4

The fight against gender-based violence has been on the political agenda in Belgium since the 1980s and a legislative arsenal and policies to combat violence against women has been progressively adopted. The specific nature of violence against migrant women has recently emerged and led to the adoption of specific laws and policies. However, their real impact on the situation of migrant women is questionable. Implementation of relevant provisions, including those included in the Istanbul Convention recently ratified by Belgium, appear to be influenced by a tension between, on the one hand, the desire to protect them in the name of equal treatment and apply the principle of gender mainstreaming and, on the other hand, the control of migration flows.