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Olivera Simic

Abstract

In this paper I offer personal reflections on life in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. I reflect on what it means for a migrant woman with a complex traumatic past to be indefinitely stranded. I also draw on experiences of other migrant women living in Australia during the pandemic. The reflection brings attention to personal narratives that contribute to the growing importance of women’s herstories. With this narrative, I want to pay tribute to migrant women’s lives and by using my own experiences as a case study to reflect on personal struggles that the COVID-19 pandemic triggered. The issues of trauma, forcible separation and economic migration will be explored.

Author Biography

Olivera Simić is Associate Professor with the Griffith Law School, Griffith University, Australia and Visiting Fellow with Transitional Justice Institute, Ulster University, Belfast. Olivera published numerous articles, book chapters and books. Her latest monograph Silenced Victims of Wartime Sexual Violence was published by Rutledge in 2018. After working for many years with survivors of mass atrocities, Olivera is currently working on a project that looks at what happens to individuals who served their sentence for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanities. She is writing a monograph about Biljana Plavsic, the only woman prosecuted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Contact: o.simic@griffith.edu.au

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