La salud de mujeres migrantes latinoamericanas en la encrucijada entre los cuidados remunerados y no remunerados: un análisis desde sus narrativas de aflicción

Abstract

The health of Latin American women who work as caregivers in Barcelona is conditioned by multiple forms of violence and inequalities, favoured by structurally patriarchal and colonial state policies. The labour exploitation that they suffer, as a consequence of the illegality in which the Spanish legislation places many of them, limits their autonomy and forces them to opt for a job as caregivers in a ‘live in’ regime, which implies a hierarchical coexistence in a situation of confinement with the person they work for. In addition, women face the constraints and difficulties involved in the caregiving tasks they perform at the transnational level, ensuring the survival of their daughters, sons and other relatives in the country of origin. Through in-depth interviews with six Latin American women who work as caregivers in Barcelona, the present study approaches this social, political and economic reality of the Care Drain (Bettio, Simonazzi, & Villa, 2011) from the global south to the north, based on the experience and illness narratives of Latin American women who migrate to perform caregiving tasks, in a context where real accessibility to the health system is restricted.