Borders separating two states are the markers of inequality in terms of gender as well as in terms of other intersecting social locations of marginalization and discrimination. Mobile populations generate cartographic anxieties for the keepers of these borders who, in turn, respond by increasingly criminalizing unwanted border crossing. While mainstream criminology has historically focused on matters of exclusion, integration and identity, discussion of its relation to borders and more specifically, 'gendered borders' has been oblique. This article presents the narratives of young Bangladeshi women, detained in Kolkata, India under the Foreigners Act (1946), on borders and border crossings, bringing into the discussion women's understandings of their 'transgressions' in relation to normative and androcentric paradigms of state sovereignty and border control. It connects the newly emerging body of work on the criminalization of mobility with feminist theorizations and methodologies for an empirical understanding of the lived experiences of those subject to practices of border control. By focusing on the narratives of Bangladeshi women imprisoned in India for infractions against the sanctity of the Indo-Bangladeshi border, the article provides an insight into how everyday border crossings can be framed and understood differently, in juxtaposition to dominant rationales underpinning criminalization discourses.

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Refugees lose their networks and support systems on their journey from their home country. In addition, they may experience torture, trauma, and socio‐economic hardship. A critical question concerning refugee wellbeing is how refugee belonging, inclusivity, and community connectedness can be better understood, strengthened, and promoted. In this article, we discuss how members of the Tamil Seniors Group, supported by the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), develop social networks in Australia. Based on two focus group discussions, this article analyses their experiences through the intersection of age and gender to elucidate the challenges and affordances of networking and establishing social relations in Australia.