Women Face Extra Dangers in Migration

Friday, 24 April 2009 00:00

It has been well documented that illegally crossing the United States - Mexico border is dangerous. But about half the immigrants who attempt to cross the border have to face dangers the other half does not – the dangers of being a woman.

“Gender is a constituted element of life. Gender shapes everything,” Paola Molina said. “The risks are gendered in the initial crossing experience.”

Molina, a six-year Ph.D. candidate at the University of Arizona , has been interviewing women who are in a migrant shelter in Nogales, Sonora. These women have been deported from the U.S. and repatriated to Mexico.

Molina said there has been a growing number of unaccompanied women migrating to the U.S. mostly for economic reasons. Some of these women are supporting their family back in Mexico, while others come to find their own economic opportunities.

Molina said prior to the 1980s, it was assumed that the typical migrant was a man. Today, women make up more than half of migrants worldwide.

Since the 1990s, she said there has been an increase in female migrants traveling alone, often to find means to support their families. There is also a trend of families sending their daughters to America to work.

This is because daughters and other female family members are expected to be more responsible in sending money back to their family Mexico, Molina said.

Molina said women face unique obstacles that men do not face while crossing the border.

Through her research, Molina has talked to women who were humiliated on their journey, being forced to do things like pull their pants down in front of border patrol agents.

But such humiliation is not the worst obstacle women face while crossing the border.

“A 'gendered risk' is the possibility of being raped, of being sexually assaulted,” she said.

Molina said she has heard some women say they take birth control pills prior to crossing the border expecting that they may be raped or sexually assaulted.

She also said that there is a UA study that showed that women are almost three times more likely to die of exposure to the elements than men are while crossing the border.

This suggests that women are often left behind because they cannot keep up with their guide and group, Molina said.

Molina said the Tucson sector of the border is the highest trafficked area with one out of every two illegal immigrants apprehended in its boundaries. This has made border cities like Nogales a hub for more than 1,000 repatriated individuals per day.

Molina said these people are left in “limbo” between two lives.

“These folks don't have a lot of options left,” she said.

As part of her research, Molina asks women if they plan to cross the border again after being deported. She found that some women were so traumatized by the experience that they would not cross again while others said they would make the journey again, mostly because they need work.

"I asked (one woman) why are you crossing? 'La necesidad' – the necessity. I need to work," Molina said.

According to Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith, UA department of Mexican-American studies lecturer, single Mexican women may want to come to America to find new experiences.

“Some may come because they want to see the world, they want to change their lives,” Rubio-Goldsmith said.

She said some Mexican men have a culture of machismo, or male dominance, which discourages women from being independent, but this trend is changing.

“There is kind of a tradition of machismo in some of the smaller towns that may be there,” Rubio-Goldsmith said. “But lack of economic opportunity is more (of a migration factor) then the machismo thing.”

Rubio-Goldsmith said the Women's Liberation Movement has had an impact in Mexico over the years, with less machismo in big cities.

“The immigration of the male is very disturbing to the family unit so family reunification is one of the big things advocates are fighting for,” Rubio-Goldsmith said. “The disruption of the family is really really profound in the lower classes of Mexico.”

Molina said immigration is always going to be an issue in America.

“Migration is part of the globalization story,” Molina said “All we are changing is the risk that people have to endure. We're encouraging people to stay here. It would be nice if we showed some recognition of these things.”

Written by Cody Calamaio You are reading Women Face Extra Dangers in Migration articles