On the Front Line of Violence: A Survey-Based Portrait of Women Seeking to Emigrate from Northern Central America
Abstract
The profile of migrants seeking to cross the southwest U.S. border has changed dramatically. Women currently represent approximately one third of border apprehensions at the southwest border, and many are fleeing pervasive violence and insecurity in Northern Central America. To understand these changing migration patterns, we rely upon survey data to examine the lives of women from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras who have been victims of crime within the past year and who report plans to emigrate in the near future. In comparing these women to their counterparts, we find that this group of “victim emigrants” faces an array of daily challenges and security threats that others do not, ranging from police corruption to extortion. This survey-based portrayal of the lives of those women most likely to emigrate provides a critical first step in understanding the increasingly mixed nature of Central American emigration and the consequent need for a more nuanced policy response to address the issue.- Referencias
- Cómo citar
- Métricas
Arce, A. (2014, November 6). Sexual Violence Rampant Among El Salvador Gangs, Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/274e264284ce477ea14b2acfe5c232a8.
Baranowski K.A., Wang E., D’Andrea MR, Singer EK. (2019). “Experiences of gender-based violence in women asylum seekers from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.” Torture, 29(3): 46-58. doi: 10.7146/torture.v29i3.111970. PMID: 31984943.
Belloso, M. (2021, January 4). 63 de cada 100 mujeres han sufrido violencia en El Salvador. La Prensa Gráfica. https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/63-de-cada-100-mujeres-han-sufrido-violencia-sexual-20210103-0060.html.
Cerrutti, M. & D. Massey. (2001). “On the Auspices of Female Migration from Mexico to the United States.” Demography 38, (2): 187-200.
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.” Gender & Society, 19(6), 829-859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639.
Córdova, A. (2019). “Living in Gang-Controlled Neighborhoods: Impacts on Electoral and Non-Electoral Participation in El Salvador.” Latin American Research Review 54(1), 201-221.
Customs and Border Protection. (2011). U.S. Border Patrol Fiscal Year 2011 Sector Profile. https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Fiscal%20Year%202011%20Sector%20Profile.pdf
Customs and Border Protection. (2019). U.S. Border Patrol Fiscal Year 2019 Sector Profile. https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2020-Jan/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Fiscal%20Year%202019%20Sector%20Profile_0.pdf
Customs and Border Protection. (2000-2020). U.S. Border Patrol Apprehensions from Mexico and Other Than Mexico (FY 2000 -2020). https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2021-Aug/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Apprehensions%20From%20Mexico%20and%20Other%20Than%20Mexico%20%28FY%202000%20-%20FY%202020%29.pdf.
Customs and Border Protection. (2010-2020). U.S. Border Patrol Total Monthly UC Encounters by Sector (FY 2010 - FY 2020). https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2021-Aug/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Total%20Monthly%20UC%20Encounters%20by%20Sector%20%28FY%202010%20-%20FY%202020%29%20%28508%29a_0.pdf
Customs and Border Protection. (2013-2019). U.S. Border Patrol Total Monthly Family Unit Apprehensions by Sector (FY 2013 - FY 2019). https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2020-Jan/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Total%20Monthly%20Family%20Unit%20Apprehensions%20by%20Sector%20%28FY%202013%20-%20FY%202019%29_1.pdf
Cruz, J.M. (2012). The Transformation of Street Gangs in Central America: Organized Crime, Mano Dura Policies and Lost Opportunities. Revista Harvard Review of Latin America. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/book/transformation-street-gangs-central-america.
Cruz, J.M. (2015). The Root Causes of the Central American Crisis. Current History 114 (769): 43-48. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2015.114.769.43.
Cruz, J.M. (2024). “Addressing the Problem of Violent Crime in Central America: Citizen Security Based on Human Rights.” Cristosal Newsletter. https://cristosal.org/EN/2023/08/16/addressing-the-problem-of-violent-crime-in-central-america-citizen-security-based-on-human-rights/
Danner, M. (1994). The Massacre at El Mozote. New York: Vintage.
