Background Armed conflict in Colombia has a history of 50 years that continues to this day. According to the Victims Record of Colombia, from 1985 to 2013 2.683.335 women have been victims of the armed conflict. Women have been described as the main victims of the armed conflict, especially in the Colombian cultural context that in some regions is still considered to be a ‘machista’ and patriarchal one. In contrast, some authors have explicitly stressed Colombian women’s agency instead of positioning them only as victims. Some of them are described as ‘survivors’ of the war, emphasizing their impressive resistance to the outcomes of war and forced displacement. In contrast to the background of these scholarly discussions, our study focused on how displaced women living in Bogotá themselves articulate their experiences of agency and victimization. This paper will therefore explore how women, in reconstructing their life stories, expressed the tussles between victimization and agency. Methods We used qualitative methods conducted within an ethnographic approach. Based on ten years of experience in the neighborhood and one year of fieldwork, we collected the life stories of twenty internally displaced mothers, and ran eight workshops with them. We analyzed the narratives with a specific focus on how women expressed victimization and agency in four important periods in their life that related to the process of displacement: when they left home, when they became pregnant, when they were forced to leave their towns, and when they arrived in Bogotá. Results Participants’ life stories showed how they struggled with agency during their lives. They were victims of abuse and violence during childhood and finally decided to leave their homes. They decided to have their babies despite the fact that they were abandoned by their partners and families, and after doubts about and attempts to have an abortion. Throughout the process of displacement the participants had been engaged in ambiguous relationships with armed groups. Finally they arrived in Bogotá and faced adverse circumstances but were looking for better opportunities for them and their children. Conclusion The analysis of how internally displaced women narrated their life stories showed us that the concepts that dominate scholarly debates about agency, victimization and survivorship do not do justice to the life stories of the participants in our study. These stories show that changes with a major impact were loaded with ambiguity and were characterized by helplessness, lack of control and agency simultaneously. The reconstruction of these life stories goes beyond the stereotype of displaced women as only ‘victims’, but points also to their agency and courageous decisions they made in contexts that were not controlled by them and where support was often lacking. Instead of label them, it is important to understand the complexity of the life experiences of IDW, in o...
Resumen Asumiendo que los niños son al mismo tiempo actores y sujetos de fuerzas sociales, y que los niños en circunstancias migratorias son agentes que, aunque comparten algunas realidades con otros miembros de sus familias, viven sus propias experiencias, este artículo se centra en la discusión sobre las experiencias relacionadas con la migración parental de un grupo de niños en Bogotá y en dos municipios del Departamento de Risaralda. Se abordan tres temas relevantes en las discusiones nacionales e internacionales sobre migración parental: sus razones e impactos, los significados de la separación familiar y de la migración de la madre y las diversas representaciones sobre los niños. El artículo concluye con algunas recomendaciones para hacedores de políticas públicas, medios de comunicación, instituciones educativas, padres de familia y niños que viven situaciones de migración parental.
El uso creciente de la Investigación Cualitativa (IC), por parte de enfermeras investigadoras en el mundo, desde los años noventa, ha llevado a que poco a poco sea reconocida como una herramienta legítimo para la comprensión de las perspectivas de las personas y los sujetos sociales, de manera particular los sujetos del cuidado de enfermería. Así, a través de la práctica de la IC, que partió de una crítica a la hegemonía de los modelos biologicistas y positivistas, con el interés de contribuir a la humanización del cuidado de enfermería, algunas enfermeras en América Latina, han buscado incluir las voces de las personas con quienes trabajamos como parte del conocimiento disciplinar, como insumos para el diseño de políticas y acciones en el campo de la salud.
Background: Pregnancy in adolescence is higher among internally displaced women in Colombia than nondisplaced women. It is defined as a problem with significant negative outcomes by both biomedical and epidemiological approaches. However, little is known about pregnancy during adolescence from the perspective of women who experienced this in the specific context of armed conflict and displacement. Aim: This article focuses on how internally displaced women understand their experiences of pregnancy in adolescence in the context of armed conflict through an ethnographic approach in a receptor community of internally displaced women in Bogotá, Colombia. Methods: Based on 10 years of experience in the community, we conducted 1 year of fieldwork, using an ethnographic approach. We collected life stories of 20 internally displaced women through in-depth interviews and ran 8 workshops with them and other women from the community. We used thematic analysis to analyse the responses of internally-displaced women and understand how they made meaning around their experiences of adolescent pregnancy in the context of displacement. Results: The main themes that emerged from participants' experiences include rural violence, early family life (characterized by violence and mistreatment at home), meanings of pregnancy at an early age (including being challenged and feelings of love), and reactions to their pregnancies during adolescence (such as stigmatization) from their families and partners. Conclusion: Our analysis of the in-depth interviews and the workshops suggests that adolescent pregnancy among women who are internally displaced has complex dynamics, characterized by the violent context of the rural areas, but primarily by the violence experienced during their childhood. The experience of pregnancy during adolescence brings feelings of ownership and also challenges, together with the forced displacement. This understanding will provide insights for policy makers and healthcare providers on how to work with this specific population who have experienced pregnancy in adolescence.
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