6 M. BOSWORTH ET AL. I wanted to leave because the government is a problem and my husband is a soldier and I faced too many problems because of that and there is no job for me. For all this I wanted to go out. And from Eritrea I walked to Sudan. (Sarah) Threats or experience of sexual violence compounded women's victimisation, as did their experiences of exploitation. Often, quite basic choices in life around relationships and living conditions had been seriously compromised. Fola had left Nigeria, she explained, because, as a woman, she was denied inheritance and was in danger of being married against her will: Downloaded by [94.66.124.78] at 01:32 30 November 2017 I don't have a mother, I don't have a father. I have a cousin and this cousin is treating us bad. All my father's property he collected from us. Many things like that. Before we see food he eats it. So I decided maybe to go find work and live. I don't have mother or father to say to me go or no go. Even my uncle don't know when I left. He wants me to marry one old man, one old man because he has money. I can't marry someone for money. (Fola) Women, especially those without a male head of household, also came to Greece seeking economic opportunities to support their family and children. Many talked about being unable to fulfil the role of mother and provider in the absence of breadwinners. They had to migrate to provide for the children they had left behind: I left because of the economic crisis. This is my problem. I worked for seven years in a hospital but if you get 35 Euros a month you can't do anything with your life. And when your kids grow up what are you going to do? My husband died and my children are married. I have to do something to survive because I don't get the pension. I can't go forward with a chicken and a goat in the village. (Mzia, Georgia) In contrast to other accounts in refugee studies which often portray women as being swept up in forced migration journeys (Pickering 2011), our participants claimed that the decisions to undertake the illicit journey were their own. They had all identified Europe as a destination themselves, and had been determined to travel there. Although many described circumstances where family and others had attempted to dissuade them from making the journey (Andersson 2014), most were, at least initially, facilitated by family members or close connections, with the preliminary arrangements made on their behalf by a member of their extended domestic group. All were facilitated by multiple actors who assisted them at different points in their journey. Charges were high, ranging between 6000 and 20,000 euros for the trip. All but one had paid that money before embarking on their journey or in instalments along the way. Only one woman reported paying after arrival in Greece. All said that their facilitators made the detailed decisions and arrangements about how and when the border would be crossed. In terms of their knowledge of border control prior to their journey the women fell into four distinct groups. Those from Cape Verde, Nigeria and Dominican Republic neither knew what would happen at the border, nor understood the consequences of having no papers or fraudulent documentation. They had not even comprehended that they would have irregular status. While participants from Eritrea and Somalia had some idea that entering Greece without documents would be difficult, they appeared to have no specific details about what would happen upon arrival. In contrast, women from Iraq had a more developed understanding of the difficulties they would face, including those