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Cuestiones Pedagógicas,

1(31), 2022, 57-76

Empoderamiento a través de la migración:

narrativas de la integración exitosa de mujeres

inmigrantes en Eslovenia

Empowerment through Migration: Narratives of Successful

Migrant Women´s Integration in Slovenia

Veronika Bajt

Peace Institute (Eslovenia)

veronika.bajt@mirovni-institut.si

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6917-3255

Mojca Frelih

Peace Institute (Eslovenia)

mojca.frelih@mirovni-institut.si

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7444-3523

Resumen: Los análisis existentes de la

migración transnacional a menudo destacan

una creciente demanda de mano de obra

femenina migrante, ya que las mujeres

migrantes del Sur se orientan hacia los

servicios domésticos y el trabajo de cuidados

en los países más prósperos del Norte. La

demanda real de mano de obra poco

cualificada significa que los hombres y

mujeres migrantes ocupan los puestos de

trabajo infravalorados y mal pagados que las

poblaciones "nativas" evitan en las

sociedades receptoras. Esto no queda

reflejado en las políticas estatales que suelen

definir y regular las posiciones de los

inmigrantes en términos de limitaciones. Un

creciente número de investigación sobre la

integración de las mujeres inmigrantes en

Eslovenia se han centrado en la posición de

estas mujeres en el mercado laboral,

problematizando la falta de capacitación y la

exclusión socioeconómica, por otro lado

describiendo las diversas estrategias para

afrontar y contrarrestar las experiencias de

discriminación y descenso en la movilidad

social. Basándonos en nuevos datos

empíricos que comprenden las narrativas de

las mujeres migrantes y sus voces recogidas

Abstract: Existing analyses of transnational

migration often highlight a growing demand for

female migrant labour, as migrant women from

Global South are geared into household

services and care work in more affluent

countries of the Global North. The actual

demand for low skill labour means that migrant

men and women fill the positions of undervalued

and low-paid work avoided by “native”

populations in host societies. This remains

poorly reflected in state policies that

predominantly define and regulate immigrants’

positions in terms of limitations. A growing body

of research on migrant women’s integration has

also in Slovenia been focusing on their position

in the labour market, problematising deskilling

and socio-economic exclusion, as well as

describing their various coping strategies and

agency in counteracting experiences of

discrimination and downward social mobility.

Drawing on new empirical data comprising

migrant women’s narratives and their voices

assembled in an online survey, in this paper we

argue that migration should also be viewed as

empowerment and a personal success story for

many migrant women. We particularly highlight

the socio-educational aspect of language

acquisition as one of the key aspects of migrant

Recibido: 06/03/2022 | Revisado: 07/03/2022 | Aceptado: 27/05/2022 |

Online first: 08/06/2022 Publicado: 30/06/2022

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en una encuesta en línea, en este artículo

argumentamos que la migración también

debe verse como un empoderamiento y una

historia de éxito personal para muchas

mujeres migrantes. Destacamos en particular

el aspecto socioeducativo de la adquisición

del idioma como uno de los aspectos clave de

la integración de los inmigrantes, y ofrecemos

una nueva perspectiva sobre cómo la

pandemia de COVID-19 ha influido en los

procesos de integración de las mujeres

inmigrantes en Eslovenia.

integration, and offer new insight in terms of how

the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the

integration processes of female migrants in

Slovenia.

Palabras Clave: Migración, mujeres,

integración, Eslovenia, adquisición de

idiomas, COVID-19.

Keywords: Migration, women, integration,

Slovenia, language acquisition, COVID-19.

Introductión

Slovenia being one of the aging societies, demographers and right-wing

politicians are keen to warn of the receding natural increase in population growth. It

has been negative every year from 2017 onwards, as more people die each year than

are born. The COVID-19 epidemic and high mortality in 2020 contributed to greater

natural decrease: in 2020, it was −5,249 population or −2.5 per 1,000 population. This

is the lowest value of natural increase in Slovenia after 1945 (SURS 2021a). At the

same time, one in eight children (2,462 in total) in Slovenia was born to a mother with

foreign citizenship, mostly to mothers with the citizenship of Bosnia-Herzegovina

(44%) and Kosovo (18%). 11% of mothers had citizenship of one of the other

European Union states. Like other EU countries, Slovenia is replacing its labour deficit

with migrant workers due to the declining number of people in employment. Yet, state

immigration policies have long remained embedded in understanding Slovenia as a

transit country (Bajt and Pajnik 2014; Bajt and Frelih 2019) and migrant integration is

not deemed a policy priority.

