De víctimas a Agentes. Imaginarios y prácticas sobre la violencia de género en la pareja contra mujeres inmigrantes en el Estado español

Abstract

In the field of studies on gender-based intimate partner violence perpetrated against immigrant women diverse arguments have been presented to explain the gradual increase of cases of violence against these women. Similarly, diverse arguments are presented in order to explain their alleged situation of greater vulnerability compared to native women in receiving societies. However, it has paid little attention to the usefulness of these discourses and on the resistance generated by immigrant women to deal with violent situations. Following the critical debates about the homogenization and culturalization effects of certain arguments on the study of female migration, in this paper we analyze and problematize the construction of the immigrant women subject as a group particularly exposed to violence in heterosexual relationships in Spain. This research study is a qualitative research and its empirical work was carried out in two phases. The first one was centered in a content analysis of the discourses of women connected with academy. In the second phase of the research, we developed narrative productions carried out with women working in the public administration, third sector, political activism and academy. From the social constructionism and situated knowledge perspective, the outcomes of the research show the tensions about the construction and characterization of the immigrant women in a situation of intimate partner violence from a position of inferiority, vulnerability and insecurity, as well as the homogenization and culturalization of this violence as an inherent element of the immigration collective. Thus, the research sheds light on the importance of considering in the analysis and interventions the processes of agency and resistance that immigrant women themselves have been developing to address gender-based violence.

Date of Award	19 Oct 2015
Original language	Spanish
Supervisor	Marisela Montenegro Martinez (Director) & Caterine Galaz Valderrama (Co-director)