“You see,one day they cut”: The evolution,expression, and consequences of resistance for women who oppose female genital cutting

ABSTRACT

It is estimated that more than 200 million women alive today have undergone female genital cutting (FGC). While emerging evidence shows that attitudes toward FGC may evolve for immigrants as they acculturate to the host country, scant empirical research explores how women come to oppose the practice. This qualitative study used grounded theory methods to explore the trajectory of resistance to FGC for seven women circumcised in childhood who sought asylum in the United States as adults to protect their daughters from the practice. Participants originated from Burkina Faso, Guinea, The Gambia, and Chad. Analysis revealed nine themes tracing the evolution of resistance to FGC and other gender role norms for participants: coercion, threat, and retribution narratives; traumatic memories of circumcision; growing awareness of the personal implications of circumcision; emergence of critical thinking; trangressive thoughts and acts; navigating the consequences of resistance; everyday reinforcement; negotiating resistance dilemmas; and making meaning of resistance. In contrast to previous studies linking opposition to FGC to post-settlement acculturation or pre-migration exposure to organized international human rights campaigns, findings of this study indicate that traumatic memories of the circumcision rite, combined with the capacity to reflect on “taken for granted” cultural practices and to employ critical thinking skills, may lead to resistance to FGC for some women. Furthermore, findings highlight that FGC, and opposition to it, has lasting consequences for women from societies where the practice is embraced, and these consequences persist after migration. Practice and policy recommendations are drawn from the analysis.     

‘Between heaven and hell’: Subjective well‐being of asylum seekers

Nearly 1.4 million asylum seekers arrived in Europe in 2015. With an unprecedented 822% increase in the number of asylum applicants, Finland experienced the largest increase in applicants than any other European country that year. In this study, we investigated asylum seekers’ experienced subjective well‐being (ExSWB) construct in comparison with their evaluated subjective well‐being (EvSWB) construct. A mixed methods approach with convergent design was adopted for the study, which combined quantitative data on asylum seekers’ (n = 181) ExSWB and EvSWB with qualitative data on the elements of ExSWB and EvSWB. The findings point at a limbus phase in asylum seekers’ livelihood transition between the borders for international protection in Finland. The Cantril self‐anchoring striving scale was used by the participants to describe this passage ritual of ambiguity. Furthermore, we also found gender differences related to coping and subjective well‐being, which supports previous findings on asylum seekers’ well‐being. Key Practitioner Message: ? The concept of the limbus phase of the asylum seeker livelihood transition is useful for describing asylum seekers’ experiences while waiting for an asylum decision; ? Asylum seeker SWB is closely related to status dissonance, separation and capitals, causing anxiety, worry and fear, and inflicting cognitive disruption; ? Equal, institutional‐level functions should be organised in the reception centre for easing the anxiety related to the asylum‐seeking process.     

对来访者中心疗法的“价值中立”的思考

从来访者中心疗法"价值中立"的理论基础和实践来源来看,"价值中立"与来访者中心疗法理论的人性观、人格理论和治疗条件密切相关。它既是来访者中心疗法的核心思想,也是来访者中心疗法的操作技巧,贯穿于来访者中心疗法的始终。通过理解"价值中立"的来源和深刻含义,把握其精神实质,为我们更好地理解和运用来访者中心疗法的理论和操作技巧提供条件。     

乡村振兴视角下新型农业创业人才培养路径探析

以三类新型农业创业者成功创业经验为案例,探讨乡村振兴视角下新型农业创业人才的培养路径。研究表明,新型农业创业者创业成功的关键在于创业者领导特质及其庇护关系的有效获取,庇护关系的获取途径随创业者领导特质的不同而有所不同;对于庇护关系形成的各利益主体而言,庇护关系获取可归纳为政绩-经济利益型、经济利益-经济利益型、声誉-经济利益型、社区服务-经济利益型以及实践基地-人力资本型等五种。同时基于企业生命周期理论与实践中的五种庇护关系获取过程提炼出创业者创业过程中庇护关系实现路径的雪球效应模型,为实现乡村振兴发展战略的提出对策建议。     

Racism, ‘second generation’ refugees and the asylum system

This paper explores ‘second generation’ refugee experiences of racism in London, drawing on 45 qualitative interviews. The article analyses specific histories of racialisation for three different refugee groups from Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Turkey and the generational shifts in reproducing race. The asylum system is foregrounded as an essential framework in which to analyse experiences of racism. This was most evident for the first generation refugee, however for their children less is known on how these forms of racism shaped experiences. Within our study, ‘everyday’ mundane forms of racism were recounted by the ‘second generation’ which were often contrasted with that of their parents in severity. This paper analyses this inter-generational relationship further in relation to racism, through the lens of the asylum system. The paper therefore contributes to a greater empirical understanding on earlier modalities of racism and how they survive into the present.     

