On April 25, 2012, Flavia Genovese and Janet Juanico Cruz, both research assistants on the Migrant Mothers Project, presented their analysis of “Las Puertas Cerradas” at the 17th Annual York Institute of Health and Research’s Student Symposium. Here is an abstract of what they presented.
“LAS PUERTAS CERRADAS” (CLOSED DOORS) EXPERIENCED BY LATIN AMERICAN WOMEN WHO HAVE SUFFERED VIOLENCE AND PRECARIOUSNESS IN TORONTO
By Flavia Genovese MSA & Janet Juanico Cruz, MA
Reality is a sliding door.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Women with precarious immigration status in Canada (i.e. not permanent residents or citizens) often find “las puertas cerradas” (closed doors) when accessing health care, social and legal services in Toronto. As graduate research assistants of the Migrant Mother’s Project (MMP), through our preliminary analysis, we have recurrently found the participants using the expression “las puertas cerradas” (closed doors), to refer to their inability to enter certain spaces, access health care, social and legal services and have their needs met due to limitations imposed by their immigration status. Our analysis of the meaning of “las puertas cerradas” refers to three main ideas: 1) The psychological obstacles, such as fear, anxiety, low-self-esteem, as well as structural conditions, for example institutional racism and policy discrimination, that women experience when they try to access services and improve their lives 2) The psychological impact brought by these barriers when they attempt to access services and 3) Obstacles experienced by women during resettlement and during their acculturation process.
In ten out of twenty-four of the women’s narratives, we have found a sense of depression, fear, loss, helplessness, frustration and emotional exhaustion which is often triggered and heightened by these ‘closed doors’. Such feelings are also often compounded with poverty, unemployment, employment exploitation, homelessness, language barriers, fear of deportation, isolation, loss of social capital and stressors related to child care. These “puertas cerradas”, we believe, further reinforce feelings of ‘otherness’ and exclusion from the Canadian society, amplifying their marginalization and precarity. Similarly, we have found that the constant confrontation with ‘closed doors’, increments a sense of feeling stuck in a multifaceted precarious situation and a sense of impotence in improving one’s life and providing for one’s children. Such experiences also hinder their resiliency and ability to gain formal/informal support and resources.
During our analysis we pay attention to the ways that the women express their mental health which may not be congruent with western and biomedical ways of expressing mental health issues or distress. However, we also found that women spoke about the concept of “open doors” which they referred to social inclusion, community networks, sense of belonging, visibility, ability to practice their rights, access to health care, social and legal services, visibility, financial stability, and overall mental and physical wellbeing.
Our preliminary analysis of “puertas cerradas” seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the mental impact that denied access to health, legal and social services have on women with precarious status and who experienced violence. Undoubtedly, the wide range of violence experienced by the participants plays a major role in mental health and physical wellbeing. The latter will aim to pressure policy makers to enhance Canadian public health services to better include this vulnerable population. These findings will be further explored in an article which will be submitted to York Institute of Health of Research (YIHR)’s peer reviewed, interdisciplinary journal.