One for all, all for one: migration, citizenship and gender in Europe
In the early 1990s, a foreign spouse trying to get a divorce in Germany during the first four years of marriage could face deportation, according to the 1991 Aliens Act . With the risk of losing residency if the marriage was broken, many women were put into situations of domestic violence and sexual exploitation by their husbands, an aspect initially dismissed by German legislators. Citizenship may promise equality and inclusion, but it also builds boundaries and contains inherent exclusions. Although the German example may seem far away in time, the relationship between gender, migration and citizenship is today still a problematic one across Europe. Citizenship is not a neutral phenomenon, but has been developed throughout history in ways which have carried gender assumptions at its heart. Creating citizens across Europe has generally been linked to the male breadwinner, patriarchal attitudes and the existence of exclusive political structures; in the UK, institutional sexism c