Race, gender and violence: Latin American women’s experiences of the UK’s migration regime.

• In Event: Criminology of Mobility. Panel 5. Narratives and lived experiences of refugees, asylum seekers & migrants

Abstract

This paper examines findings from a pilot study of the experiences of border regimes from the perspective of Latin American migrant women in the UK. Latin America faces the highest rates of firearm violence and homicide in the world and the highest rates of femicide around the world, with 3,529 women killed across the region because of their gender in 2018 (OECD, 2021). While violence is a central driver for displacement, and despite growing migration between Latin America and the UK, the experiences of Latin American migrants in the UK remain understudied, and the group remains invisible in policy and public debates. There is a paucity of literature about the experiences of women who migrate, their experiences of crossing borders and their disproportionately disadvantaged status. This paper begins to address this issue by exploring the interconnections between gender, racialisation, violence and immigration regimes.
The study analyses data from in-depth semi-structured and unstructured interviews with 12 women from Latin America living in the UK, some of whom are seeking asylum, and some who were previously undocumented. Additionally, one interview was conducted with a practitioner working to support the women. The study shows that violence, including from organised criminal groups and the police, plays a significant role in the need to flee one’s country of origin. While mothers and families lost loved ones, the state continued to sanction and enforce violence against them by failing to support. Complex forms of violence and neglect continued after the women fled and sought shelter in the UK. The paper considers the ramifications of the harms caused by migration regimes.

Authors

• Roxana Pessoa Cavalcanti, University of Brighton

• Monish Bhatia, University of York