Gendered_Borders · Gendered Borders: Exploring Migrant Women’s Experiences of Boat Crossings to the UK

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Project objective

This project examines the gendered experiences of migrant women crossing the English Channel by boat to seek asylum in the UK. As global border control policies intensify, migrants face heightened obstacles in reaching sovereign territories to claim asylum. In the UK this has been exacerbated by intensified coastal border securitisation and policies designed to deter those arriving by boat. Traditional geopolitical frameworks have largely provided macro-level, state-centric analyses, neglecting the embodied, intimate and gendered dimensions of border politics. Yet these developments disproportionately affect women, who are increasingly attempting these dangerous journeys alone or with children. Women face intersecting vulnerabilities, often subjected to exploitation during journeys, while also facing challenges in the asylum process. To date, we know little about the lived experience of these crossings, particularly from a gendered perspective. This absence has led to policies and research that overlook the specific vulnerabilities faced by asylum-seeking women, as well as the broader geopolitical and historical factors making boat crossings a viable option. Furthermore, asylum-seeking women are pivotal in challenging oppressive bordering systems through everyday acts of solidarity and resistance, yet migration studies frequently frame them as passive victims of trafficking. The objectives are to explore the lived realities of boat crossings for women seeking asylum in the UK, to understand how intensifying border policies are uniquely encountered, embodied and contested by them, and to contribute to policy and advocacy by generating actionable insights and recommendations for asylum reform. This will be achieved through an interdisciplinary feminist methodology that combines in-depth qualitative research with participatory and creative approaches.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• UNIVERSITAET BERN · BernCoordinatorSwitzerland

Links

• View on CORDIS
• DOI: 10.3030/101269787