“Violence Across Borders: Venezuelan Women and the Continuum of Violence in Migration and Settlement”

Abstract

The ongoing conflict in Venezuela has created significant risks for women and girls. Conflict affected populations often face higher levels of vulnerability and risks of gender-based violence (GBV) at home, in transit and at destination countries. Venezuelan women face GBV at all stages of their journey. Due to their often-irregular or undocumented status in host countries, many women lack legal access to healthcare and work which leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and GBV. Using the continuum of violence model by Kelly (1988; 2012) as well as Menjívar & Walsh (2017; 2019), this work underscores the complex ways in which gender, nationality and legal status interact with each other to shape patterns of migration and settlement. Focusing on the two largest receiving countries in Latin America: Colombia and Peru, this work also outlines how the structural, symbolic and interpersonal nature of GBV crosses borders amid the challenges of conflict, displacement and xenophobia.