Over the last century, care regimes have been undergoing transformations

where care has moved from domestication of women, which provided care through

women’s unpaid work in the family, to the sphere of responsibility of the nation-state

(Tronto 2013; Hrženjak 2018). The gradual transformation of the care regime towards

professionalisation, institutionalisation and monetisation, through the employment of

women in welfare state institutions, partially socialised care, to a regime of the

marketisation, blanderisation and globalisation of care has been organised in different

ways in different welfare systems. Nevertheless, in the global market the unequal

relationships associated with care, which were originally located in private

households, are mirrored in the international division of labour. This is structured along

the class, ethnicity and gender lines also in global care chains, with women from the

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Eslovenia

Global South performing household services and care work in more affluent countries

of the Global North (Hrženjak 2018). The EU restrictive migration regime thus interacts

with gender and care regimes and other layers of stratification to create gender-

specific vulnerabilities.

Within the EU, whose role is essential in establishing, steering, coordinating

and supporting integration policies, the actualisation of integration still lies with each

member state. The literature and EU policies underline that integration practices and

inclusion of immigrants are to be understood as a two-way process (Jalušič and Bajt

2020). The most recent EU-level integration strategy fosters a two-way approach to

integration and diversity through the “inclusion for all” principle, particularly in the

areas of education, employment, health, and housing (European Commission 2020).

Integration of newcomers takes place at every level and in every sector of the society,

involving a wide range of social players: public officials, political decision-makers,

employers, trade union officials, fellow-workers, service providers, neighbours

(Castles et al. 2002: 19). In 2019, Slovenia adopted a new strategy in the field of

migration, which also addresses integration. It underlines the importance of a holistic

approach: cooperation and complementarity of all actors in the formulation and

implementation of policies and practices. Integration is therefore formally recognised

as a complex process involving various fields, including protection against all forms of

discrimination.

It appears, however, that the question of integration is frequently reduced to

learning the host country’s language, which reveals an understanding of integration

as only the immigrants’ responsibility (Jalušič and Bajt 2022). In analyses of migrant

integration, as well as in EU and national policy debates, most commonly discussed

topic is teaching of local language, second language teaching, and second language

acquisition, where practice indicates an uneven distribution and lack of financial and

human resources (Rheidorf and Wodak 2020). With this in mind, research confirms

that language nationalism is not a story of the past (Green 1997) but a renewed force

(see Blommaert and Verschueren 1992). Many countries, including Slovenia, seem to

understand integration policies almost exclusively as learning about national culture

and acquiring the state language (see Ladić et al. 2020). Such language and culture-

centred nationalist agenda is pursued despite the EU being a multilingual and

multicultural union of states, whose values and policy recommendations favour

multilingualism (Jalušič and Bajt 2022). Especially since the 2015 “refugee crisis”, the

governmental rhetoric has turned to emphasis on migration as a burden and security

risk (Žagar et al. 2019), while Slovenian language proficiency is one of the main pre-

conditions of formal (i.e. permanent residence and citizenship requirement) and

especially informal acceptance of immigrants.

Effective inclusion of newcomers requires concerted action at local, regional,

national and European level, while it also depends on acceptance of immigrants in the

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host society. This has become especially prominent in recent years with politicisation

of migration and closing of borders in many EU countries. Existing research confirms

a discursive shift in increasingly portraying immigration as a security threat, whereas

policies are devised with the aim to deter (Bajt and Frelih 2019; Kogovšek Šalamon

2020). Slovenia has also witnessed an increase in xenophobia, anti-immigrant

intolerance, the rise of radical right and hate speech (Žagar et al. 2019). While existing

literature investigates these phenomena, their actual consequences on the lives of

migrant men, women and children have received less attention. It is therefore the aim

of this article to focus on the topic of migrant integration from a gender perspective;

investigating various processes that may either thwart or facilitate inclusion,

articulating institutional dimensions, as well as expectations, actions and strategies of

migrant women in Slovenia. We are particularly interested in the socio-educational

aspect of language acquisition as one of the key aspects of migrant integration.

Addressing the barriers and needs experienced by newcomers, the article also

discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the integration processes of

female migrants in Slovenia.

Migrant Women in Slovenia

Migration trends within Yugoslavia have significantly influenced the current

composition of Slovenia’s migrant population because the vast majority of migrants

still come from the former Yugoslav republics. The geographical, cultural, and

linguistic proximity remain deciding factors for former co-nationals to continue

migrating to Slovenia despite the substantial change in their status. In 2021, among

the 293,000 immigrants (people whose first country of residence is not Slovenia), 86%

were born in one of the countries of former Yugoslavia; most in Bosnia-Herzegovina

(133,000), followed by Croatia (43,000) and Serbia (30,000) (SURS 2021b). Nearly

14% of Slovenia’s residents were born abroad. 38% of the foreign-born population

immigrated to Slovenia in the last decade (ibid.). Migrant population in Slovenia is here

understood as people who have migrated from other countries and the majority are

non-EU and come from the former Yugoslavia’s successor states. The construction of

European Union’s external borders has classified these once co-nationals into “third-

country nationals”, a category inherent in migration and integration policies to the

detriment of their full inclusion.

Female migrants are also predominantly citizens of Yugoslavia’s successor

states. While about 25% of foreign citizens in Slovenia were women about a decade

ago, these numbers have been on the rise in recent years. Still, there are more men

(59%) than women among foreign-born residents. Gender difference is the largest

among those who immigrated after 2010; almost twice as many men as women.

