‘I don’t want this for my daughter, because this is what I experienced’: young migrant women’s constructions of gender reciprocity and intersectionality

Abstract

Amid media representations of migrant male children travelling alone, the flow of young migrant women to Europe has increased since 2018. This research focuses on the voices of unaccompanied migrant girls, who face invisibility as children, migrants, and women. We present an empirical study conducted in southern Spain on how the invisibility of young migrant women shapes their feelings and perceptions of social exclusion and belonging. Through their work with social professionals, these girls were able to experience spaces for mutual understanding and growth. In these spaces, tensions and interpretations concerning affective and agentic realities were negotiated, and experimental narratives emerged at the intersection of gender, migration, exclusion, and protection. By analysing power dynamics among the interviewer, social professionals, migrant women, and the host community, we explore how to move beyond binary discourses and develop relational dynamics that shape participants’ life narratives. The study shows that intersectionality is not merely the sum of variables but creates new onto-epistemological realities. These spaces of reciprocity facilitate the transition from repressive forms, such as labelling, to a constitutive ‘power to do’ and contribute to building social inclusion strategies.