Expanding Venezuelan's voices in Colombia: A case study with female leaders

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Carolina
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/27358
• topic: Migration; Venezuelan women; Social leadership; Colombia; Gender; Intersectionality; Women empowerment; Migração; Mulheres venezuelanas; Liderança social; Colômbia; Género; Interseccionalidade; Empoderamento feminino

This study foregrounds Venezuelan women’s migratory experiences and the social structural factors which influenced the becoming lideresas in their settlement communities in Colombia, and how their voices resound in integration processes. More than victims of their contexts, migrant women are key agents of change and are relevant contributors to human development. In this sense, recognizing their rights should be the priority in international migration policies, rather than reinforcing unequal gendered power relations, which will put them even more at risk. It is key not to lose sight of women’s agency when addressing gender in migration literature and in the development agenda. The lack of theoretical frameworks representing the voices and leadership experiences of Venezuelan migrant women, compounded by the various ways intersectionality changes the experience, contributes to its underrepresentation in several spheres. To address this gap, I examined Venezuelan women’s journey from their migratory experience to settling in Colombia and becoming voices for their communities in the host country, from their narratives. Eight Venezuelan and three Colombian social leaders were interviewed, and data were analysed through thematic analysis. Findings showed how women deal with their complex histories and become social leaders, overcoming daily barriers, and struggling to help their communities, and provided evidence of some achievements their voices have accomplished. The lessons learned from the participation of female Venezuelans in social leadership roles in Colombia, and key observations might generate fruitful insights for migration and gender studies.