Among those who immigrated in 2018 or later the share of men is even higher, almost

70% (see Figure 1). According to the Government Office for the Support and

Croatia’s status changed from third-country to EU member state in 2013.

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Eslovenia

Integration of Migrants (UOIM 2022), on 1 January 2021, 624 beneficiaries of

international protection lived in Slovenia, 597 had refugee status and 27 subsidiary

protection. Among those with refugee status, 185 were women and 439 were men,

while among those with subsidiary protection, there was one woman and 26 were

men.

Figure 1

Foreign citizens by gender, 2010 – 2021

Source: Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia.

The basic framework for migration and integration policies in Slovenia is

provided in the Foreigners Act, which regulates permission to stay by distinguishing

between temporary and permanent residence status. The Constitution also defines

the right to asylum, which is further defined with the International Protection Act. In

Slovenia, migration policy falls within the domain of the Ministry of the Interior that is

responsible for asylum and migration. It should not come as a surprise that its

Migration and Integration Directorate primarily operates within the discursive context

of state security, control and management of migration (Bajt and Frelih 2019). In 2017,

a special Government Office for the Support and Integration of Migrants (Urad vlade

za oskrbo in integracijo migrantov - UOIM) was established, taking over part of

responsibilities that were previously under the authority of the ministry. Devising

policies and administrative procedures for obtaining the status of international

protection remain under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. Despite its broad

name, the UOIM is only responsible for asylum seekers and people with recognised

status of international (refugee or subsidiary) protection. In 2021 this number was

around 600 persons in total. The vast majority of foreigners in Slovenia, however, are

not asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection, hence integration

measures in this regard remain without a public body that would be responsible for

their implementation. Also, local communities do not have formal power to implement

integration policy, even though it is in actuality conducted at the local community level

and sustained by various non-governmental sector programmes and short-term

projects (Ladić et al. 2020).

In order to reside and work in Slovenia, non-EU nationals need work and/or

residence permits. Statistics show that, while the official state discourse favours a

workforce with high levels of education and skills, the majority of jobs accessible to

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migrants are still classified as low-skilled. Demand remains highest for migrant work

in construction and industrial production – a typically male profession – and in cleaning

and care work – a paradigmatically female migrants’ job (Bajt and Pajnik 2014). Such

work is physically-demanding, underpaid, and garners low levels of social respect. As

a result, migrant women are bridging the gap in meeting the increase in labour market

demand for such services, working in production, food industry and particularly in the

form of (undocumented) household work, childcare, and care of the elderly.

Apart from finding employment in Slovenia or coming on a student visa, another

prominent way of entry is to integrate via family reunion policies. Figure 2 displays

types of temporary residence permits, which shows this is the second most common

way of entry.

Figure 2

Number of valid temporary residence permits by type, 31 December 2020

Source: Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia (2020: 9).

Methods

The data in this article was gathered through different methods and analysed

using grounded theory and thematic analysis approach (Mason 2002; Clarke at al.

2018): in-depth individual interviews with migrant women, on-line survey with female

migrants, and focus groups with experts, working in the field with migrants in Slovenia.

Our research was conducted in 2021 and as such was greatly influenced by the global

COVID-19 pandemic. It was extremely difficult to find participants, establish new

contacts and conduct interviews and focus groups. Since all communication moved

online, people were experiencing an overload of online meetings and virtual

communication, which affected a relatively low response rate in our online survey.

Between March and June 2021, we conducted five in-depth interviews (see

Table 1), three with women who migrated to Slovenia from Serbia and Bosnia-

Herzegovina. One interview was conducted with a woman coming from an EU country

– Poland, and one interviewee was as a refugee from Syria. In this way, the sample

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could reflect the actual statistical composition of female migrant population in

Slovenia, where the majority are classified as third-country nationals and come from

neighbouring Western Balkans, much smaller numbers come from the EU, and a very

small population are refugees.

Table 1

List of migrant women interviewees

Pseudonym

Age

Country of

birth

Year of

arrival to

Slovenia

Marital

status

Number of

children

Education

Izabela

Poland

2018 formally,

2012 factually

Living with

her partner

Secondary

school

Jovana

Serbia

2007

Married

PhD

Nataša

Serbia

2018

Married

Sara

Syria

2017

Married

Elementary

school

Saša

Bosnia and

Herzegovina

2015

Single

Elementary

school

The online survey was active for a month in May-June 2021. It had a reach of

215 clicks on the introduction and 56 clicks on the survey but only 34 migrant women

actually filled in the questionnaire. We thus treat the survey results qualitatively without

generalisations but as an additional window into migrant women’s experiences,

attitudes and actions. 15 survey respondents have Serbian nationality, six women

have dual citizenship: Serbian/Montenegrin, Serbian/American, Serbian/Romanian,

Serbian/Slovenian, Slovenian/Romanian and Slovenian/Macedonian, three

Slovenian, two Macedonian, and one for each from Azerbaijan, Bangladesh,

Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kyrgyzstan. 58% have lived in

