Immigrant women's perceptions of gender-based violence: the case of Şanlıurfa

Gender-based violence (GBV) is violence directed against individuals solely because of their gender, which leaves permanent physical and psychological scars in the lives of many people. Women with disabilities, girls with disabilities (especially those with multiple disabilities, mental disabilities), girls and women victims of disasters, women and girls in institutional care are more vulnerable to gender-based violence. Migrant women are one of the more vulnerable groups among disadvantaged individuals in terms of GBV. Migrant women who are forced to migrate due to disasters, famine, violence and oppression in their countries of origin may be exposed to gender-based violence both during the journey and in the country of arrival. Migrant women are more likely to be disadvantaged due to housing problems, lack of status, not knowing the language of the country of destination, not knowing how to access institutional services (police, gendarmerie, prosecutor's office, ŞÖNİM, etc.) or not being aware of their legal rights, cultural codes and gender roles. When all these situations come together, migrant women are more likely to be subjected to gender-based violence. The aim of this research is to define gender-based violence and its types, as well as to reveal the perspectives and self-definitions of GBV experienced by migrant women in the field. The aspect of the study that differs from many studies conducted in this field is that it aims to pave the way for women's empowerment with a victim-oriented perspective instead of disempowering women through women's victimization by addressing gender-based violence as "exposed" rather than "victim" oriented, as in many United Nations institutions (UNHCR, UNFPA, etc.) today. In this study, a study group was formed from Syrian migrant women who were exposed to GBV by conducting fieldwork in Şanlıurfa province. In order to collect the data, focus group interviews were conducted with the study group in 2 groups of 7 people each. With these focus group interviews, it was tried to get information about the definitions of gender-based violence, perspectives on this violence and methods of protection and intervention from this violence of 14 Syrian migrant women living in Şanlıurfa. Keywords: gender, gender-based violence, migrant women, focus group interviews, etc.