Editorial

IN RECENT DECADES, a substantial change has been observed in the migration process globally, due to the increasing presence of women, who have left their homes and families in search of better opportunities for themselves and their families. It is these women of Mexican, Central American or African origin who no longer only migrate to accompany their husband, father, son or brother, but have acquired a more active role in the migratory process and also wish to insert themselves into the labor market, send remittances to their families and improve their living conditions.

Migrant women are also victims of gender violence, discrimination, racism and xenophobia in transit countries, at the border crossing, and in the destination country since, due to their immigrant and undocumented status, they lack legal protection and economically, in addition to the fact that it is difficult for them to integrate or assimilate into the culture of the receiving society. Women make up almost half of the world’s 272 million migrants (IOM 2020) and half of the world’s 19.6 million refugees (United Nations General Assembly 2016). On many occasions, it is gender issues that force them to leave their countries; for example, the context of sexual or gender-based violence in their countries of origin or the feminization of poverty (UN Women 2021). “Although it is difficult to have reliable figures on the prevalence since there are several obstacles to the disclosure of these incidents, we know that between 24% and 80% of migrant and refugee women experience some form of sexual violence in their transit” (UN Women 2021).

For their part, migrant domestic workers face situations of vulnerability due to their situation as undocumented in a country different from their origin, as well as the absence of means of assistance and protection adapted to their immigration status, isolation social and cultural in the destination nation, the lack of knowledge about labor legislation, among other circumstances (UN Women 2021). As can be seen, there is an interconnection in gender and migration studies, because gender does not exist in isolation, and in the case of the migration process it is no exception because it influences the interaction between family, education, insertion into the market labor, social class, nationality, and ethnicity. “Gender is one of the main social relations on which migratory patterns are founded and configured (Honaunau 2007, 423).

Recognizing the need to study “gender” in the migration process, starting in the 1970s, the category of gender was added to the study of migrations. Likewise, there is an increasing number of women migrating from their country of origin to a first world country that offers them greater opportunities to improve their standard of living. In this phase of the 70’s and 80’s “we sought to remedy the exclusion of female subjects in research on migration, as well as combat sexist and androcentric tendencies” (Montagne 2007, 427).

In their struggle to improve their living conditions, and have a promising future for themselves, their children and families, migrant women risk their lives throughout their migratory transit, in addition to facing discrimination, racism, xenophobia and gender violence that exists in society. As if that were not enough, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic a global public health emergency. Due to this pandemic, the already difficult situation of many people in contexts of human mobility worsened.

The lack of immigration documents hinders their access to health, work, education and decent housing. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted the migrant population in Mexico, especially migrants in transit, because it increased job and socioeconomic insecurity and, as a consequence, access to housing, health and safety has also decreased feeding. Likewise, an increase in gender, family violence and violence against girls, boys and adolescents is observed, as well as an increase in care work and the demands of compliance with gender roles towards women (IMUMI 2021).

Specifically, migrant women have been the most affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic (ECLAC 2020), “both in terms of their health (lower levels of health coverage and worse living conditions) and to the economic (job insecurity, loss of income) and social impacts” (Ospina 2021). Limited access to social security puts them at high risk of losing their livelihoods, contracting the virus, and having their human rights not respected.

Given this social, political and economic context in which migrant women are inserted, the need to publish this issue on migrant women in this INTER DISCIPLINE magazine was considered.

The dossier of this issue is made up of five research articles that analyze the historical conditions, as well as the social, economic, violent, journalistic, health contexts, from a gender and human rights perspective.

The first article “Making visible the passage of women and their conditions in migration”, by Norma Miriam Rodríguez Domínguez, documents the participation of women in the migration process emphasizing specific moments that mark the incorporation of women into the movement human vitality and make visible the situation of injustice, discrimination and gender violence to which women are subjected in their migratory displacement. Likewise, it expresses the importance of including the issue of migration from a gender perspective, given that women depart from a country of origin, pass through the country of transit and arrive at the destination, full of life stories where they predominate, discrimination, gender violence, poverty, and marginalization.

The second article “Discourse on migrant women in popular songs: stories of vulnerability and survival”, by Cristian Daniel Torres Osuna, explains the influence that music has on audiences by transmitting symbolic discursive content, which is why to the task of applying a critical analysis to the discourses of the songs: Muter migrante (Pacha La Hija Del Sol); muter frontera (Clara Peya feat Alba Flores & Ana Tious); Me fui (Reymar Perdomo), and, Homenaje a Claudia Gómez (Escandalosos Musical); which have several million views on YouTube, and display the processes and complications of migrant women as a central theme. The author emphasizes their characteristics and link with theoretical scaffolding on migration, showing scenarios in which migrant women experience poverty, vulnerability, family separation, job insecurity, traffic dangers, immigration controls, deportation, and even femicides.

