Abstract

CARRASCO GOMEZ, Mónica  and  KAUFFER, Edith. Collective Action in Times of COVID-19: Chiapanecan Migrant Women's Agency Facing Gender Violence. Rev. interdiscip. estud. género Col. Méx. [online]. 2023, vol.9, e1042.  Epub Jan 26, 2024. ISSN 2395-9185.  https://doi.org/10.24201/reg.v9i1.1042.

This article analyzes the different ways in which rural migrant women acquire agency. Using a strategy of collective action, we have built female solidarity to address gender-based violence during the COVID 19 pandemic in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico. By applying a Participatory Action Research methodology, we conducted semi-structured interviews and offered psychosocial and legal accompaniment to women victims of violence, as well as workshops on gender violence. Finally, we created a collective of women who support each other to build a life free of violence. A in-depth analysis of three women’s cases revealed how, from various trajectories and time periods (past, present and projection into the future) and through collective action, we could influence in different ways the processes of the empowerment of women choosing to live without violence. The analysis of collective action in places where different generations of women who migrated in search of better living conditions settle contributes to the field of gender studies.

Keywords : gender violence; women´s agency; rural-urban migration; covid-19.