This panel will bring together a series of papers all exploring the intersections of gendered violence, exploitation, state responses and bordering practices, under the newly established Border Criminologies thematic group.

1. Workplace sexual harassment: the experiences and responses of migrant and refugee women (Dr Siru Tan, with Segrave, Wickes & Keel)
In the first national study of migrant and refugee women's experiences, understandings and responses to workplace sexual harassment in Australia, we found that the majority of migrant and refugee women had experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment. However, the large majority of them never formally reported to authorities or upper management. In this paper, we argue that normative gender and sexual expectations, alongside the labour and migration system in Australia create significant impediments to their willingness to seek support and safety through formal avenues.


2. Navigating safety via the migration system: temporary migration and DFV (Prof JaneMaree Maher, with Segrave & Tan)
While the Family Violence Provision is designed to offer support and refuge to women who experience DFV in Australia, the opacity and complexity of the system means that pathways to safety are hard to see and navigate. Women who successfully achieved permanent residency described uncertainty and challenges in seeking relevant documentation services and support. Pathways to safety through the migration system often intersected with other systems such as family law, which created significant additional challenges for women seeking safety.

3. Rethinking the border between 'private violence' and public risk: Exploring the links between gender based violence, misogyny and mass casualty attacks. (Prof. Jude McCulloch with Maher)

This paper challenges the widely accepted dichotomy between 'private' and 'public violence'. Based on a report written by the presenters commissioned by the Canadian Mass Casualty commission (2020-2023) it examines the connections between gender based violence, particularly intimate partner violence, misogyny and mass casualty attacks, adding to the small but growing body of literature that considers mass casualty attacks through a gendered lens. It argues that the dichotomous approach to private and public violence undermines the ability to understand, prevent, and respond to mass casualty attacks. In addition, failing to fully investigate and articulate the connections reinforces the tendency to deny, minimize, excuse, and normalize gender-based violence.

4. Border protection as perpetrator protection in DFV (Prof Marie Segrave with Maher & Tan)
Bringing together analysis from multiple projects, this paper will examine the specific ways in which the migration system acts to ensure the impunity of perpetrators of DFV who enact abuse and violence against temporary visa holders. The paper will identify the ways in which the migration system ensures there is no accountability for visa sponsors, and ask critical questions about the failures to recognise that states and systems also enable and sustain DFV.

While the Family Violence Provision is designed to offer support and refuge to women who experience DFV in Australia, the opacity and complexity of the system means that pathways to safety are hard to see and navigate. Women who successfully achieved permanent residency described uncertainty and challenges in seeking relevant documentation services and support. Pathways to safety through the migration system often intersected with other systems such as family law, which created significant additional challenges for women seeking safety.

This paper challenges the widely accepted dichotomy between 'private' and 'public violence'. Based on a report written by the presenters commissioned by the Canadian Mass Casualty commission (2020-2023) it examines the connections between gender based violence, particularly intimate partner violence, misogyny and mass casualty attacks, adding to the small but growing body of literature that considers mass casualty attacks through a gendered lens. It argues that the dichotomous approach to private and public violence undermines the ability to understand, prevent, and respond to mass casualty attacks. In addition, failing to fully investigate and articulate the connections reinforces the tendency to deny, minimize, excuse, and normalize gender-based violence.

Bringing together analysis from multiple projects, this paper will examine the specific ways in which the migration system acts to ensure the impunity of perpetrators of DFV who enact abuse and violence against temporary visa holders. The paper will identify the ways in which the migration system ensures there is no accountability for visa sponsors, and ask critical questions about the failures to recognise that states and systems also enable and sustain DFV.