The importance of sexual and reproductive rights for undocumented migrants and their practical inaccessibility in the UK's 'hostile environment'

性权利和生殖权利对于无证移民的重要性及其在英国“敌对环境”中的实际困难

• 批准号: 2589782
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of the West of England
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2589782
• 关键词: importance; sexual; reproductive; rights; undocumented

Despite international legislation outlining the importance of healthcare provisions, the reproductive rights of some individuals have always been more policed than the reproductive rights of others. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the severely compromised sexual and reproductive rights (SRR) of irregular migrant women residing in the UK (CEDAW Art. 14.2(b), Art. 12.2; ICESCR Art 12.1). These women are more likely to experience birth trauma, premature delivery and maternal mortality, and less likely to access HIV treatment (Higginbottom et al., 2019; National AIDs Trust, 2012; Shortall et al., 2015). The significant disparity in reproductive care and health outcomes for migrant women in the UK indicates that hostile environment policies undermine the legal provision for the highest attainable standard of healthcare for all persons, regardless of race, gender or citizenship. Formalised through the 2014 and 2016 Immigration Acts, the 'hostile environment' refers to a collection of policies aiming to make the lives of those residing in the UK without documentation as difficult as possible, thereby motivating their 'voluntary emigration' (Button et al., 2020; Goodfellow, 2020; Jones et al., 2017; Oommen, 2020). While attempts to control populations through access to care are not new, the introduction of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations (2017) brought the issue back into the public eye. NHS charging and data-sharing practices have caused access to medical support for undocumented migrants to be the exception, rather than the rule. This is particularly evident in policies concerning access to SRR, with such care being unaffordable and individuals risking deportation in exercising these rights (Greenfield, 2019; Maternity Action, 2017). This inequality is further exacerbated by gender, with women facing greater barriers to healthcare despite requiring more support, as a result of pregnancy and their increased risk of sexual violence. Evidently, UK healthcare policies are punitive of sexuality, mobility and race, especially when exhibited by irregular migrant women (Barclay, 2020). Despite a steady rise in the migration of young women, the UK's policies concerning their SRR remain unchanged, establishing a need for additional research on the topic (De Jong et al., 2017). While literature concerning the effects of the hostile environment on vulnerable persons is somewhat extensive, my proposed ethnographic research with ProjectMAMA, adds a new narrative to this existing body of work, due to its grounding in mobility studies (Coddington, 2020; Nellums et al., 2021; Weller et al., 2019).Research Questions: 1) How do the UK's 'hostile environment' policies restrict practical access to the sexual and reproductive rights that are upheld in international legislation? 2) What impact does the restriction of SRR have on the wellbeing, empowerment and autonomy of undocumented cis- and transgender women? Through an analysis of theories of human mobility, reproductive justice and intersectionality, I will establish the theoretical rights of undocumented women, as upheld in international laws and UK policies. I will then compare this theoretical accessibility to the practical accessibility of SRR, as captured through a series of ethnographic studies carried out within the charity ProjectMAMA, which provides support to migrant mothers in Bristol. Once this dataset has been established, I will be able to create a comprehensive analysis of the importance and accessibility of SRR for undocumented women in the UK's hostile environment. Importantly, my research aims to make largely ignored and marginalised groups visible, by giving them a voice and capturing their experience through ethnographic methods, while contextualising this through an analysis of the legal framework and bureaucracies that undermine migrant women's rights.

尽管国际立法概述了保健规定的重要性，但一些人的生殖权利始终比其他人的生殖权利受到更多的监管。这一点在居住在联合王国的非正规移徙妇女的性权利和生殖权利受到严重损害(《消除对妇女一切形式歧视公约》第14.2(b)条、第12.2条；《经济、社会、文化权利公约》第12.1条)。这些妇女更有可能经历出生创伤、早产和孕产妇死亡，并且更不可能获得艾滋病毒治疗（Higginbottom等人，2019；国家艾滋病信托基金，2012；Shortall等人，2015）。联合王国移徙妇女在生殖保健和健康结果方面的巨大差距表明，敌对的环境政策破坏了为所有人提供可达到的最高标准保健的法律规定，无论其种族、性别或公民身份如何。通过2014年和2016年的移民法正式确定，“敌对环境”是指一系列旨在使居住在英国没有文件的人的生活尽可能困难，从而激励他们“自愿移民”的政策（Button等人，2020;Goodfellow, 2020； Jones等人，2017;ommen, 2020）。虽然试图通过获得医疗服务来控制人口并不是什么新鲜事，但《国家医疗服务（向海外游客收费）条例》（2017年）的出台使这一问题重新进入了公众视野。国民保健服务收费和数据共享的做法使无证移民获得医疗支持的机会成为例外，而不是规则。这在有关获得性别地位的政策中尤为明显，因为这种照顾是负担不起的，个人在行使这些权利时可能会被驱逐出境（Greenfield, 2019; Maternity Action, 2017）。性别因素进一步加剧了这种不平等，由于怀孕和遭受性暴力的风险增加，妇女在获得保健服务方面面临更大的障碍，尽管她们需要更多的支持。显然，英国的医疗保健政策是惩罚性的性，流动性和种族，特别是当非正常移民妇女（巴克莱，2020）。尽管年轻女性的移民人数稳步上升，但英国有关其SRR的政策保持不变，因此需要对该主题进行进一步研究（De Jong et al., 2017）。虽然关于恶劣环境对弱势群体的影响的文献有些广泛，但我提出的与projectama的民族志研究，由于其基于流动性研究，为现有的工作主体增加了新的叙述（Coddington, 2020； Nellums等人，2021；Weller等人，2019）。研究问题：1)英国的“敌对环境”政策如何限制国际立法所支持的性权利和生殖权利的实际获取？2)性别性别比例的限制对无证的顺性和跨性别女性的福祉、赋权和自主权有什么影响？通过对人类流动性、生殖正义和交叉性理论的分析，我将建立在国际法和英国政策中维护的无证妇女的理论权利。然后，我将把这种理论可及性与SRR的实际可及性进行比较，这些可及性是通过慈善机构projectama进行的一系列人种学研究获得的，该机构为布里斯托尔的移民母亲提供支持。一旦这个数据集建立起来，我将能够对英国敌对环境中无证妇女的SRR的重要性和可及性进行全面分析。重要的是，我的研究旨在通过给他们一个声音，并通过民族志方法捕捉他们的经验，使很大程度上被忽视和边缘化的群体可见，同时通过对破坏移民妇女权利的法律框架和官僚机构的分析将其置于背景之下。