How cities shape refugee centres: ‘deservingness’ and ‘good aid’ in a Sicilian town

While scholars have devoted increasing attention to the dynamics at play within refugee centres, analyses have often been driven by the ‘exceptionality’ of these institutions, overlooking the ways in which what happens inside the centres is largely connected to what goes on outside of them. Building on ethnographic fieldwork in a Sicilian refugee centre and the surrounding town, this paper investigates the extent to which economic, historical and political configurations inform how local actors conceptualise aid and how they interact with refugees on a daily basis. Overall, the study found that both centre workers and the general population mobilise moral arguments that can only be understood in light of dynamics that are external to the centre itself. These findings ultimately point to the extent to which state-level dysfunctions influence popular images of what a ‘deserving’ refugee might look like as well as local understandings of the ‘right way’ of providing help.     

The right to stay: challenging the policy of detention and deportation

The aim of this article is to shed light on the situation of refugees (formally designated as asylum seekers) and undocumented migrant workers, who are among the most vulnerable inhabitants of Europe. Both groups face the threat of detention and deportation. The normative framework, which consists of legal standards and residential institutions, will be critically examined. Despite international standards for respecting the human rights of refugees and undocumented workers, policies of detention and deportation and the mass rejection of asylum claims leave little hope for the empowerment, autonomy and social inclusion of these persons. Instead of a straight-forward argument for closing down all detention centres and putting an end to forcible deportations, the article investigates small scale structural possibilities for inclusive – non-selective – responses to these non-citizens.     

The maternity experiences of women seeking asylum in high-income countries: a meta-ethnography

ProblemThe maternity care experiences and perinatal outcomes of women seeking asylum in high-income countries (HICs) are poorer than the general population of pregnant women in that HIC. There is a paucity of literature on the maternity experiences of women seeking asylum in HICs.BackgroundThere is an increasing number of women seeking asylum in HICs due to escalating violence and human rights abuses. Asylum-seeking women are a distinct group whom are likely to have different needs to refugees or migrants as a result of their undocumented status.AimThis literature review aimed to explore the emotional, physical and health information needs of women seeking asylum in the perinatal period in HICs, to provide insights to better address their maternity needs.MethodA meta-ethnography described by Noblit and Hare, was applied to analyse the studies, to reflect the voices of women seeking asylum, hosted in HICs in their perinatal period.FindingsEight studies were included in the review. The overarching theme was ‘just having to survive.’ Four sub-themes were revealed which highlighted the vulnerability of asylum-seeking women. They included: ‘I was never sure if I had understood’, ‘feeling ignored and alone’, ‘ongoing dislocation and recurrent relocation’ and ‘knowing there’s someone who cares for you’.DiscussionImproved maternity care for women seeking asylum requires culturally appropriate respectful maternity care and supportive strategies such as consistent access to language services.ConclusionIt is recommended that future research is targeted to explore the maternity experience of women seeking asylum in HICs, such as Australia.     

Containment through mobility: migrants’ spatial disobediences and the reshaping of control through the hotspot system

ABSTRACT

This article deals with the modes of (contested) control that are at play at the Mediterranean frontier for containing, dividing and discipling unruly mobility. Building on ethnographic research conducted on the island of Lesvos and of Lampedusa, it focuses on the implementation and the functioning of the Hotspot System in Greece and in Italy, analysing beyond the fences of detention centres and by looking at the broader logistics of channels, infrastructures and governmental measures deployed for regaining control over migration movements. The article argues that more than control in terms of surveillance and tracking, the Hotspot System contributes to enforce forms of containment through mobility that consists in controlling migration by obstructing, decelerating and troubling migrants’ geographies – more than in fully blocking them. The article takes into account migrants’ refusals of being fingerprinted, showing how migrants radically unsettle the association between seeking refuge and lack of choice, enacting their right to choose where to go and claim asylum.     

The ‘spirit of the Schengen rules’, the humanitarian visa,and contested asylum governance in Europe – The Swiss case

ABSTRACT

The paper examines why Switzerland along with several other European countries introduced a Schengen visa to substitute for individual applications for asylum at the country’s embassy as a pathway to protect Syrian refugees. The case study highlights the inherent interest asymmetries in a tenuous arrangement of multi-layered governance, revealing a conflict over the interpretation of Schengen law in a collective governance environment – a conflict that was recently resolved by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Drawing on multi-layered governance, the paper discusses why the Swiss divergence from the ‘spirit’, but not the ‘letter’ of the Schengen code (a metaphor used by the EU Commission), could be considered as an example of ‘de-coupling’ from the negotiated, intergovernmental order. Whereas de jure the unity of the Schengen visa code is maintained, the amount of discretion which Switzerland and other Schengen countries have used to interpret the regulatory purpose behind the Schengen humanitarian visa went too far for the CJEU and the EU Commission. The case study illustrates how the interpretation of rules matters in a multi-layered framework of governance, possibly giving the ability to react to changing circumstances, but also bearing the potential for conflict.