The "epidemic within the pandemic”: meeting the needs of racially minoritised women experiencing domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic

PurposeIn March 2020, the UK entered its first lockdown responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the same month, the Domestic Abuse Bill had its first reading in Parliament. Charities and non-governmental organisations critiqued the Bill for failing to protect migrants from domestic abuse, and not complying with the Istanbul Convention. Drawing on interviews with staff from Southall Black Sisters, this paper aims to foreground the experiences of practitioners within the women's sector to explore the unique experiences and challenges migrant and racially minoritised women encountered when seeking support from domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic. It highlights how the pandemic-related lockdowns created barriers to accessing support services and housing, creating an epidemic within the pandemic, and how minoritised women and the organisations that supported them had to overcome structural barriers and racism.Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from a leading women's organisation that supports migrant and racially minoritised women. Four participants were asked questions within four themes: domestic abuse before and during the pandemic;accessing support from and reporting domestic abuse;accessibility of resources;and post-pandemic challenges. A phenomenological approach was used to analyse the transcribed interviews.FindingsParticipants consistently highlighted the unique threats and barriers migrant and racially minoritised women faced when seeking support. Barriers included racism, language barriers, cultural constraints, the triple threat of destitution, detention, deportation, and political resistance to protect migrant women from destitution/homelessness.Originality/valueThis paper provides a unique insight into the experiences of staff members within a specialist by and for women's support organisation in England and their perspectives on the barriers racially minoritised and migrant women experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. It offers rare insights into how service users' needs changed during the lockdowns and how the pandemic affected their ability to operate.

INTERSECTIONALITY MEET SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORK: THE CASE OF HUELVA IN TIMES OF COVID-19

The COVID-19 has made the structural deficiencies of the global agri-food system more visible than ever. The agricultural enclave of Huelva is no exception. Departing from the pre-COVID scenario and adding the effects of the pandemic, this paper analyses the processes of discrimination and abuse embedded in the rationale and modus operand/' of the Spanish temporary workers' programme (GECCO). In particular, it examines how such processes of discrimination are reflected in three key aspects of the programme: recruitment, working conditions and living conditions. Thanks to the intersectional perspective and the feminist contributions to the world-ecology capitalism, the analysis sheds light on the mutual constitution of different axes of inequality (e.g. motherhood, ethnicity, rural origin) in the practices of discrimination and exploitation suffered by Moroccan women. In turn, it examines how such intersecting inequalities are geographically located in a specific temporal and spatial context that plays a role in the construction of power relationships at a structural level. The paper is fed by recent fieldwork based on in-depth interviews with stakeholders as part of a European research project on schemes of governance and circular migration (ADMIGOV). Copyright © 2022 CSIC.

Decolonial dialogues: COVID-19 and migrant women's remembrance as resistance

This contribution presents a text-journey documenting decolonial moments experienced during COVID-19 with other migrant women from Pakistan residing in the Netherlands. It explores women's negotiations of epistemic disregard experienced during integration, by means of Urdu language proverbs that arose during our conversations. Through remembrance, the presence of relationalities and multiple temporalities [Vazquez (2009). Modernity coloniality and visibility: The politics of time. Sociological Research Online, 14(4), 109–115] are expressed in knowledge practices we have brought from Pakistan. This raises crucial questions: How do relational and temporal dimensions (in)form migrant women's practices and struggles? In what ways do migrant women defy modern knowledges and follow their ancestral ways of knowing, being, and doing? In addressing these questions, a decolonial approach is used to create (alternative) spaces, for those bodies that are relational and are sites of memory and temporality. Maria Lugones' [(1987). Playfulness, "world”-travelling, and loving perception. Hypatia, 2(2), 3–19] concept of world traveling and Rolando Vazquez's [(2009). Modernity coloniality and visibility: The politics of time. Sociological Research Online, 14(4), 109–115;Vazquez, R. (October 2015). Relational temporalities: From modernity to the decolonial. Unpublished manuscript] concepts of plural temporalities and relationality are used as a framework to understand remembrance as resistance to dominant world views.

