‘We Are Stuck in Our Own Heads’: Immigrant Women and Institutional Practices in Iceland

Immigrant women in Iceland have reported experiencing discrimination and marginalization in society and when interacting with institutions. However, this topic remains under-researched in the Icelandic context. The present article explores how institutional representatives construct immigrant women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV), their needs and their barriers to support-seeking through ideas of Icelandic exceptionalism and Whiteness. The analysis is based on two data sets: 16 interviews with institutional representatives who provide services for immigrants and/or women who experience IPV and 16 #metoo stories published by immigrant women in 2018. The analysis reveals that institutional representatives focus on immigrant women lacking trust in institutions and knowledge about their rights and procedures because of misconceptions in the immigrant community and lies told by violent partners. This individualistic perspective leads them to emphasize their responsibility in teaching immigrant women about their rights and to trust institutions. The institutional representatives fail to acknowledge structural marginalization and institutional discrimination intersecting with immigrant women’s experiences of IPV and support-seeking. As the institutional culture is rooted in the believe that equality is the basis of the welfare state and that Icelandic culture is free from discriminatory practices, institutional representatives rarely incorporate intersectional perspectives into institutional practices.