“It Happens to All Women”: Why It Has Become Imperative to Adopt an Intersectional Approach in Combating Violence against Women

Nowadays the interplay between gender-based violence (GBV) perpetrated by men against women, women’s vulnerability and women’s exploitation has been largely demonstrated both by scholars (Degani and Della Rocca, 2014) and by fi eld practitioners such as International Organisations and NGOs (ICMPD, 2015; Healy, 2013; U.N. General Assembly, 2018). Indeed, the power dynamic observed in the behavior of both perpetrators of violence against women and exploiters to dominate their victims are largely equivalent. Furthermore, there have been studies regarding the role of the family in the decision to leave, also linked to some form of gender-based violence experienced in the country of origin, for example among Nigerian young girls (BeFree and Act!onaid, 2019; Women’s Link Worldwide, 2011; EASO, 2015). However, the majority of the literature fails to cover the responses through which protection mechanisms deal with these intersected vulnerabilities to address the personal needs of the women and to empower each survivor. Moreover, professionals and operators in the fi eld of human traffi cking and international protection often do not recognize the severity of GBV in favouring exploitation, thus reproducing dynamics and forms of subjugation, in which the distance between public and private spheres of violence disappear. T he paper analyses the mechanisms that are put in place when working with women victims of GBV, exploring possible explanations of why the systems of protection of women’s human rights have failed to work together so far and why there is a need for a strong collaboration—in terms of referral mechanisms—to benefi t the victims and improve the systems themselves.