Le main topic of this research project deals with understanding types and manifestation of violence against migrant children as well as pushbacks experiences for those who tried to cross the border against the rules of the countries they wanted to leave.
Purpose of this study is to explore and interpret violence against migrant children and its characteristics in Serbia and Bosnia and the factors that contribute to violence and/or protection of migrant children in order to:
a) gain insight in current level of violence against migrant children as well as provision of support policies and practice;
b) to identify specific types of violence that migrant children are faced with and circumstances/places of occurrence;
c) to establish a foundation for national and regional framework for design, implementation and evaluation of gender and culturally responsive child protection and support policies and practices.
The main research question is: Which aspects of child protection against violence are pertinent for improvement in order to respond to needs of migrant children in region (Serbia and Bosnia)?
The specific research questions are:
1. What are types and levels of violence against children in migration in region (Serbia and Bosnia)?
2. In which circumstances does violence manifest itself?
3. Who do children go to for help when they experience violence?
4. Which types of services do children perceive exist to protect them?
5. What are the informal types of support for children experiencing violence? What do they do to protect themselves?
6. What are the characteristics of violence in unaccompanied children and children travelling with families?
7. What are the gender differences between children and are gender differences affecting experienced and survived violence?
In order to support further strengthening of the protection system in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina-BiH in terms of responsiveness to new vulnerabilities arising from the context of migration, in-depth interviews were performed during autumn 2021 with sample of 48 (N=38 boys and N=10 girls) both unaccompanied and travelling with families, currently residing in camps in BiH, on their experiences of violence and it’s impacts on their wellbeing, while using trauma informed approach.
All children experience a range of severe violence and traumatic experience on the journey. Even though concept of emotional violence is not clear, most of the children plainly describe traumatic experiences, while their tendency to normalize violence is noticeable. Almost 2/3 of respondents were willing to describe sexual violence incidents they have witnessed or heard in some way. Children mostly report and recognize physical violence as police push backs on the borders and violence by smugglers.
The results of this research contribute to the scarce resources that exist in the scientific understanding of children’s experiences of violence and on the understanding of traumatic experiences among migrant and refugee children.