Changing the narratives: humanitarian, legal and political accompaniment for women in transit through Mexico

Abstract

This paper, based on research about practices of humanitarian, juridical and legal accompaniment of persons in different situations of migration in Mexico, aims to problematize the absence of female voices. Taking this issue as a starting point, it analyzes the strategies of three Mexican organizations by which they articulate the enhancement of visibility of migrant women as a group with specific needs, with accompaniment practices that try to enhance their autonomy in front of government agencies, but also their families and partners. I hope that these empirically based reflections contribute, on the one hand, to increasingly precise analytical descriptions regarding the “specifically feminist” of certain accompaniment practices and promotion of the human right to safe migration. On the other hand, that they contribute to clarify what are basic material and symbolic conditions for women in situation of displacement to participate in the collective definition of their needs and demands.