Slovenia for more than six years, three women reside in Slovenia for less than two

years, four 2-4 years, and four 4-6 years. Most (68%) are 35-54 years-of-age. More

than two-thirds have higher education. Approximately one-third of the respondents’

income is between 1,000 and 1,500 EUR, and one-third reported on income higher

than 2,000 EUR. 15 respondents are in contact with family and friends in their country

of origin and seven send monthly remittances. The number of participants with and

without children is evenly distributed. Most children were born in Slovenia, and the

rest in Serbia, Kosovo, Azerbaijan and Switzerland. Most respondents have

permanent residence and three have already obtained Slovenian citizenship. Six have

temporary residence and employment visa, one of them being self-employed. One

participant has temporary residence without employment and two have temporary

residence for family reunification. 17 women are full-time employed, one has a

temporary contract, and four are self-employed. Three women are part-time employed

and four are unemployed.

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Results and discussion

Based on empirical data, the research results bring to light five themes related

to migrant integration with a pronounced gender aspect: 1) reasons for and plans

related to a decision for migration; 2) expectations regarding migration; 3) experiences

of discrimination and institutional barriers to integration; 4) policy mechanisms and

individual strategies to overcome hurdles in host society; and 5) migration as

empowerment and personal achievement.

Reasons for and plans related to a decisión for migration

Migration is a well-planned endeavour not taken lightly even in cases when one

is forced to leave as is the case of refugees. In-depth interview with one female

refugee and six women in the survey all emphasise political or religious reasons were

a reason for them to migrate. Beyond prosecution in one’s country of birth as the

driving force to leave, most commonly migrant women in our sample decided for

migration in order to find (better) employment, to further their education, to improve

the quality of life – especially for their children, and to follow or accompany their life

partner.

Planning their journey, the majority (65%) of online poll participants was

informed about the destination and routes to be used. Most of the women (74%) had

also determined where they would go in Slovenia and had established contacts at the

destination beforehand. Some also consulted entities that helped with the journey;

some used social entities that helped them as a network for their journey, but the

majority (79%) used informal networks like friends and acquaintances. When asked

about the risks they faced during the journey, two women answered that they had bad

company on their way and five noted that they had faced discrimination. While the

interviewees mostly migrated together with their partners and children, most women

in the poll (59%) travelled alone; only six travelled with their partner, and two with their

partner and children. Three survey respondents travelled with their children alone, one

with her siblings, and another one with friends.

The “third-country” status profoundly affects the labour market access of

women thus categorised because all non-EU nationals need to secure work permits

in order to legally work and reside in Slovenia. This was observed also in the narratives

of migrant women that we interviewed. 48% of survey participants agreed or strongly

agreed that finding a job was one of the reasons for migration. Ten women strongly

agreed with the statement that they came because of education or training. Another

prominent “way of entry” is to integrate via family reunion policies. Family reunion and

residency through marriage were the most often chosen ways to migrate to Slovenia

in three of the five individual interviews. This was, however, not so for most of the

survey participants, where 52% did not come because of family reunification.

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However, at the same time, 31% agreed on family reunification as their reason for

migration.

The data illustrates the nuances related to women’s many differing life

situations that eventually resulted in their migration to Slovenia. Marriage to a

Slovenian national, for example, has been noted as a strategy to overcome

bureaucratic obstacles. Jovana, for instance, explained how she and her boyfriend

eventually decided that getting married would make their lives easier at least in terms

of the bureaucracy, since her travels to and stay in Slovenia were frequently

complicated because of her “third-country” citizenship. Once married to a Slovenian

national, her status immediately changed in a way that included various concessions.

The integration bills and migration policy in Slovenia fail to account for migrant women

and their specific needs. Family reunification policies are built on the assumption of a

gendered division of roles; migrants who are “immediate family members” are

considered as “dependants” and women are frequently treated as dependent on their

husbands in official procedures (Pajnik and Bajt 2012). The transition to the status of

a citizen is long and protracted. Migrant women apply for citizenship for various

reasons, yet it is common that citizenship is seen as a convenient solution to end the

constant preoccupation with and anxiety about extending various permits and

arranging numerous documents, as elaborated by one of our interviewees.

Expectations about the outcomes of migration

The migration system is unequal for various groups of migrants. Migrant

women with higher education, especially if in deficit profession, those with more

financial support and wider social networks have easier access to the labour market,

overall integration, and can easily secure residence permits. Having education and

skills that are in demand facilitates more options for finding a job in the field of interest.

