Borders, boundaries and the state: gendered vulnerabilities and violence

Sidonia Lucia Kula

Chapter 16 in Research Handbook on Gender, Violence and Law, 2026, pp 261-279 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter provides an interpersonal assessment of refugee and irregular migrant experiences, examining how refugee law, human rights and the actions of state actors at borders (including through ‘non-written policy’) shape their lives and challenge conventional legal frameworks. It is an interrogation and analysis of the intersections of law and violence and different stages of the irregular migrant experience within a specific context: the border and border regions. The analysis centres on the physical border as a contested space, examining the dynamic relationship between the state and individuals attempting to cross it, but it also interrogates what the border represents in terms of a liminal space of belonging and the violence that occurs there. The chapter considers the impact of borders in shaping identity and movement, particularly the precarious existence of being neither fully included nor visible to the legal system and the impunity for violence experienced.

Keywords: Borders; Violence; Irregular migration; Refugees; International law; Identity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035319398
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