The maze of bureaucracy: immigrant women in Denmark waiting to escape violence from their ex-partner

In Denmark, the welfare state has committed itself to offer all women exposed to intimate partner violence a temporary stay at a shelter to provide a safe platform for a future without violence. As this article displays, however, leaving the shelter and moving on in life is far from straightforward, particularly for immigrant women. Based on fieldwork in a Danish shelter, we demonstrate that the immigrant women’s challenges are associated with their many encounters with a bureaucratic system that is experienced as opaque and difficult to navigate. To do so, we first address how bureaucratic structures lead to various forms of waiting for the women. Second, we explore how perpetrators’ capacity to weaponise the system can multiply or prolong these waits. Finally, we attend to the ways in which social workers at shelters try to help the women regain control over their time and, thereby, their lives. We conclude by arguing that exceedingly bureaucratic encounters are at risk of leaving women stuck in violence, thus undermining the good intentions of the Danish welfare state.