Women Migrants in Pandemic: Intersectionalities and care in Greater Buenos Aires

Based on a participatory action research that began in 2019 in a segregated area of the San Martin district of Greater Buenos Aires, I propose to analyze, on the one hand, the unequal effects of the coronavirus health emergency —and the measures aimed at mitigating them —, in migrant women from an intersectional perspective. On the other hand, I intend to examine the community care strategies deployed by these women, who are mostly the ones who, from their multiple organizations and knowledge, contain the crisis in these popular neighborhoods and cover, creating and strengthening networking, the various shortcomings of the measures adopted from different levels of the State. Both data collected prior to the pandemic and registers of observation and interviews conducted remotely during 2020 will be examined © 2022, Revista Estudos Feministas.All Rights Reserved.

Quality of maternal and newborn care around the time of childbirth for migrant versus nonmigrant women during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results of the IMAgiNE EURO study in 11 countries of the WHO European region.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the perception of quality of maternal and newborn care (QMNC) around the time of childbirth among migrant and nonmigrant women in Europe. METHODS: Women who gave birth at a health facility in 11 countries of the WHO European Region from March 2020 to July 2021 were invited to answer an online questionnaire including demographics and childbirth experience. Data were analyzed and compared for 1781 migrant and 20 653 nonmigrant women. RESULTS: Migrant women who experienced labor perceived slightly more difficulties in attending routine antenatal visits (41.2% vs 39.4%; P = 0.001), more barriers in accessing facilities (32.9% vs 29.9%; P = 0.001), lack of timely care (14.7% vs 13.0%; P = 0.025), inadequate room comfort and equipment (9.2% vs 8.5%; P = 0.004), inadequate number of women per room (9.4% vs 8.6%; P = 0.039), being prevented from staying with their baby as they wished (7.8% vs 6.9%; P = 0.011), or suffering abuse (14.5% vs 12.7%; P = 0.022) compared with nonmigrant women. For women who had a prelabor cesarean, migrant women were more likely not to receive pain relief after birth (16.8% vs.13.5%; P = 0.039) and less likely to provide informal payment (1.8% vs 4.4%; P = 0.005) compared with nonmigrant women. Overall, the QMNC index was not significantly different for migrant compared with nonmigrant women. CONCLUSION: Gaps in overall QMNC were reported by both migrant and nonmigrant women, with improvements to healthcare necessary for all.

The "epidemic within the pandemic”: meeting the needs of racially minoritised women experiencing domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic

PurposeIn March 2020, the UK entered its first lockdown responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the same month, the Domestic Abuse Bill had its first reading in Parliament. Charities and non-governmental organisations critiqued the Bill for failing to protect migrants from domestic abuse, and not complying with the Istanbul Convention. Drawing on interviews with staff from Southall Black Sisters, this paper aims to foreground the experiences of practitioners within the women's sector to explore the unique experiences and challenges migrant and racially minoritised women encountered when seeking support from domestic abuse during the Covid-19 pandemic. It highlights how the pandemic-related lockdowns created barriers to accessing support services and housing, creating an epidemic within the pandemic, and how minoritised women and the organisations that supported them had to overcome structural barriers and racism. Design/methodology/approachIn-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from a leading women's organisation that supports migrant and racially minoritised women. Four participants were asked questions within four themes: domestic abuse before and during the pandemic;accessing support from and reporting domestic abuse;accessibility of resources;and post-pandemic challenges. A phenomenological approach was used to analyse the transcribed interviews. FindingsParticipants consistently highlighted the unique threats and barriers migrant and racially minoritised women faced when seeking support. Barriers included racism, language barriers, cultural constraints, the triple threat of destitution, detention, deportation, and political resistance to protect migrant women from destitution/homelessness. Originality/valueThis paper provides a unique insight into the experiences of staff members within a specialist by and for women's support organisation in England and their perspectives on the barriers racially minoritised and migrant women experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. It offers rare insights into how service users' needs changed during the lockdowns and how the pandemic affected their ability to operate.

