Narratives of experiences of violence of Venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern Brazilian border

OBJECTIVES: To know the experiences of Venezuelan migrant women living in shelters in Roraima state at the northwestern border between Venezuela and Brazil regarding situations of violence as part of the dynamics of everyday life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected in January 2020 through 12...

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Autores principales: Makuch, Maria Y., Osis, Maria J. D., Becerra, Alejandra, Brasil, Cinthia, de Amorim, Helder S. F., Bahamondes, Luis
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8604314/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34797877
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260300
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author Makuch, Maria Y.
Osis, Maria J. D.
Becerra, Alejandra
Brasil, Cinthia
de Amorim, Helder S. F.
Bahamondes, Luis
author_facet Makuch, Maria Y.
Osis, Maria J. D.
Becerra, Alejandra
Brasil, Cinthia
de Amorim, Helder S. F.
Bahamondes, Luis
author_sort Makuch, Maria Y.
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVES: To know the experiences of Venezuelan migrant women living in shelters in Roraima state at the northwestern border between Venezuela and Brazil regarding situations of violence as part of the dynamics of everyday life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected in January 2020 through 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 5 to 14 Venezuelan migrant women aged 18–49 years old living transitorily in five shelters established by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Brazilian government. We obtained individual and shared views on the experiences regarding violence that migrant women may experience in their everyday life. To organize the FGDs, variations in age and the time women were living at the shelters were considered. All FGDs were held in a place at the shelter that guaranteed privacy and secrecy so that women could express themselves freely. The initial question was broad and open ended and was followed by more specific questions about situations of domestic violence and other types of violence. RESULTS: The main themes identified were the following: i) women’s perceptions on domestic violence, ii) women’s perceptions on how humanitarian organizations were managing the episodes of domestic violence, and iii) situations considered violence in everyday life at the shelters. The FGDs showed that the reported violence inside the shelters was high, and several forms of violence emerged. Violence was identified as physical aggression and psychological threats, and violence in everyday life at the shelter included xenophobia when the migrants went outside the shelters that was perceived and described as violence. CONCLUSIONS: According to the perspective of Venezuelan migrant women violence was part of everyday life among those living in the UNHCR shelters at the northwestern border of Brazil-Venezuela. These women are not comfortable with this situation, and it is difficult for them to understand and handle the episodes of violence.
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spelling pubmed-86043142021-11-20 Narratives of experiences of violence of Venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern Brazilian border Makuch, Maria Y. Osis, Maria J. D. Becerra, Alejandra Brasil, Cinthia de Amorim, Helder S. F. Bahamondes, Luis PLoS One Research Article OBJECTIVES: To know the experiences of Venezuelan migrant women living in shelters in Roraima state at the northwestern border between Venezuela and Brazil regarding situations of violence as part of the dynamics of everyday life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data were collected in January 2020 through 12 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 5 to 14 Venezuelan migrant women aged 18–49 years old living transitorily in five shelters established by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Brazilian government. We obtained individual and shared views on the experiences regarding violence that migrant women may experience in their everyday life. To organize the FGDs, variations in age and the time women were living at the shelters were considered. All FGDs were held in a place at the shelter that guaranteed privacy and secrecy so that women could express themselves freely. The initial question was broad and open ended and was followed by more specific questions about situations of domestic violence and other types of violence. RESULTS: The main themes identified were the following: i) women’s perceptions on domestic violence, ii) women’s perceptions on how humanitarian organizations were managing the episodes of domestic violence, and iii) situations considered violence in everyday life at the shelters. The FGDs showed that the reported violence inside the shelters was high, and several forms of violence emerged. Violence was identified as physical aggression and psychological threats, and violence in everyday life at the shelter included xenophobia when the migrants went outside the shelters that was perceived and described as violence. CONCLUSIONS: According to the perspective of Venezuelan migrant women violence was part of everyday life among those living in the UNHCR shelters at the northwestern border of Brazil-Venezuela. These women are not comfortable with this situation, and it is difficult for them to understand and handle the episodes of violence. Public Library of Science 2021-11-19 /pmc/articles/PMC8604314/ /pubmed/34797877 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260300 Text en © 2021 Makuch et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Makuch, Maria Y.
Osis, Maria J. D.
Becerra, Alejandra
Brasil, Cinthia
de Amorim, Helder S. F.
Bahamondes, Luis
Narratives of experiences of violence of Venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern Brazilian border
title Narratives of experiences of violence of Venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern Brazilian border
title_full Narratives of experiences of violence of Venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern Brazilian border
title_fullStr Narratives of experiences of violence of Venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern Brazilian border
title_full_unstemmed Narratives of experiences of violence of Venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern Brazilian border
title_short Narratives of experiences of violence of Venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern Brazilian border
title_sort narratives of experiences of violence of venezuelan migrant women sheltered at the northwestern brazilian border
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8604314/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34797877
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260300
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