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Central American Female Migration and the Micro-Politics of Border Control: Mobile Ethnography along the Migrant Route in Mexico

Alemir, Sara LU (2014) SIMV21 20141
Graduate School
Master of Science in Social Studies of Gender
Department of Sociology
Abstract
Every year hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants from mainly Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador embark on a journey through Mexican territory with the hopes of a better future in the United States - estimations suggest that up to thirty percent are women. Transnational migration is due to heightened violence in Central America on the rise. Although earlier research about women´s particular mobility is scarce, reports and studies maintain that women to a larger extent suffer violence and insecurity en route as compared to their male counterparts. The objective with this thesis is to explore current border policy and its practices in relation to women´s experiences en route. Motivated by mobile ethnography and the need for... (More)
Every year hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants from mainly Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador embark on a journey through Mexican territory with the hopes of a better future in the United States - estimations suggest that up to thirty percent are women. Transnational migration is due to heightened violence in Central America on the rise. Although earlier research about women´s particular mobility is scarce, reports and studies maintain that women to a larger extent suffer violence and insecurity en route as compared to their male counterparts. The objective with this thesis is to explore current border policy and its practices in relation to women´s experiences en route. Motivated by mobile ethnography and the need for thorough research in contexts of conflict I follow migrants in transit and explore the various localities pertaining to the migrant route. Aided by theories about transnational border control, its human consequences and gender, I show how migrant women are funneled into a context of impunity, insecurity and violence and conclude that gender norms and expectations permeate these spatialities. Women are deemed as out of place, they have few options but using sex as a strategy for survival, and rape further functions as a regulating mechanism of border control. Violence against women is highly facilitated, thus serving as yet another feature to the gender-specific policing of borders in this frontier between the Global South and North. (Less)
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author
Alemir, Sara LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMV21 20141
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
gender, migration, illegality, borders, Mexico, Central America, United States, ethnography, mobile research
language
English
id
4646346
date added to LUP
2014-09-15 14:15:08
date last changed
2014-09-15 14:15:08
@misc{4646346,
  abstract     = {{Every year hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants from mainly Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador embark on a journey through Mexican territory with the hopes of a better future in the United States - estimations suggest that up to thirty percent are women. Transnational migration is due to heightened violence in Central America on the rise. Although earlier research about women´s particular mobility is scarce, reports and studies maintain that women to a larger extent suffer violence and insecurity en route as compared to their male counterparts. The objective with this thesis is to explore current border policy and its practices in relation to women´s experiences en route. Motivated by mobile ethnography and the need for thorough research in contexts of conflict I follow migrants in transit and explore the various localities pertaining to the migrant route. Aided by theories about transnational border control, its human consequences and gender, I show how migrant women are funneled into a context of impunity, insecurity and violence and conclude that gender norms and expectations permeate these spatialities. Women are deemed as out of place, they have few options but using sex as a strategy for survival, and rape further functions as a regulating mechanism of border control. Violence against women is highly facilitated, thus serving as yet another feature to the gender-specific policing of borders in this frontier between the Global South and North.}},
  author       = {{Alemir, Sara}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Central American Female Migration and the Micro-Politics of Border Control: Mobile Ethnography along the Migrant Route in Mexico}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}