Migrantas en Pandemia: interseccionalidades y cuidados en el Gran Buenos Aires

A partir de una investigación-acción-participativa que comenzó en 2019 en una zona segregada del partido de San Martin del Gran Buenos Aires, propongo analizar, por un lado, los efectos desiguales de la emergencia sanitaria del coronavirus —y las medidas tendientes a mitigarlas—, en mujeres migrantes desde una perspectiva interseccional. Por otro lado, pretendo examinar las estrategias de cuidados comunitarios que despliegan estas mujeres que son en su gran mayoría quienes, a partir de sus múltiples organizaciones y saberes, contienen la crisis en estos barrios populares y cubren, a partir de la creación y el fortalecimiento del trabajo en red, las diversas falencias de las medidas adoptadas desde distintos niveles del Estado. Se examinarán tanto los datos recopilados con anterioridad a la pandemia como también registros de observación y entrevistas realizadas de manera remota durante 2020Alternate : Com base numa pesquisa-ação-participativa que começou em 2019 em uma área segregada do distrito de San Martin da Grande Buenos Aires, proponho analisar, por um lado, os efeitos desiguais da emergência sanitária do coronavírus —e as medidas que visa mitigá-los—, em mulheres migrantes, a partir de uma perspectiva interseccional. Por outro lado, pretendo examinar as estratégias de cuidado comunitário implantadas por essas mulheres, cuja grande maioria, a partir de suas múltiplas organizações e saberes, contêm a crise nesses bairros populares e cobrem, pela criação e fortalecimento do trabalho em rede, as várias deficiências das medidas adotadas em diferentes níveis do Estado. Serão examinados tanto os dados coletados antes da pandemia quanto os registros de observação e entrevistas realizadas remotamente durante o ano de 2020.Alternate : Based on a participatory action research that began in 2019 in a segregated area of the San Martin district of Greater Buenos Aires, I propose to analyze, on the one hand, the unequal effects of the coronavirus health emergency —and the measures aimed at mitigating them —, in migrant women from an intersectional perspective. On the other hand, I intend to examine the community care strategies deployed by these women, who are mostly the ones who, from their multiple organizations and knowledge, contain the crisis in these popular neighborhoods and cover, creating and strengthening networking, the various shortcomings of the measures adopted from different levels of the State. Both data collected prior to the pandemic and registers of observation and interviews conducted remotely during 2020 will be examined.

Towards Critical Analytical Auto-Ethnography: Global Pandemic and Migrant Women (Im)mobilities in Northern Ireland

This article discusses the usefulness of critical analytical auto-ethnography in studying migrant (im)mobilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas the auto-ethnographic genre has boomed during COVID-19 times, the authors of auto-ethnographic texts usually focus on their own experiences of the pandemic, engaging in an evocative style of writing. Following an overview of autoethnographic writing genres, this article discusses complex issues of insider/outsider status in pandemic research. It calls for a critical and analytical auto-ethnographic approach to the study of migrations and mobilities in a context in which they are currently unevenly distributed.

Remote Fieldwork With African Migrant Women During COVID-19 Pandemic in London: A Reflection.

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic unraveled, state-led preventative restrictions created a "new" normal through remote home-working. A long-planned follow-up qualitative research study on risk perceptions and experiences regarding Clay Ingestion among black African women during pregnancy, in London, was disrupted as England went into lockdown. Against this backdrop, we shifted to remote data collection which raised pertinent concerns around access to technology and participant digital skills. We share our experiences of navigating through remote fieldwork during the pandemic with black African mothers with caring responsibilities as well as the extra burden of homeschooling, the challenges we encountered and how we mitigate these and the lessons learnt. Thus, drawing from our remote qualitative research experiences, we refer to notable examples of challenges, mitigating strategies applied and potential lessons to inform future practice.

Change in Work-Related Income Following the Uptake of Treatment for Mental Disorders Among Young Migrant and Non-migrant Women in Norway: A National Register Study.

