P132. Victimised Migrant Women in the Criminal Justice System: greater vulnerability to secondary victimisation?

• In Event: Poster Session & Ice Cream Social

Abstract

This poster is based on ongoing comparative qualitative research between Portugal and Brazil, which aims to analyse the secondary victimisation of migrant women in the criminal justice system. Through a critical, intersectional, and international perspective, we verify whether migrant women are in more vulnerable positions to suffer this institutional violence than non-migrant women and address particularities of the secondary victimisation of this minority group, enriching traditional studies in the field.
Secondary victimisation emerges from victims’ interaction with the justice system, manifesting itself through victim-blaming, discriminatory attitudes, lack of empathy, and information. Due to the intersection of gender and migrant status, migrant women are potential targets of stereotypes that can be reproduced in places such as the police and courts, increasing risks of victimisation. To clarify this, we connected the process of becoming a victim (Strobl, 2010), and Fricker's notion of epistemic injustice associated with secondary victimisation (Pemberton and Mulder, 2023) within the migrant women’s integration in the host country. Theories such as The Ideal Victim (Christie, 1986) and Belief in a Just World (Lerner, 1980), combined with an intersectional perspective form the study’s theoretical framework. The triangulation of Narrative Victimology, Critical Discourse Analysis, and Ethnomethodology will allow an in-depth range of the impacts of victimisation, how victims re-signify their experiences, and how professional practices can lead to secondary victimisation.
The poster will explore the possibility of examining secondary victimisation from victims’ narratives, professional discourses, and court hearings’ observations. The relevance of reflexivity for this study and the positionality of the first author, who is also a migrant woman - will be addressed, as well as the benefits of using an intersectional lens, demonstrating how the interaction of gender, migrant status, race/ethnicity, class, and nationality impacts the life experiences of migrant women.

Authors

• Nathália Castro da Silva, CIJ - Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Justice, University of Porto

• Rita Faria, CIJ - Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Justice, University of Porto

• Silvia Gomes, University of Warwick