Mulheres migrantes: associativismo de haitianas em Manaus

Abstract

The issue of migration in the Amazon arouses interest for study due to the complexity of the issue, as it involves economic, social, political, cultural, and environmental factors that are intertwined in everyday life in the region, especially in the city of Manaus. The last decade in the Amazon region was marked by migratory flows that revealed several issues that go beyond human mobility, giving rise to urgent demands, public policies, civil society articulation,answers and lasting solutions that meet the new reality. The decision to migrate involves the choice to break borders, challenge governments, go into the unknown and the unpredictable,seek new and different living conditions, fulfill dreams. The migrant is the subject of history,as he moves, he also moves history. The decision to migrate involves the choice to break borders, challenge governments, go into the unknown and the unpredictable, seek new and different living conditions, fulfill dreams. In Manaus, during the COVID-19 pandemic, in mid2021, a group of Haitian migrants began a process of associativism, with periodic meetings and cultural and educational activities that culminated in the collective decision to form an association: the Fanm Nwa Association - Empowered Immigrant Women and Refugees, formed by black Haitian migrant women, living in Manaus for more than five years, committed to better living conditions for the community of which they are a part. The migratory experience of black women has specific characteristics that require an intersectional study that considers gender,race, class, identification of support networks and understanding of the impact of mobility on these women's lives, as migratory studies with this focus reveal and denounce the vulnerabilities experienced by them. The research aims to understand how the process of associativism of migrant women, especially Haitians in the city of Manaus, strengthened the struggle for rights and revealed the possibility of the role of migrant women in the host society for better living conditions.