A preliminary analysis of gender violence among migrants and displaced people in Europe

Abstract

Background. The vulnerability of migrant women, especially those coming from patriarchal societies, leads to the increase of gender violence. This is incremented by a myriad of socioecological determinants related to the immigration process and to the nature of male-female relationships. Objectives. The main objective is to conduct a preliminary analysis of recent publications dealing with the relations between gender violence and migrant populations in the European Union, including internally displaced people. Materials and methods. This paper is based on a revision of scientific publications from SCOPUS that relate to migrant women who are victims of gender violence in the European Union. The qualitative thematic analysis was used in order to identify the main issues targeted in the articles. Results. The thematic analysis of the studies reviewed dealing with migration and gender violence highlighted several important themes, including prevalence of violence against migrant women; the forms and contexts of gender violence; the impact of legal, economic environments and sociocultural barriers; the influence of conflict and war; the impact and consequences of violence, especially on women's mental health, as well as strategies and suggestions for interventions. Conclusions. Increasing the awareness of migration, regarding the conflicts and problems experienced by migrants (of both genders), could enable health and legal authorities to offer more significant culture and gender sensitive services, thus reducing gender violence.