“It is more difficult to leave now, there is nowhere to go”: Mapping structural barriers to GBV support for migrant women in Ireland

This paper critically examines the intersection of migrant women's experiences of gender-based violence (GBV), housing insecurity, and Ireland's racial neoliberal framework within the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence. Using discourse analysis of the three National Strategies and semi-structured interviews with support services for GBV victims, as well as NGOs and CSOs assisting migrant women, it highlights how the strategy's efforts at intersectionality fall short of addressing the root causes of migrant women's marginalisation. Empirical findings reveal how precarious immigration status, inadequate housing pathways, inconsistent translation services, and the lingering effects of COVID-19 restrictions intersect to deepen migrant women's exclusion and limit their access to support. Drawing on racial neoliberalism, it argues that neoliberal policies prioritise economic growth over social equity, rendering migrant women invisible within welfare and housing systems. While the Third National Strategy acknowledges migrant women's needs, it fails to confront systemic racism and economic exclusion perpetuating their vulnerability. The paper concludes that transformative change must challenge the structural inequalities embedded in racial neoliberalism to create a genuinely inclusive framework for migrant women in Ireland.