Editorial: Migration, migrants and gender-based violence – lessons from Asia and the Asian diaspora

Abstract

This editorial introduces a special issue of the Journal of Gender-Based Violence focused on migration, migrants, and gender-based violence (GBV), with an emphasis on Asia and the Asian diaspora. The authors outline key themes across the included articles, highlighting the need to analyse GBV within the structural contexts of transnational migration, border control, labour exploitation, and systemic discrimination. Drawing on empirical research from countries including Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and South Korea, the editorial emphasises the diverse forms of violence experienced by migrant women and how responses to GBV are often limited by intersecting factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, migration policy, and legal status. The authors also critique the co-option of intersectionality in Australian GBV policy as rhetoric that can obscure the deeper structural inequalities migrant and refugee women face. The editorial argues for more nuanced, collaborative, and justice-oriented approaches to addressing GBV in transnational contexts.