Background: Women, and migrant women in particular, are at increased risk of many common mental disorders, which may potentially impact their labor market participation and their work-related income. Previous research found that mental disorders are associated with several work-related outcomes such as loss of income, however, not much is known about how this varies with migrant background. This study investigated the change in work-related income following the uptake of outpatient mental healthcare (OPMH) treatment, a proxy for mental disorder, in young women with and without migrant background. Additionally, we looked at how the association varied by income level. Methods: Using data from four national registries, the study population consisted of women aged 23-40 years residing in Norway for at least three consecutive years between 2006 and 2013 (N = 640,527). By using a stratified linear regression with individual fixed effects, we investigated differences between majority women, descendants and eight migrant groups. Interaction analysis was conducted in order to examine differences in income loss following the uptake of OPMH treatment among women with and without migrant background. Results: Results showed that OPMH treatment was associated with a decrease in income for all groups. However, the negative effect was stronger among those with low income. Only migrant women from Western and EU Eastern Europe with a high income were not significantly affected following OPMH treatment. Conclusion: Experiencing a mental disorder during a critical age for establishment in the labor market can negatively affect not only income, but also future workforce participation, and increase dependency on social welfare services and other health outcomes, regardless of migrant background. Loss of income due to mental disorders can also affect future mental health, resulting in a vicious circle and contributing to more inequalities in the society.

E-Learning y empoderamiento de las trabajadoras del hogar centroamericanas en Barcelona en tiempos de COVID-19: el caso del CITE

This article focuses on the case of Central American female domestic and care workers in Barcelona, many of whom live and work as undocumented migrants and are unaware of their rights and the mechanisms to exercise them. The Trade Union Confederation of Workers’ Commissions, from its CITE association, has vast experience in training foreigners through the delivery of face-to-face workshops on labor rights that have enabled their empowerment. With the COVID-19 emergency, the face-to-face workshop format switched to virtual for the first time, through the use of Google Meet (formerly Hangouts Meet) application, allowing mobile learning (m-learning). The results presented show how this new training modality, despite the challenges it poses to organizers in terms of technological and human resources, not only achieves the empowerment of the benefitted migrant women, but also improves the accessibility of this vulnerable group to training. © 2022 Association of Iberian and Latin American Studies of Australasia (AILASA).

The impact of COVID-19 on migrant women in son Gotleu (Palma) and the development of outreach tools to improve health and social care.

AIMS: The objectives of this research protocol are as follows: to examine the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on health and social care for migrant women in the Son Gotleu district of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and to develop outreach tools to target this specific group. DESIGN: This is a qualitative study that uses content analysis to obtain in-depth knowledge of personal experience (manifest content) and contextual experience (latent content) in a specific social setting. METHODS: The study population are migrant women living in Son Gotleu district, who are segmented by their age and experience of COVID-19, defined as positive or negative according to whether or not they have been infected with the disease. RESULTS: The shortcomings and needs relating to communication and health care that affect this group's current and future quality of life will be identified. CONCLUSION: The study of migrant women offers a gateway allowing vulnerability in health care to be detected. An awareness of their needs will allow prototype tools to be developed to facilitate communication and care for general and acute health needs between the scientific community and the vulnerable population.

Skilled Migrant Women’s Experiences of the Job Search Process1

In this article, we address how skilled migrant women experience job search processes in Finland, and the expectations and emotions that arise from these workforce encounters, which we explore through unique qualitative data. Although Finland relies strongly on principles of equality and inclusion, highly educated migrant women face major difficulties in job application processes. The employment level of migrant women in Finland is low compared to other Nordic countries, and even though migrant women are more educated than migrant men and their Finnish language skills are better, they encounter many hurdles in employment. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation is getting more difficult for many women with non-Finnish background. There are multiple hurdles in highly educated women workers’ employment, which relate to structural and cultural aspects and which end up in discrimination in recruitment processes. © 2021,Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. All Rights Reserved.