The majority (81%) of survey respondents think they will meet their

expectations in Slovenia. 72% expect achievement in their education or training. 66%

expect to achieve financial improvement, as well as improvement of their work

situation. 51% expect improvement for their children’s future. Ten women also expect

improvement of their partner’s work situation. Half of the survey participants want to

stay and settle in Slovenia, and half see migrating to another country as their second

or third priority to achieve. Most of the women in the survey (75%) expressed a need

for more social relationships with local people to improve their social integration. Many

see housing is crucial to improve their social integration, for instance asylum seekers

cannot chose where they want to live and the situation in the housing market is highly

problematic overall. Half of the respondents also indicated that access to housing

prevents them from meeting their expectations. Legal-administrative barriers are often

noted as a limitation preventing migrant women from meeting their expectations and

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half of them see the need to improve their legal status as a crucial step in social

integration. Survey respondents also see higher income as a necessity to improve

their integration prospects, as well as expressing a need for training and education.

When asked about their clients’ expectations about life in Slovenia, experts

from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) mentioned how migrants see it as an

orderly country, where they will get a job immediately and according to their expertise

and education. Migrant women further expect to be offered an appropriate job by the

Employment Office or that NGOs will find them a position in the labour market. The

experts commented that such expectations are impossible in current post-COVID

times. They therefore elaborated that migrant women eventually come to the

realisation that a lot of effort and hard work will be required if they wish to achieve their

goals and expectations.

The in-depth interviews with migrant women show that indeed expectations are

at the same time big and realistic, meaning that even if they in fact do not anticipate

many obstacles, they mostly adapt to the actual situation fairly quickly. As we further

elaborate below, they adopt various “survival” strategies and employ social networks

to ease the transition to a new society. Initially relying mostly on family and friends

from home, connecting via online social networks, many also turn to NGOs and

cultural societies to help them navigate the new surroundings. As one such example,

our interviewee Nataša reported on the existence of an online group of Serbian people

living in Slovenia: “A friend or someone you know can give a recommendation and

invite you into this group”. They are discussing about various topics, for example: “Is

it appropriate to speak Serbian at home or not”. She also noted how during the COVID-

19 lockdowns having the support of such virtual communities was of great value.

Obstacles and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

According to the interviewed migrant women and experts that work with

migrants, the support from NGOs is crucial in the migration path and upon arrival to

Slovenia, especially in the beginning. Experts from NGOs that work with migrants in

Slovenia listed several interesting gender divides that affect migrant women’s

integration. They note how women are more open to participate in various courses

that are organised for migrants, as well as less reluctant to ask for help and search for

assistance in terms of material means if needed. For example, it would not be the man

but the woman migrant who approaches Caritas or Red Cross when in need. Migrant

men, especially from certain countries, are perceived as either being too proud to ask

for help or too busy with long working hours to reach such institutional assistance.

Namely, and this is a significant downside, the office hours frequently do not take into

account that migrant workers may not be able to reach them. At the same time, the

situation in Slovenia shows that especially refugees or migrant women coming from

Kosovo often do not find employment but remain at home, taking care of children.

Obstacles for their integration are much higher because they remain secluded, have

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less options for socialising and thus developing a support network outside of their

immediate family. Language obstacles are also pronounced, though state policies in

this regard have been improved in recent years and at least introductory Slovenian

classes are now available to all newcomers free of charge (though exempting EU

nationals, which is highly problematic).

Still, support for integration of migrant youth is not well provided. Migrant girls

and young women face discrimination, hate speech and prejudice online, amongst

peers, and in educational institutions. Regarding social interaction also more support

for young women to find a peer group is needed. Especially for young women, the

establishment of more organisations to meet other young people from different

countries and make connections is needed, for emotional support and safety reasons.

When asked if they experienced any form of discrimination, the survey

participants listed institutional discrimination in official procedures, cultural racism

(especially in media and on social networks), everyday racism “covered in politeness”,

as well as discrimination based on gender. Seven respondents reported that they have

been discriminated as an immigrant. Regarding the location of discrimination, most

women faced discrimination at work, but also at administrative offices, in healthcare,

school, street, and housing. The survey data is corroborated by the latest study on

discrimination based on ethnicity, nationality, skin colour and religion in Slovenia,

which shows discrimination based on these personal circumstances is particularly

prevalent in work and employment, healthcare, access to services, the housing

market, and in administrative procedures (Bajt 2021). Discrimination is most often

experienced by persons who are treated as foreigners by the current legislation and

perceived as such by the majority population, especially applicants for international

protection and refugees, third-country nationals, persons based on skin colour

regardless of their nationality, Muslim women wearing headscarf based on religion,

and the Roma population. In our interviews, the women further elaborated about

discriminatory behaviour and hostility from the local population towards them and their

family, thus we can argue that it constitutes a major obstacle to integration.

In terms of education, employment and integration in general, the obstacles

reported by migrant women in our sample highlight deskilling, social isolation and lack

of information. For most, deskilling is a common characteristic. There are highly

educated and skilled women who have not had the chance to work in their profession

for years because of a language barrier, which causes great hardship. In such cases,

psychosocial support plays a very important role. At the same time, for women who

may be slightly less educated, there is still a lack of social networks and certain skills

needed to enter the labour market. Even in cases of family reunion, which

presupposes that usually it would be the women coming to Slovenia (after their

husband who already has a job) and then they would stay at home and take care of

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children, the actual situation is often not such and women also try to find employment.