Co-authors Frambel Lizárraga Salas and Ángeles Arjona Garrido write the article “Representations of migrant women in the cybermedia of Mexico, Spain and the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic”, where they analyze and compare the information coverage carried out by cybermedia in Mexico, the United States and Spain on the situation in which migrant women of Mexican origin find themselves during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the conclusions, the authors express that in the 9 cybermedia that were analyzed from Mexico, the United States and Spain, it was found that they coincide in disseminating a stereotypical image of migrant women that comes from the social imaginary related to migrants coming from underdeveloped countries: poor, unemployed, attacked, exploited, discriminated against, deported, excluded due to their racial condition, and even infected by coronavirus. Furthermore, it is observed that the cybernewspapers analyzed give little space, as well as little visibility and voice to migrant women in their news coverage, compared to what they give to the issue of immigrant men, despite the fact that migrant women also generate income and they send remittances to their relatives in their countries of origin in almost the same proportion as immigrant men.

In the same way, the authors call for government authorities on both the American and the European continents, as well as the African one to generate public policies to support migrant women and the immigrant population in general, for when there are contexts of a pandemic or health crisis as occurred with the coronavirus; because immigrants were among the most vulnerable sectors because they suffered from unemployment, xenophobia, racism, violence, social exclusion and discrimination, so their economy and family security were affected.

In the article “The assisted return of migrant women: a gender analysis of its legal regulation in Mexico”, Luisa Gabriela Morales Vega is based on the methodology formulated by the Costa Rican feminist lawyer Alda Facio for gender analysis of the legal phenomenon. These provisions of Mexican immigration legislation are responsible for regulating the figure of assisted return. Reflect on the fact that assisted return does not in itself constitute a benefit for many women despite their widespread presence in current migratory flows; the gender perspective of law. In the conclusions, the author indicates that “understanding law as a broad phenomenon forces us to evaluate not only the wording of the norm within the legislation but also how it has been presented, also through its interpretation, application and in general, the context within which the normative hypotheses that affect their recipients are updated.”

Erika Cecilia Montoya Zavala, through the article “International labor migration of Sinaloan women. A review of the literature with a feminist perspective”, analyzes the participation in international labor migration of women originating from the state of Sinaloa (located in the northwest of Mexico). Studies on Sinaloan women in different labor sectors are analyzed: their participation in the global sewing and care market, we demonstrate the participation of Sinaloan women in the processing of fishery products such as crab and their entrepreneurial and self-employment incursion as stylists. All this in a context of labor and gender inequalities because they place women at an economic and social disadvantage.

In the final results, the author emphasizes that the studies reveal that Sinaloan women contribute their workforce to global markets, their income improves the living conditions, health and education of their families; however, state government institutions do not recognize or give visibility to their contributions, nor do they support the reduction of the gap of exclusion and gender inequality, nor the difficulties they present in their work trajectories, which is why they consider it necessary create public labor policies with a gender perspective that allow eliminating the obstacles that migrant Sinaloa women have in labor matters, as well as being considered in labor decision-making and increasing their salaries so that they do not precisely have the need to migrate to other countries or cities.

The Independent Communications section is made up of 6 research articles: “Tax policy to combat overweight and obesity in Mexico: 1988-2022 written by Fabián Ojeda Pérez; “Analysis by region of the economic-financial competencies index in Mexico”, carried out by Adolfo Maceda Méndez; Guadalupe Montaño López wrote “Factors determining the supply of select fruits in Mexico 2001-2020, through which she analyzes and carries out a diagnosis of the production, commercial and macroeconomic factors that determine the exports of select fruits from Mexico in the international market during the period 2001-2020; Giova Camacho Castro, Ciara Belén Cavazos Vizcarra, Christian Heriberto Monge Olivarría wrote “Tourism and digital accommodation platforms: a systematic review of the literature”, where they argue that tourist activity lives a series of transformations with the appearance of digital platforms such as Airbnb, which causes an increase in the rental of housing for tourist use, so the objective of this research is to know the different topics that have been addressed in studies on the impact of the collaborative economy in the hotel sector; the article “Traditional regional cuisine: the change in eating habits and the increase in overweight and obesity in the inhabitants of Escuinapa, Sinaloa” was written by Juan Manuel Mendoza and Mariana Elizabeth Hernández Palomares, who demonstrate how the change in eating habits has resulted in weight gain in the inhabitants of the municipality of Escuinapa, Sinaloa, Mexico. With data obtained from interviews carried out in Escuinapense homes, a generational comparison of food preferences and practices in which food is involved at all social levels is carried out. The findings suggest that eating habits in Escuinapa have changed towards a diet away from traditional regional cuisine, causing an increase in the number of overweight and obese people; the last text in this section is titled “Perceptions of the majority group: psychological meaning associated with outgroups of national migrants in Mérida, Yucatán”, written by María José Campos Mota, Alejandra del Carmen Domínguez Espinosa, Mirta Margarita Flores Galaz and María Teresa Morales Manrique, who study the psychological factors of this population group.

In the Interview section, Mayra Alejandrina Hernández Gurrola talks with Herlinda, an immigrant woman of Guatemalan origin, who lives in the Ejido de la Isla de la Piedra, Mazatlán, Sinaloa, who migrated from her country of origin to save his life from violence and poverty. With this interview, the situation and contexts of violence, social inequality, racism and xenophobia suffered by immigrant women of Guatemalan origin are known, and the different aspects of their lives are also exposed, for example, why they migrated, why she arrived at the town of Isla de la Piedra in Mazatlán, Sinaloa, what made her stay and live in that place, what her family is made up of, what her work situation is like, as well as her social integration in that locality, among others.

