Women in migration: Some notes from the west Balkan route

Abstract

Gender is often overlooked, but important factor in research on migration. Women enter into migration experience as active individuals, but also encounter different difficulties than men do. Although it cannot be claimed that these differences are experienced by all women in the same way, we can conclude that they are the consequences of the gendered reality we live in. The article is discussing the gender specific experiences that female migrants encounter on their travel. It focuses on different forms of violence they are facing and on experiences of pregnant women. Furthermore, it deals with the legislation concerning refugees and tries to show how this legislation indirectly creates threats to women migrants while at the same time it is depriving them of power and victimizes them. It is based on understanding the legislature as man-centred, which means that it is mainly shaped by experiences of men while often not examining the specific experiences and needs of women. The data for the interpretations is non-structured and semi-structured interviews collected during field work in three refugee centers in Serbia. The interviews were mostly focused on experiences of women while traveling on the West Balkan route. They were further analyzed with anthropological and related literature.