This means they need childcare and all the support afforded to nationals in this regard.

In-depth interviews with migrant women further reveal the Slovenian health

system is hard to access. Nataša and Izabela both talked about the many problems

they encountered on account of not being able to get access to a family doctor. In

order not to pay for medical expenses, a “personal physician” must be found who then

guides patients in terms of healthcare and possible further specialist treatments. This

poses a major problem for migrant women. The situation got worse during the

pandemic as it is in general very hard to find a personal physician that still accepts

patients because the situation in public healthcare is alarming on the overall, let alone

for migrants. A lack of information is also problematic, since relevant information about

the workings of the healthcare system in Slovenia is hard to find. As an example, the

fact that migrant women regardless of their formal status are entitled to emergency

medical care and access to a doctor on duty is not always information that would be

available to foreign nationals. Additionally, migrants experience discrimination in

healthcare and if they are not proficient in Slovenian language, they may be refused

treatment because Slovenia does not secure enough available intercultural mediators

and translators.

Our data shows getting quick and correct information regarding various issues

is problematic, and there is a possibility that some information may be intentionally

poorly disseminated. Recognition of education and skills achieved in migrants’ home

country can facilitate access to the labour market since having a good education helps

to find a job in the field of interest. Yet non-recognition of skills and other educational

documents, especially due to their unavailability as it is the case for a Syrian refugee

woman we interviewed – and often a situation that befalls refugees in general,

complicates her integration process. The state institutions provide primary school

classes for adults and language courses for asylum seekers but the fact that refugees

must first attend primary school for adults and a vocational school to be then able to

enter the Slovenian labour market is not conducive to their integration and hinders

their life prospects.

Migrants are to pay for additional language courses on their own and our data

shows a lack of social integration support even if migrant women speak Slovenian.

Especially for young women, there is a need for organisations where they could meet

other young people from different countries to achieve fuller integration. Refugee

women feel especially isolated. They often cannot afford transport to the capital city

where more NGOs are located and various integration events take place, and at least

socialise in this way. Namely, accommodation in Asylum Centre is provided until

asylum seekers get a refugee status. Once on their own, they mostly move outside of

the cities due to extremely high rent costs. Access to housing is another major

obstacle for migrants and relates to a dire situation in Slovenia in this regard in

general.

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The interviewees also noted the importance of maintaining their own cultural

identity at the same time as learning and adapting to the Slovenian culture.

Immediately upon arrival or being in Slovenia for a shorter period, migrant women

have a less developed social network and thus any kind of integration activities is

welcomed, including meeting other people with different cultural backgrounds.

According to the expert focus group, migrant women from Kosovo are perceived as

not being active job seekers, although this may not necessarily be the case. In this

respect, it is very important to bring together migrant women with different profiles.

Migrants faced additional and new difficulties in the process of migration and

integration due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the “social distancing” mantra it was

particularly difficult for newcomers to meet people, establish new contacts and in this

regard broaden their social network. One interviewee reported that they never invited

neighbours to their flat or the other way around. She spoke about having a very difficult

time meeting new people and making new contacts. The language was thus not the

main barrier, but general circumstances made the situation almost unbearable

sometimes. The impact of COVID-19 on migrant integration has in general been a big

setback (EWSI 2020). There is overwhelming evidence that the pandemic has had a

disproportionately strong impact on migrants and refugees. It highlighted existing

inequalities in access to basic services and affected the already marginalised groups,

such as the migrant population, and especially refugees and asylum seekers (EWSI

2022). The impact of COVID-19 in the area of education and language acquisition has

been especially prominent. Among the challenges migrants faced were securing the

needed equipment to be able to attend distance education, lack of adequate technical

skills and ICT competence of parents to help their children use online communication

tools, and of course the language barrier that prevented many parents in helping their

children with online classes. This has especially affected migrant children of school

age because Slovenia had one of the longest school closures and all the classes were

moved online. Due to COVID-19, language and social learning programmes were also

suspended during lockdowns and have later been downsized, stalling socio-

educational aspect of language classes for migrants.

Policy mechanisms and migrant women´s strategies to overcome barriers

Highly educated migrant women tend to have better contacts in Slovenia and

thus the obstacles are not that high and their support is bigger. Yet all migrant women

draw on social networks and family/partners for integration support. The online survey

data shows that the first assistance after arriving to Slovenia for the majority of women

(53%) were friend networks. Eight women reported being assisted by social and public

entities, seven participants got assistance from the family, four listed associations’

assistance, two got assistance from migrant networks, and one received assistance

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from school. Public bodies and state institutions direct migrant women’s lives and

facilitate or complicate their integration process, while social networks, NGOs and

informal communities play the most important role of assisting in integration. Migrant

women draw on families and social networks (friends, neighbours, migrant groups) for

integration and support. Informal networks with other migrants facilitate their emotional

well-being. NGO programmes include organising social meetings with migrants from

different countries. Our respondents described how once or twice a month they got

invited to a social event, a kind of party where they would meet different people – but

it was cancelled due to the pandemic. Hence it is informal communities through online

platforms and social media such as Gmail or Facebook groups where women get in

contact with other migrants and share information. These social entities are key for

orientation, information, and networking.