In the book review section, 6 texts are published on various topics related to gender, women and girls. The first book review is Girls and boys in migration from the United States to Mexico: generation 0.5, written by Ángela Santamaría Díaz, who explains that this text, by the authors Víctor Zúñiga and Silvia Giorguli, is based on research focused on the experiences of minors who returned to a country that was unknown to them. After carrying out an analysis of what was observed, the surveys and questionnaires answered by what the authors call “generation 0.5”, minors who are currently living in Mexico but who at some point in their life lived in the United States and many still long to return.

The second book review is about Migratory processes in western Mexico, written by Laura Teresa Niebla Raygoza, who explains that in this text, coordinated by Adriana González Arias and Olga Aikin Araluce, Mexico has experienced a substantial change with respect to the migratory processes that converge in its territory, because it is no longer only a producer of migrants, but there are other processes, such as return migration, unaccompanied migrants, which result in a change in social dynamics and challenges. Likewise, she indicates that the authors of this book analyze different migration processes on Mexico’s Western Route (also known as the Pacific Route).

Gloria Jahely Rivera Lobatos reviews the book Sex between men. Power and resistance in the sexual field, by the author Guillermo Núñez Noriega. Rivera Lobatos explains that this text is structured in four main parts: the field, the habitus, the practices and the discussions. Her main thesis is to present the existence of a sexual field, understanding it as a space of struggle between individuals or different groups, who depend on forces or certain capitals to be able to position themselves within this sexual space. It is a struggle of sexual representations, in

which traditionally established gender relations can be found, that is, heterosexual. She, in turn, analyzes that within these gender relations representations regarding homosexuality arise, Therefore, we are faced with new constructions of sexual identity that allow us to understand how a significant (alternate) representation of the social world is born. The approach supported by the author is socio-anthropological, with a qualitative perspective, and extensive ethnographic work is observed.

Arturo Rodríguez Ibarra reviews the book Gender views from the North. Feminism, social movements, violence, masculinity, politics, culture and diversity. Volume I, coordinated by María del Rosario Varela Zúñiga. This book is divided into four sections, through which we reflect on the gender category from different perspectives and social areas. It is argued that gender should not be limited to an analytical category, but rather a constructive and structuring one, which in turn can lead to a transformative aspect (socially, politically, economically and culturally). When the women’s struggle is observed from the perspective of the gender perspective, the complexity within the movement is visualized, due to the heterogeneity of the historical demands, linked with novel demands. Thus, the women’s struggle from a gender perspective has a revolutionary character, by questioning the established social structure.

For her part, Carolina López Gurrola reviews the book Gender views from the North. Gender, work, violence, sexuality and cultural representations. Volume II, which is made up of 9 chapters that are in turn very well structured into three main axes that address relevant topics that directly impact the lives of women and gender inequalities in different areas. López Gurrola emphasizes that this book offers a critical and multidisciplinary review of gender issues in the context of the northern part of Mexico. Through the different thematic axes addressed, gender inequalities in the workplace, cultural and artistic representations that influence the construction of women’s identity, and gender violence in the educational field are analyzed. Likewise, she indicates that this critical approach allows us to understand and reflect on the complexities of these problems and promote social changes oriented towards equity and gender justice.

In the sixth and last review of the book Women filmmakers in Mexico: the other cinema, Nancy Carolina Lizárraga Mora mentions that the author of this text, Elissa Rashkin, recognizes the creative life and legacy of the most important film directors in this country, as well as like the battles they have had to fight for being women, within an industry run mainly by men. Despite the barriers and prejudices faced, these women filmmakers have contributed to changing the stereotypes and gender roles that Mexican cinema had projected for most of the 20th century and have dared to tell their vision, the other part of cinema, or as they call it “The other cinema”, where the stories of real women are projected free of the patriarchal stereotypes that the Golden Age of Mexican cinema had been responsible for popularizing on the big screen. With this book, we seek to value the talent and work of Mexican women filmmakers and to also be an inspiration for future generations of women in the film industry.

Migrant women is the third issue of INTER DISCIPLINE magazine that addresses the migration issue in the current context, the first of these was Migrations (vol. 7, num. 18, May-August 2019) and the second one, Deportations (vol. 11, num. 29, January-April 2023). With Migrant women, we invite reflection on the situation of migrant women, who face the lack of opportunities in their communities of origin, racism, discrimination, xenophobia, social exclusion, as well as the gender violence they suffer since they leave their country, as well as during transit, crossing and when they arrive at the destination country where they seek to enter to the labor market, obtain economic income and send remittances to support their families.

With these three issues published by the INTER DISCIPLINE magazine: Migrations, Deportations and Migrant women, the aim is to raise awareness in society about the migratory processes that are generated at both a global and local level, and that although society needs their workforce, in most cases, their human rights are not respected, and they are victims of discrimination, racism, xenophobia, human trafficking, violence, deportations, and social exclusion, without there being regulated and safe migration for this population.