Dudley, S. & J. McDermott. (2020, December 21). GameChangers 2020: How Organized Crime Survived the Pandemic. InSight Crime. https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/gamechangers-organized-crime-pandemic/.
Fundación de Estudios para la Aplicación del Derecho (FESPAD). (2021). Desaparación de Personas en El Salvador. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U6d8M8h0RgZmZ0jx4gdhn
Aeu-pn_o3CN/view.
Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean. (2021). https://oig.cepal.org/en/infographics/femicide
Gurney, K. (2014, November 7). Report Details How El Salvador Gangs Use Rape as Weapon. InSight Crime. http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/el-salvador-gangs-rape-sexual-
violence-femicides
Heffron, L.C. (2019). ‘Salía de uno y me metí en otro’: Exploring the Migration-Violence Nexus Among Central American Women. Violence Against Women, 25(6): 677-702.
Hiskey, J., A. Córdova, M. Malone, and D. Orcés. (2018). “Leaving the Devil You Know: Crime.
Victimization, U.S. Deterrence Policy, and the Emigration Decision in Central America,” Latin American Research Review 53(3): 1-19.
Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. (1994). Gendered Transitions: Mexican Experiences of Immigration. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Huerta, A.V. (2017). La trinidad perversa de la que huyen las fugitivas centroamericanas: violencia feminicida, violencia de estado, y violencia de mercado. Debate Feminista 53: 1-17.
Hume, M. (2009). The Politics of Violence: Gender, Conflict and Community in El Salvador.
New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). (2011). Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 2010. Washington, DC: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Lemus-Way, M.C. & H. Johansson. (2020). Strengths and Resilience of Migrant Women in Transit: An Analysis of the Narratives of Central American Women in Irregular Transit Through Mexico Towards the USA. Journal of International Migration and Integration 21: 745-763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00690-z
Malone, M. (2012). “Crimen y Gobernabilidad en una Honduras Contemporánea,” Air & Space Power Journal: Spanish Edition 24 (4): 63-81.
Manjoo, R. (2011). Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences, Addendum, Follow-up Mission to El Salvador. United Nations Human Rights Council https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ef1a8ae2.html.
Massey, D.S. (2020). Immigration Policy Mismatches and Counterproductive Outcomes: Unauthorized Migration to The U.S. in Two Eras. Comparative Migration Studies 8: 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-020-00181-6
Menjívar, C. (1993). History, Economy, and Politics: Macro and Micro-level Factors in Recent Salvadorean Migration to the US. Journal of Refugee Studies 6 (4): 350-371.
Menjívar, C. & S. Drysdale-Walsh. (2017). The Architecture of Femicide: The State, Inequalities, and Everyday Gender Violence in Honduras. Latin American Research Review 52(2): 221-240.
Obinna, D.N. (2021). Seeking Sanctuary: Violence Against Women in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Violence Against Women 27(6-7): 806-827.
Sela-Shayovitz, R. (2010). The Role of Ethnicity and Context: Intimate femicide rates among.
social groups in Israeli society. Violence Against Women 16(12): 1424-1436.
Svallfors, S. (2023). Hidden Casualties: The Links between Armed Conflict and Intimate Partner Violence in Colombia. Politics & Gender, 19(1), 133-165. doi:10.1017/S1743923X2100043X
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2015). Women on the Run: First-Hand Accounts of Refugees Fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/publications/operations/5630f24c6/women-run.html
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). https://dataunodc.un.org/dp-intentional-homicide-victims
Valdez, E.S., L.A. Valdez, & S. Sabo. (2015). Structural Vulnerability Among Migrating Women and Children Fleeing Central America and Mexico: The Public Health Impact of ‘Humanitarian Parole’. Frontiers in Public Health 3:1-8. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2015.00163.
Wilkinson, D. (2002). Silence on the Mountain: Stories of Terror, Betrayal, and Forgetting in Guatemala. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Wilson, T. D. (2014). Introduction: Violence against Women in Latin America. Latin American Perspectives, 41(1): 3-18.
