Gender-Based Violence, Migration and (Dis)Empowerment: Women and Transwomen Migrants in the Americas

Migration can be a result of, exacerbate, produce and in some cases reduce gender-based violence (GBV). GBV is part of a continuum often manifesting from childhood to adulthood and from origin, through transit, and (un)intended destinations. Repeated GBV experiences can lead to complex trauma, impacting survivors' mental and physical well-being, and their decision-making abilities. Nonetheless, GBV survivors may also develop resilience and posttraumatic growth, which can positively influence their agency and foster empowering transformations. This study explores how women and transwomen migrants experience the complex intersections of GBV continuums, survival migration, and (dis)empowering agency transformations in the Americas. The study used participatory arts-based methods within a mixed-methods framework to produce an analysis focused on how GBV is experienced, challenged and transformed by women and transwomen migrants crossing and settling in Mexico. The analysis considers GBV in homelands and in transit-destinations as a continuum that intersects with criminal violence, structural oppression, transmisogynistic and homomisic values. The study further delves into how migrants form solidarity networks challenging oppression and engaging in processes of reflection, re-interpretation, and the enactment of new ways of being and doing. Migrants' narratives and artistic creations reflect not only complex GBV experiences, but also positive psychological changes that shape their agency, often leading to an expanded ability to make strategic life choices - empowerment.