Citation

Cook Heffron L, Wachter K, Rubalcava Hernandez EJ. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022; 19(20): e13404.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph192013404

PMID

36293982

PMCID

PMC9603496

Abstract

In the recent Central American migrations spurred by violence, political instability, and economic insecurity, women grapple with whether and when to bring their children with them in pursuit of safety in another country, and with fulfilling their roles as mothers from afar. Drawing from the transnational motherhood literature and critical feminist theories, this interpretive qualitative study examined transnational motherhood grounded in the lived experiences of Central American women (n = 19) over the course of their migrations to the US. Informed by the principles of grounded theory, the inductive analysis identified five processes in which migration and violence shaped meanings of motherhood: risking everything, embodying separation, braving reunification, mothering others, and experiencing motherhood due to sexual violence. The findings contribute knowledge of how violence shapes and informs women's migrations and decision-making, and the consequences women endure in taking action to mitigate threats of violence in their own and their children's lives. The analysis furthermore highlights the specific and profound effects of family separation on mothers. The voices, perspectives, and experiences of migrating mothers and the ways in which migration and violence shapes notions and lived experiences of motherhood are imperative to research, practice, and advocacy to change oppressive immigration policies.

Language: en

Keywords

Child; Humans; Female; Violence; intimate partner violence; violence against women; *Mental Disorders; migration; *Intimate Partner Violence; *Sex Offenses; Mothers; transnational motherhood