Racialized Access to Domestic Violence Shelter

Domestic violence shelters in Finland aim to offer low-threshold services to all survivors. However, racially minoritized survivors—such as the Roma— often face discrimination. For those fleeing violence, obstacles in accessing shelter can be a matter of life and death. This paper examines how racialization of Roma survivors can affect access to immediate safety. The study asks: (1) How do shelter workers perceive survivors racialized as Roma ethnic minority? (2) How do shelter workers perceptions of survivors racialized as Roma ethnic minority affect their access to immediate safety? (3) How is the exclusion of survivors racialized as Roma ethnic minority reproduced and resisted in shelter’s practices? I conducted research in a domestic violence shelter in Finland, where I had worked full-time as a shelter worker. To collect the data, I used the method of feminist autoethnography as critical action research. The data consists of my own voice-recorded reflections, observations, workshop notes and written materials. Analysis is informed by feminist intersectionality and the concept of habitual racialization. This study demonstrates how racialization can affect shelter work and raise the access threshold. However, reflexive worker agency and a low-threshold framework offer opportunities to resist racialized discrimination and act inclusively.