GBV-MIG

Gender-based violence and migration in Ireland (GBV-MIG Ireland)

GBV-MIG Ireland was part of an international study, funded by EU Gender Net Plus and the Irish Research Council. It commenced in 2019 and concluded in 2023 (including a 12 month extension due to Covid-19). The main focus of the project was to investigate experiences of gender-based violence in migration contexts. It aimed to understand what factors increase the risk of or vulnerability to gender-based violence and what resources are available to women migrants affected by GBV to protect themselves and access their rights and the supports they need. In particular, the Irish study sought to understand how policies and relevant practitioners can mitigate migrant women’s experience of and vulnerability to gender-based violence in Ireland as a host country. 

The international coordinator of the GBV-MIG project was Prof Jane Freedman, Université Paris (gbvmigration.cnrs.fr). The principal investigator (GBV-MIG Ireland) was Prof Niamh Reilly, School of Political Science and Sociology, University of Galway. Contributors to the GBV-MIG Ireland research project included Dr Vesna Malešević (2019-2023), Dr Salome Mbugua (2022-2023), Dr Nasrin Khandoker (2021-2022), Dr Nina Sahraoui (2019-2020), Dr Orla McGarry (2020-2021), Dr Anne Egan (Summer 2021), and volunteer Gowri Chandrasekhar (Autumn 2020).

The research under taken involved

• Comprehensive review of national policy literature relating to migration and GBV
• Interviews/consultations with representatives from nine key NGOs including: AkiDwA; Doras Luimni; Immigrant Council of Ireland; Mayo Rape Crisis Centre; Migrants Rights Centre Ireland; Nasc Migrant and Refugee Rights; National Women’s Council of Ireland; Safe Ireland; Women’s Aid
• Twenty-two semi-structured interviews with migrant women, reflecting different immigration statuses and countries of origin, conducted in 2021-2022.

Research Outputs

N. Reilly, N. Khandoker and S. Fairchild, “Radical Hope in the Nexus of Migration and Gender: Researching and Teaching with Critical Pedagogies, Situated Intersectionality and Decolonial Feminism”, in J. Freedman, N. Sahraoui and  E. Tyszler eds., Postcolonial and Intersectional Approaches to Migration (Bristol University Press, forthcoming 2026).

N. Khandoker and N. Reilly, "Bordering, Belonging, Beyond Survival: Critical Readings of Intersectionality in the Nexus of GBV and Migration in Ireland", special issue of the Irish Journal of Sociology ("Migrant Women and their Experiences of Gender-based Violence: New Perspectives on Cultural, Societal, and Political Challenges”) (May 2025). https://doi.org/10.13025/29721

N. Reilly ed., Stories of Migrant Women in Ireland: Surviving Gender-based Violence. AkiDwA and GBV-MIG, University of Galway, 2024. https://openpress.universityofgalway.ie/dsgbvtestimonies/

N. Reilly ed., From Commitments to Actions: Responding to Migrant Women’s Experiences of  DSGBV. AkiDwA and GBV-MIG, University of Galway, 2023. https://openpress.universityofgalway.ie/dsgbv/

N. Reilly, M. Bjørnholt & E. Tastsoglou, “Vulnerability, Precarity and Intersectionality: A Critical Review of Three Key Concepts for Understanding Gender-Based Violence in Migration Contexts.” In J. Freedman, N. Sahraoui, & E. Tastsoglou, eds., Gender-Based Violence in Migration: Interdisciplinary, Feminist and Intersectional Approaches(pp. 29-56). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2022. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-07929-0_2

N. Reilly et al., Violence against Women Migrants and Refugees: Analyzing Causes and Effective Policy Response, IRELAND poster for 25th International Metropolis Conference, Berlin, 4-9 September 2022. Metropolis poster

N. Reilly, N. Sahraoui & O. McGarry, “Exclusion, Minimization, Inaction: A Critical Review of Ireland’s Policy Response to Gender-Based Violence as It Affects Migrant Women,” Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 17 June 2021. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-dynamics/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2021.642445/full

N. Reilly, “Hidden Ireland: Migrant women’s right to rights,” Cois Coiribe: University of Galway Views and Opinions, 15 June 2021. https://impact.universityofgalway.ie/articles/hidden-ireland-migrant-womens-right-to-rights/

N. Reilly and N. Sahraoui, GBV-MIG: Violence against Women Refugees and Migrants: Analyzing Causes and Efficient Policy Response: Country Review – Ireland. 2020. https://gbvmigration.cnrs.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/GBV-MIG-Country-Review-Ireland-Reilly-and-Sahraoui-Nov-22-2020_updated.pdf

For queries and further information: niamh.reilly@universityofgalway.ie