Domestic Violence against Immigrant Women in Transit - The Case of Serbia

Abstract

The focus of the paper is on domestic violence against immigrant women during the transit and stay in Serbia, on their way from MENA countries(1) to the European Union. The objective is to present and analyze the phenomenon. It is contextualized within a theoretical framework of intersections between domestic violence, migration and the crisis and consideration of migration from MENA countries flowing through Serbia, as a part of the Western Balkan's Route, with an emphasis on immigrant women. This is followed by the scrutinisation of domestic violence against immigrant women in Serbia - its occurrence and reporting, along with the author's reflections thereof. Main conclusions point to the importance of preventive and empowering strategies directed towards immigrant women. Challenges to that are numerous: some stem from under-performance of services aimed at prevention and empowerment of women who are victims of domestic violence in Serbia in general, and some are related to the factors specific for the situation of immigrant women.