Wolf, S. (2021). Talking to Migrants: Invisibility, Vulnerability, and Protection. Geopolitics 26(1), 193-214.
Baranowski K.A., Wang E., D’Andrea MR, Singer EK. (2019). “Experiences of gender-based violence in women asylum seekers from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.” Torture, 29(3): 46-58. doi: 10.7146/torture.v29i3.111970. PMID: 31984943.
Belloso, M. (2021, January 4). 63 de cada 100 mujeres han sufrido violencia en El Salvador. La Prensa Gráfica. https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/63-de-cada-100-mujeres-han-sufrido-violencia-sexual-20210103-0060.html.
Cerrutti, M. & D. Massey. (2001). “On the Auspices of Female Migration from Mexico to the United States.” Demography 38, (2): 187-200.
Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.” Gender & Society, 19(6), 829-859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639.
Córdova, A. (2019). “Living in Gang-Controlled Neighborhoods: Impacts on Electoral and Non-Electoral Participation in El Salvador.” Latin American Research Review 54(1), 201-221.
Customs and Border Protection. (2011). U.S. Border Patrol Fiscal Year 2011 Sector Profile. https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/documents/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Fiscal%20Year%202011%20Sector%20Profile.pdf
Customs and Border Protection. (2019). U.S. Border Patrol Fiscal Year 2019 Sector Profile. https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2020-Jan/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Fiscal%20Year%202019%20Sector%20Profile_0.pdf
Customs and Border Protection. (2000-2020). U.S. Border Patrol Apprehensions from Mexico and Other Than Mexico (FY 2000 -2020). https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2021-Aug/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Apprehensions%20From%20Mexico%20and%20Other%20Than%20Mexico%20%28FY%202000%20-%20FY%202020%29.pdf.
Customs and Border Protection. (2010-2020). U.S. Border Patrol Total Monthly UC Encounters by Sector (FY 2010 - FY 2020). https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2021-Aug/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Total%20Monthly%20UC%20Encounters%20by%20Sector%20%28FY%202010%20-%20FY%202020%29%20%28508%29a_0.pdf
Customs and Border Protection. (2013-2019). U.S. Border Patrol Total Monthly Family Unit Apprehensions by Sector (FY 2013 - FY 2019). https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/assets/documents/2020-Jan/U.S.%20Border%20Patrol%20Total%20Monthly%20Family%20Unit%20Apprehensions%20by%20Sector%20%28FY%202013%20-%20FY%202019%29_1.pdf
Cruz, J.M. (2012). The Transformation of Street Gangs in Central America: Organized Crime, Mano Dura Policies and Lost Opportunities. Revista Harvard Review of Latin America. https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/book/transformation-street-gangs-central-america.
Cruz, J.M. (2015). The Root Causes of the Central American Crisis. Current History 114 (769): 43-48. https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2015.114.769.43.
Cruz, J.M. (2024). “Addressing the Problem of Violent Crime in Central America: Citizen Security Based on Human Rights.” Cristosal Newsletter. https://cristosal.org/EN/2023/08/16/addressing-the-problem-of-violent-crime-in-central-america-citizen-security-based-on-human-rights/
Danner, M. (1994). The Massacre at El Mozote. New York: Vintage.
Dudley, S. & J. McDermott. (2020, December 21). GameChangers 2020: How Organized Crime Survived the Pandemic. InSight Crime. https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/gamechangers-organized-crime-pandemic/.
Fundación de Estudios para la Aplicación del Derecho (FESPAD). (2021). Desaparación de Personas en El Salvador. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U6d8M8h0RgZmZ0jx4gdhn
Aeu-pn_o3CN/view.
Gender Equality Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean. (2021). https://oig.cepal.org/en/infographics/femicide
Gurney, K. (2014, November 7). Report Details How El Salvador Gangs Use Rape as Weapon. InSight Crime. http://www.insightcrime.org/news-briefs/el-salvador-gangs-rape-sexual-
violence-femicides
Heffron, L.C. (2019). ‘Salía de uno y me metí en otro’: Exploring the Migration-Violence Nexus Among Central American Women. Violence Against Women, 25(6): 677-702.
