The refugee waves and the continuum of violence experienced by Ukrainian refugee women in Bulgaria

This article examines the continuum of violence experienced by Ukrainian refugee women in Bulgaria over the past 3 years, following the full-scale invasion by the Russian army. The study draws on a secondary analysis and triangulation of three quantitative surveys commissioned by UNHCR and UNICEF in Bulgaria, along with three waves of a randomized socio-economic survey funded by UNHCR. Employing a constructivist grounded theory approach, the article proposes a typology of several refugee waves. It argues that the period of arrival, the means of arrival, and the type of accommodation selected reflect the survival strategies of refugee women and may influence their exposure to both community-based and transnational gender-based violence (GBV). The findings indicate that certain institutional features of Bulgaria's state accommodation programme for individuals with temporary protection status expose women and girls to additional risks of GBV, including survival sex and relocation to areas associated with commercial sex work. The vulnerability of Ukrainian refugees is further exacerbated by three country-specific factors: institutional neglect of violence against women and girls; widespread acceptance of cultural myths related to sexual violence; and prevailing national stereotypes targeting Ukrainians and, more broadly, women from certain Slavic backgrounds. The analysis clarifies the various forms of the continuum of violence affecting the Ukrainian women and girls in Bulgaria and confirms the patterns of "slow violence" and the "violence of uncertainty," observed in the Eastern Mediterranean region by other international studies

Criminology · Economic growth · Political science · Refugee · Sociology · Typology · Ukrainian · Gender Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration

• When return becomes re-victimization

  Open Access•Sarah Adeyinka, Katie Kuschminder•Migration Studies•2026

  Incluir item

• Spectacles of control

  Open Access•Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager, Thaïs Gendry et al.•Journal of International and…•2026

  Incluir item

• Toward a feminist theory of the state

  Catharine A Mackinnon•Toward a feminist theory of the…•1989

  Incluir item

• The Political Economy of Violence against Women

  Jacqui True•The political economy of violence…•2012

  Incluir item

• Interpretation and Overinterpretation

  Open Access•Umberto Eco, Jonathan Culler et al.•Interpretation and Overinterpretati…•1992

  Incluir item

• Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex

  Kimberlé Crenshaw, Kimberlé W Crenshaw•Feminism and politics•1998

  Incluir item

• The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

  Robert Κ Merton, Robert K Merton•The Antioch Review•1948

  Incluir item

• Sites of Violence

  Wenona Mary Giles, Wenona Giles et al.•Sites of Violence•2019

  Incluir item

• Maneuvers

  Cynthia Enloe•Maneuvers•2000

  Incluir item

• Black Feminist Thought

  Patricia Hill Collins•Black Feminist Thought•2013

  Incluir item

• The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory

  M E Hawkesworth, Lisa Disch et al.•The Oxford Handbook of Feminist…•2015

  Incluir item

• Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor

  Rob Nixon•Slow violence and the environmental…•2011

  Incluir item

• Rapid Assessment Procedures

  Karij Harris, K W Harris et al.•Human Organization•1997

  Incluir item

• The Gender-Based Violence and Precarity Nexus

  Open Access•E Tastsoglou, Sandy Petrinioti et al.•Frontiers in Human Dynamics•2021

  Incluir item

• The continuum of gender-based violence experienced by migrant and refugee women in Canada

  Open Access•Mia Sisic, E Tastsoglou et al.•Frontiers in Sociology•2024

  Incluir item

• The violence of uncertainty

  Open Access•Breanne Leigh Grace, John Doering-White et al.•Comparative Migration Studies•2025

  Incluir item

• The Continuum of Violence against Women and the Challenges of Effective Redress

  Rashida Manjoo•International Human Rights Law…•2012

  Incluir item

• Portrayal of Women as Intimate Partner Domestic Violence Perpetrators

  Open Access•Marianne Hester•Violence Against Women•2012

  Incluir item

• A Continuum of Violence? Linking Sexual and Gender-based Violence during Conflict, Flight, and Encampment

  Ulrike Krause•Refugee Survey Quarterly•2015

  Incluir item

• Marginalized Individuals and Extremism

  Open Access•Andrew H Hales, Kimberly D Williams et al.•Journal of Social Issues•2018

  Incluir item

• A theory of human motivation

  Abraham H Maslow•Psychological Review•1943

  Incluir item

• Prostitution and Public Policy in Post-Socialist Bulgaria

  Open Access•Georgi Petrunov•Politička misao•2023

  Incluir item

• Methodology of Social Sciences

  Max Weber•Methodology of Social Sciences•2017

  Incluir item

• The Last Chance to Save the Planet? An Analysis of the Geoengineering Advocacy Discourse in the Public Debate

  Open Access•Jonas Anshelm, Anders Hansson•Environmental Humanities•2014

  Incluir item

• Gender-based violence and socioeconomic inequalities

  Open Access•Lajos Ki, Lígia Ki et al.•Social Science & Medicine•2012

  Incluir item