Migration Trajectories, Reported Violence, and Perceived Health Among Migrant Women Staying in Hotels in the Île-de-France Region. The Dsafhir Survey

"Sheltering" in hotels is a particularly precarious form of emergency housing. Migrant women housed in hotels face multiple factors that increase their vulnerability to violence. This situation has a detrimental effect on their health and exacerbates their difficulties in accessing healthcare. The "Rights, Health, and Access to Care for Migrant and Refugee Women in Île-de-France (Dsafhir), conducted among 469 migrant women living in hotels in 2017, provides insights into these women’s perceived health status and the diverse forms of violence they have experienced (physical, psychological, sexual, economic, and administrative), the ties that bind (or bound) them to the perpetrators of the violence (spouse, family member, authority figure, etc.), as well as the timing of the alleged acts (violence occurring before migration, during the migration journey, and in France). By drawing on the quantitative (n=469) and qualitative (n=30) data from this survey, this article describes the health conditions and violence experienced by migrant women in shelters by characterizing them (types of violence, relationship with the perpetrator) and situating them within the timeline of their migration journeys. Sexual violence is the focus of specific attention. The results show that these women are particularly vulnerable to experiencing violence throughout their lives. Large-scale statistical surveys on violence, because they survey respondents in “ordinary households,” significantly underrepresent this population of marginalized women. Furthermore, they rarely receive medical, psychological, or social support, even though these experiences have a proven negative impact on their health status.

Author(s): Andro Armelle, Scodellaro Claire, Eberhard Mireille, Gelly Maud

Publishing year: 2019

Pages: 334-341

Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin, 2019, n° 17-18, p. 334-341

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