Hiskey, J., A. Córdova, M. Malone, and D. Orcés. (2018). “Leaving the Devil You Know: Crime.
Victimization, U.S. Deterrence Policy, and the Emigration Decision in Central America,” Latin American Research Review 53(3): 1-19.
Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. (1994). Gendered Transitions: Mexican Experiences of Immigration. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Huerta, A.V. (2017). La trinidad perversa de la que huyen las fugitivas centroamericanas: violencia feminicida, violencia de estado, y violencia de mercado. Debate Feminista 53: 1-17.
Hume, M. (2009). The Politics of Violence: Gender, Conflict and Community in El Salvador.
New York: Wiley-Blackwell.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). (2011). Annual Report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 2010. Washington, DC: Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Lemus-Way, M.C. & H. Johansson. (2020). Strengths and Resilience of Migrant Women in Transit: An Analysis of the Narratives of Central American Women in Irregular Transit Through Mexico Towards the USA. Journal of International Migration and Integration 21: 745-763. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-019-00690-z
Malone, M. (2012). “Crimen y Gobernabilidad en una Honduras Contemporánea,” Air & Space Power Journal: Spanish Edition 24 (4): 63-81.
Manjoo, R. (2011). Report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, Its Causes and Consequences, Addendum, Follow-up Mission to El Salvador. United Nations Human Rights Council https://www.refworld.org/docid/4ef1a8ae2.html.
Massey, D.S. (2020). Immigration Policy Mismatches and Counterproductive Outcomes: Unauthorized Migration to The U.S. in Two Eras. Comparative Migration Studies 8: 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-020-00181-6
Menjívar, C. (1993). History, Economy, and Politics: Macro and Micro-level Factors in Recent Salvadorean Migration to the US. Journal of Refugee Studies 6 (4): 350-371.
Menjívar, C. & S. Drysdale-Walsh. (2017). The Architecture of Femicide: The State, Inequalities, and Everyday Gender Violence in Honduras. Latin American Research Review 52(2): 221-240.
Obinna, D.N. (2021). Seeking Sanctuary: Violence Against Women in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Violence Against Women 27(6-7): 806-827.
Sela-Shayovitz, R. (2010). The Role of Ethnicity and Context: Intimate femicide rates among.
social groups in Israeli society. Violence Against Women 16(12): 1424-1436.
Svallfors, S. (2023). Hidden Casualties: The Links between Armed Conflict and Intimate Partner Violence in Colombia. Politics & Gender, 19(1), 133-165. doi:10.1017/S1743923X2100043X
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). (2015). Women on the Run: First-Hand Accounts of Refugees Fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico. http://www.unhcr.org/en-us/publications/operations/5630f24c6/women-run.html
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). https://dataunodc.un.org/dp-intentional-homicide-victims
Valdez, E.S., L.A. Valdez, & S. Sabo. (2015). Structural Vulnerability Among Migrating Women and Children Fleeing Central America and Mexico: The Public Health Impact of ‘Humanitarian Parole’. Frontiers in Public Health 3:1-8. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2015.00163.
Wilkinson, D. (2002). Silence on the Mountain: Stories of Terror, Betrayal, and Forgetting in Guatemala. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Wilson, T. D. (2014). Introduction: Violence against Women in Latin America. Latin American Perspectives, 41(1): 3-18.
Wolf, S. (2021). Talking to Migrants: Invisibility, Vulnerability, and Protection. Geopolitics 26(1), 193-214.
Malone, M. F. T., Hiskey, J., Córdova, A., & Orcés, D. (2025). On the Front Line of Violence: A Survey-Based Portrait of Women Seeking to Emigrate from Northern Central America. Revista Latinoamericana De Opinión Pública, 14, e31722. https://doi.org/10.14201/rlop.31722
Downloads
+
−