PANDEMIC AND CARE: RESPONSES FROM THE SELF-ORGANIZATION OF DOMESTIC WORKERS

This contribution reflects the results of the analysis of the impact of COVID-19 on the work of migrant women who provide services as domestic and care workers. This impact has been addressed at two levels. At a macro level, investigating what social implications it has to give greater recognition to care work during confinement and to endow it with certain rights. And at the micro level, conducting a case study on how the virus has affected the labor, social, economic and emotional conditions of migrant workers of the Association of Home and Care Workers of Zaragoza, focusing on self-organization processes carried out by the workers themselves. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.

"We are Forgotten": Forced Migration, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence, and Coronavirus Disease-2019.

Adopting a structural violence approach, this article explores, with survivors and practitioners, how early coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic conditions affected forced migrant sexual and gender-based violence survivors' lives. Introducing a new analytical framework combining violent abandonment, slow violence, and violent uncertainty, we show how interacting forms of structural violence exacerbated by pandemic conditions intensified existing inequalities. Abandonment of survivors by the state increased precarity, making everyday survival more difficult, and intensified prepandemic slow violence, while increased uncertainty heightened survivors' psychological distress. Structural violence experienced during the pandemic can be conceptualized as part of the continuum of violence against forced migrants, which generates gendered harm.

Understanding Cervical Cancer Screening Barriers among Migrant Women: A Qualitative Study with Healthcare and Community Workers in Portugal.

Cervical cancer screening (CCS) has been proven to reducing mortality of cervical cancer; yet migrant women show a lower participation in screening compared to non-migrants. This study explores the perspectives of healthcare workers and community workers on the factors influencing the CCS participation of migrant women living in Portugal. A qualitative study with online focus groups was conducted. Healthcare workers experienced in CCS and community workers working with migrant communities were purposively sampled. A semi-structured guide was used covering the participation of migrant women in CCS, barriers, and strategies to overcome them. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Participants considered that migrant women have low participation in CCS related to insufficient knowledge, low risk perception, and lack of interest on preventive care. Other barriers such as difficulties in accessing the healthcare services, relationship with healthcare workers, language, and cultural differences were highlighted. Promoting continuity of care, disseminating culturally tailored information, and use of self-sampling methods were suggested to improve participation in CCS. Inequalities in access to CCS among migrant women are mostly caused by information gaps and healthcare system-related barriers. Building a migrant-friendly healthcare system that creates opportunities for healthcare workers to establish relationships with their patients and delivering culturally and linguistically adapted information may contribute to overcoming those barriers and increasing the participation of migrant women in screening.

Where is my home?: Gendered precarity and the experience of COVID-19 among women migrant workers from Delhi and National Capital Region, India.

With growing interest in the lives of individuals and communities during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is consensus among scholars, academicians, and policy makers that the pandemic has had unequal impacts on different sections of the society. The dominant idea that "we are in this together" needs to be critically unpacked to understand the differential impact of the same pandemic on people with varied vulnerabilities. The concept of "intersectional vulnerability" has been key to understanding the unequal distribution of the pandemic risk. Using a gendered intersectional lens, this paper aims to understand the lived experiences of migrant women workers during the pandemic and their narratives of gendered inequality. Through a narrative study in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), India, from May to October 2020, this study brings out stories of precarity faced by five migrant women while battling the social, psychological, and economic effects of the pandemic. Loss of livelihood, home, savings, and prospects of a better future shape the narratives of these women. The pandemic exacerbated the already precarious positions of these women by creating a situation where-(a) patriarchal structures were further reinforced, and (b) losing gender solidarity and companionship through lockdown and social distancing.

COVID-19 Highlighting Inequalities in Access to Healthcare in England: A Case Study of Ethnic Minority and Migrant Women.

Our commentary aims to show that the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing barriers to healthcare in England for ethnic minority and migrant women. We expose how the pandemic has affected the allocation of healthcare resources leading to the prioritisation of COVID-19 patients and suspending the equal access to healthcare services approach. We argue that we must look beyond this disruption in provision by examining existing barriers to access that have been amplified by the pandemic in order to understand the poorer health outcomes for women in ethnic minority and migrant communities. The reflection focuses on racialised medical perceptions, gendered cultural norms including information barriers and stigma, and specific legal barriers.