Immgrant woman and gender violence in Basque Country: gactors of vulnerability and social protection

Abstract

In 2009, as part of a research with the approach from anthropology, sociology and psychology sciences, more than 20 interviews were done to gender violence victims immigrant women and to professionals working in the field, with the aim of giving visibility to the structural factors that make immigrant women especially vulnerable to the male chauvinism and evaluating the functioning of how do work the social, sanitary, legal and police resources in their intervention with this group. From the results of the research, it was identified that, the administrative situation of immigrant women, especially of those whose administrative status depends on their husbands and of  those who are in an irregular situation, the precariousness of these women’s social networks women, their difficulties for social integration, insertion in the labour market, access to housing and basic  social benefits, seem to be factors that impede these women  from extricating themselves from cycles of violence cycles.