Actions: Responding to Migrant Women’s Experiences of DSGBV. AkiDwA and GBV-MIG, University of Galway, July.

Women’s Aid (2019) Children Let Down by the System Impact Report 2018.