Out of southeast europe: Gender-based violence, public transitions, and the search for home
Gendered Perspectives on Conflict and Violence: Part A
ISBN: 978-1-78350-110-6
Publication date: 15 October 2013
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter interrogates the practice of gender-based asylum as a window to the problem of gender-based violence (GBV) as a driver of migration, with a focus on Southeast Europe, reporting on one instance of the intersection between the more private matter of gender and the realms of “high politics.”
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on qualitative methods, primarily drawn from existing (written) sources, including legal cases, government and NGO reports, and other documents, supplemented by information gathered through in-depth interviews.
Findings
This research found that the region is a source of migrants escaping GBV, and that migrants from this region have been agents in moving the practice of gender-based asylum forward in recent years. That migration is increasingly multidirectional. Further, the “West” offers gender-based asylum inconsistently.
Research limitations/implications
Political and policy change on these matters across this region were transitioning rapidly when this chapter was written; there will be a need, therefore, for updates based on any new developments.
Social implications
Policy progress should be based on recognition of Southeast Europe’s varied roles as receiving, transit, and destination countries as the region’s viability and visibility increase.
Originality/value
The chapter analyzes a legal terrain that is rarely done outside of the field of law. It offers the most recent analysis of current developments in gender-based asylum with a Southeast Europe focus. Finally, it contributes empirical research to the evolving theoretical discussions of the privatization of the public sphere, particularly for emerging democracies.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank sincerely the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, for the Title VIII East European Studies research grant that funded this research and provided office space at the Center. I especially acknowledge the support of Christian Ostermann, Nida Gelazis, Kristina Terzieva, and Janet Spikes, and the enthusiastic work of my interns, Rebecca Akdeniz and Elena Volkava. I greatly appreciate all of those who helped to arrange interviews and access to data in the United States and Europe.
Citation
Pearce, S.C. (2013), "Out of southeast europe: Gender-based violence, public transitions, and the search for home", Gendered Perspectives on Conflict and Violence: Part A (Advances in Gender Research, Vol. 18A), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 213-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-2126(2013)000018A013
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013 Emerald Group Publishing Limited