The project focuses o domestic violence against migrant women and women’s encounters with welfare state agencies. Migrant women are highly overrepresented in the shelters in comparison to therir share of the total population. A similar trend has been notified in other Nordic countries as well. The background of this phenomenon has, however, scarecely been subject to research.

The research questions of this project are: What kind of violence do migrant women experience in families? How do abused migrant women tell about their experiences of violence and what kind of spaces open up for their agency? What kind of discursive practices do agencies (police, shelters, social work) dealing with domestic violence have?

The research analyzes different forms of violence and control directed at migrant women in families.the project analyzes the practices and discursive construction of domestic violence against migrant women by the police, shelters and social woekers. Of special interest is the discursive construction of “culture”, “cultural differences” and – on the other hand – the universality of service provision in relation to this kind of violence.

page updated: 2008-03-26