In terms of strategies, migration that is facilitated by a company that hires

migrants or work-related entry overall provides a faster way to temporary residency

and status of employment or self-employment. Marriage to a national is another way

to residency. Marriage provides certain benefits in terms of border crossing and legal

stay. Also, family reunion is an option of migration and facilitates getting a residency

when one partner already has a residence in Slovenia. For women who migrate to

Slovenia to join a partner already living in the country, this facilitates their housing

situation because they do not have to look for housing themselves.

Work and job environment further offer assistance and help to connect with

local people and improve migrant women’s language skills. The interviewees have

mostly learnt and improved their language skills through conversations with

colleagues and schoolmates. In some cases it turned out that maintaining their own

cultural identity through contact with relatives and migrants from the same cultural

context could be helpful and supportive. The experts in our sample also highlighted

Slovenian language courses offered by NGOs as a key element of integration support.

Several programmes exist where specialists work with vulnerable groups, providing

migrants with integration assistance, psychosocial support, legal assistance,

discussion groups, and language courses. There is also emphasis on working with

migrant women who have experienced violence, with a crisis toll-free phone-line.

NGOs run activities for migrants in general and various workshops specifically for

women, ranging from embroidery and cooking workshops, to encouraging integration

with local community. They also provide certain trainings, from how to become a

tourist guide to more advanced socio-educational level. NGOs that specialise in

working with asylum seekers and refugees mostly support women with activation, help

with CV writing, with language, help with getting children accepted in kindergarten,

they run workshops for children and parents, as well as perform advocacy work for

improving migrants’ life situations overall. According to the resources from the expert

focus groups, migrant women who want to enter the labour market often encounter

problematic language barrier, deskilling and lack of kindergarten availability for their

children. Namely, if they cannot leave children in day-care, they have no possibility to

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even search for a job. Data confirms that migrant men are on average quicker as

women and find it easier as women to enter the labour market and change jobs.

In terms of resources that survey respondents were offered to improve their

integration, most mention training, followed by employment counselling and legal

advice. It is interesting that most migrant women in the survey (75%) use friends as

support networks to seek employment and only half of them also use public entities

as institutional resources. 94% also do social networking on the internet. Opportunities

exist to find a job before migration, as some professional fields are internationally

networked, but the Slovenian bureaucracy complicates easy transition. Still, entering

Slovenia with a fixed job facilitates the process for residency and provides social

security through employment. When the process of residency is completed, migrants

are entitled to access state support (e.g. basic income during COVID-19 pandemic).

Migrant students in our sample have also mentioned certain measures simplify finding

a job.

With higher education or academic status, finding a job and integration is

easier. Learning the Slovenian language is regarded as the main measure for

integration as it provides a possibility to interact with people and not to be excluded in

discussions. Many institutions (schools, NGOs, state organisations) provide language

classes for migrant women. But financial situation can be an obstacle as upper-level

courses can be very expensive and not all migrant women can afford the costs. The

strategy used by several of our interviewees was to learn Slovenian as quickly as

possible in order to integrate in various communities (school, society, and workforce).

Relying on family support in terms of financing, one interviewee had such support from

parents in her birth country. Women who cannot afford expensive additional lessons,

adopt various strategies to learn the language on their own. Many respondents list

talking to their co-workers helps improve their language proficiency, as well as

listening to local radio and television, and reading children’s books. In the process of

learning the Slovenian language, Izabela talked about having a special approach: “I

learned a lot of Slovenian words because I read a lot”. But even if they are able to

communicate without obstacles, the interviewees document a lack of social integration

support. The resilience strategy used by one interviewee was hence to start learning

Slovenian despite the fact that in her job English language is sufficient.

Sucess stories: migration as empowerment and personal achievement

Migration has had a major impact on the lives of women in our sample. It

improved their life qualitatively. All the women in our sample are in the process of

integration: some more advanced as they already found a job and got a residence

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permit, others are still in the educational process and awaiting to enter the labour

market. Their children are going to school and have mostly no problems with inclusion.

The women describe how they feel more security and empowerment after

coming to Slovenia. According to the interviewees, Slovenia offers better opportunities

for women as their countries of origin. The gender roles and childrearing in Slovenia

are seen more progressive in comparison to their home countries (e.g. Syria, Serbia).

“Women in Slovenia are empowered. Many women in Slovenia can do many things

on their own, without men,” one of the interviewees, Sara, explained how she sees

the difference. This gives women the opportunity to work as sharing the parenting

burden is more equally distributed.

