Challenges faced by women affected by violence with experience of flight and migration

Eisenstadt, 24 February 2026: Protection against violence for women is an omnipresent topic. Larissa Fink, a graduate of the Bachelor of Social Work programme at University of Applied Sciences Burgenland, attempted to explore the obstacles involved in her final thesis. She has succeeded in producing an inventory that was honoured with the Burgenland University Prize in the bachelor thesis category and opens up scope for further research.

Because there are women who are unable to take the hand that is supposedly outstretched in support. There are many reasons for this:

• Limited access to protection and help: language barriers, a lack of or incomprehensible information, too few multilingual services and bureaucratic hurdles deter victims from seeking help.
• Uncertainty regarding residence and social law: Fear of consequences under residence law restricts women affected by violence. In some cases, support services (e.g. women's shelters) are linked to legal status.
• Distrust of state structures: Fear of rejection, stigmatisation or negative consequences makes it difficult to seek help.
• Deeply entrenched imprints make change difficult.

The graduate also spoke to social workers about their experiences. Their challenges can be summarised as follows:

• Tension between aspiration vs. reality: Empowering, culturally sensitive practice is aspired to by professionals, while racist patterns, othering processes (i.e. judgements) and institutional power relations persist.
• Bridge to the lifeworld: Sensitisation is usually not enough to completely bridge the discrepancy to the complex reality of life (trauma, dependencies, identity processes).
• Role diversity and boundary management: Social workers should be supporters, translators, bridge builders and political actors at the same time - with limited resources and time.

Larissa Fink, who works in a women's shelter in Vienna herself, sees a solution in the area of organisational development: "Establishing intercultural teams, gender-sensitive training and power-critical structures can help to avoid the reproduction of othering and racism," she advises.

What would help structurally:

Protection for all, regardless of residence status: women's shelters and counselling without barriers; low-threshold information in several languages, expansion of violence prevention programmes, expanded public relations work to make the real lives of all people visible.

Strengthen professionals: Compulsory training on trauma and racism, regular supervision, diverse teams, better and more sensitive cooperation between women's aid, police and authorities.

Involve the community: Peer counsellors and cultural mediators, mobile and easily accessible services, gender tandem training, developing services together with those affected.

"Protection against violence is a concern for society as a whole that should focus on the issues of justice, participation and solidarity. Because social justice begins where differences are not seen as deficits, but as a starting point for solidarity," says Fink.

Study programme facts:

Bachelor's degree programme in Social Work with a focus on child, youth and family support, duration: 6 semesters; Academic degree: Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences - BA; Organisational form: part-time (Monday to Thursday); Study places: 56; Study location: Eisenstadt; Language: German (required language level at least B2), individual courses can also be held in English (required language level at least B2); Tuition fees: none

More information and the opportunity to apply for a study place at www.hochschule-burgenland.at

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Enquiry notes:

Mag.a Christiane Staab │ Marketing and Communication │ University of Applied Sciences Burgenland GmbH │ Tel: +43 (0)5 7705 3537 │ E-Mail: christiane.staab(at)hochschule-burgenland.at