Mulheres negras haitianas e as experiências migratórias em Porto Alegre/RS: movendo estruturas e abrindo caminhos

Abstract

This dissertation aims to investigate the migratory experiences of Haitian black women in Rio Grande do Sul, seeking to understand how these experiences are marked by intersecting dynamics of race and gender. It also questions the access of these women to public policies and the job market that can guarantee their basic rights. I will address the migratory trajectories of two Haitian women, crossed by gender, race, and class dynamics, from the perspective of understanding how these women experience gender and family relations in the migratory experience and how they constitute support networks in Brazilian territory. I also discuss issues of access to public policies faced by Haitian women and men, which became more serious in the COVID-19 pandemic scenario during the year of 2020. The theoretical framework of this work involves discussions about Haitian migrations in the region, mainly through theses and dissertations produced in the last 5 years, as well as approaches to the intersectionality of race and gender to think about the experiences of my interlocutors in the field. It was noted that the racial, gender and class dimensions presented themselves as significant for understanding the migratory experiences, the resumption in a new country and together with it the strength to face the difficulties from not understanding the local language, experiencing another culture, facing the diverse forms of racism and prejudice for being black, immigrant and woman. In view of the context exposed during the survey, we noticed that some Haitians choose international migration as an economic strategy, since in Haiti there are profound inequalities and barriers in access to social rights. In Brazil, an important barrier faced is racism, and also, in the context of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the racial imaginary that hierarchizes whiteness as a symbol of "development”. From the meetings and interviews held, we realized how much Haitian black women rebuild their lives in an unknown country in the search for a job opportunity, and the need to maintain the commitments made with family members who stayed there.