One interviewee came to Slovenia as a refugee with her husband and children

five years ago, having no information about the country and with no choice in the

matter. She talked about gender differences from her own experience; how perception

of women in Syria is that they are weak, but this is not so in Slovenia. According to

her, the women in Slovenia are stronger, whereas in Syria the man is “number one”.

The Slovenian women are thus perceived as being freer; they have more choices to

decide upon. She did add that she is aware that also “in some places in Slovenia men

are number one, but in general it is different”. She noted how in Syria the traditional

gender roles are defined more strictly. Our interviewee commented that the inner

power has changed in her after she came to live in Slovenia. Seeing how women in

Slovenia can do everything without a man was a perception that is very different from

the one in her home country. She would therefore like to stay and gain Slovenian

citizenship status. She and her entire family feel totally safe in Slovenia.

The opportunity of self-employment gave another woman in our sample social

security and provided her basic income financial support during the pandemic, which

enabled her to integrate into the labour market. The narratives of female migrants in

our analysis show they share expectations and hope that the quality of their own and

their family life will improve. Living in Slovenia, comparing their lives in home countries,

is evaluated through comparisons in terms of available opportunities and resources.

They concur that the migration process has improved their lives. Considering many

maintain the cultural identity of their home country and eventually also forge new social

networks in Slovenia, they also nurture their own emotional wellbeing. As one of the

interviewed women in our sample commented in terms of her own migration as

success and empowerment: “I think I will live a happy life from now on.”

Conclusions

The article investigated various processes that either thwart or facilitate the

integration of migrant women in Slovenia. It did so by articulating the existing

institutional dimensions as well as offering insight into factual experiences and actions

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of female migrants. We argued that despite many obstacles and often-hostile

environment, especially in bureaucratic procedures, many women perceive their

migration to Slovenia as a personal empowerment and success. Drawing on fresh

empirical data gathered in an online survey, in-depth individual interviews with migrant

women, as well as expert focus groups with key NGOs in terms of migrant integration,

we were particularly interested in the socio-educational aspect of integration through

language acquisition. This brought about a conclusion that corroborates already

existing research which shows how immigrants overwhelmingly adapt to their host

societies and invest their energies, resources and time in the process of integration.

The same could not be said for the host societies, which lack understanding

integration as a two-way process that requires an adaptation also from the local

population, and institutional inclusivity practices.

Labour market integration and migration through marriage and family reunion

are the most common way of coming to Slovenia. The biggest obstacle is seen in

official procedures, even for migrant women who speak the Slovenian language, let

alone for those who do not. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a general reservation

of Slovenian people towards immigration, interaction with the locals is sometimes

challenging, additionally burdened by discriminatory behaviour and hostility that

constitutes a major obstacle to integration. Learning the Slovenian language is

therefore seen as the main measure for integration; it enables social and labour

market inclusion, facilitates interaction and expands one’s social circle. Apart from

scarce official integration courses that exist only for third-country nationals, Slovenian

classes are taken in schools, NGOs or even at home without professional help.

According to the interviewees’ experiences and corroborated by the experts’

advocacy work with migrants, bureaucratic matters are problematic in Slovenia. This

also involves getting correct and quick information regarding various issues. Access

to services is particularly difficult in smaller towns and villages (or in places where

there are considered to be no immigrants). There is a lack of services or support that

would include migrant women into the needs assessment process. Addressing the

barriers and needs experienced by women in our sample, we also noted the influence

of the COVID-19 pandemic on the integration processes of female migrants in

Slovenia. Even though the latest analyses show how education services - particularly

language courses - were the most likely type of service to be moved online across all

EU countries (EWSI 2022), the Slovenian reality was that most language courses for

foreign nationals were stalled or even cancelled, resulting in a massive backlog in

terms of accessibility (Socialna zbornica Slovenije 2021).

Despite all the hurdles, female migrant voices in this research at the same time

offer new insights into the complexity that each individual migration process entails.

The data shows how migration needs to also be understood as empowerment and a

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life success story for many migrant women. From small personal victories every time

a bureaucratic obstacle is solved, to every success story related to inclusion in

education, housing, labour market and healthcare, integration is not only a state policy

but a personal life evaluation. Success therefore relates to both the migrants’ own

narratives and to the host society’s perspective regarding integration through

language acquisition. Opening up the avenues for mutual understanding and

discussion, the article hence highlighted the socio-educational aspect of language

acquisition as one of the key aspects of migrant integration. Moreover, it is particularly

the feelings of empowerment that the women in our research describe in relation to

changing gender relations, which brings about the most positive integrational aspects.

While language proficiency allows easier communication and social networking in any

new environment, in the context of migrant integration policies it is also burdened with

cultural nationalism. Yet the feeling of inner strength and female empowerment

reported by the women in our research also strongly highlights their agency in the

integration processes.

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Acknowldgements and funding information

The research for this article was conducted with the financial support of the European

Union’s Erasmus+ programme under grant agreement No. 2020-1-ES01-KA203-

082364 (Voices of Immigrant Women), and by the Slovenian Research Agency under

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conceptualizations of nationalism, racism, gender and migration).