School of Social Sciences (ETDs)

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Browsing School of Social Sciences (ETDs) by Department "Department of Migration and Displacement"

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    Societal security and the deterrence of migrants as a means to consolidate the European Union (EU)
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-05) Maimela, Pearl Moahlodi; Landau, Loren B.
    Europe's reunification has faced challenges over the past decade. Terrorist attacks in London, Paris, and Berlin; nationalist groups and anti-immigrant rhetoric in many European nations; Brexit; pro-independence movements in Scotland and Catalonia; efforts to reunite Cyprus; and, most importantly, new waves of immigration and the refugee crisis have challenged Europe's identity. European identity and membership have dominated all these scenarios. As its member states grew closer, the European Union facilitated economic, political, and social "Europeanisation," creating a “EU citizen identity" that distinguished Europeans migrating within the region from those from other regions. The study examined whether framing migration as a threat to societal security preserves and consolidates European identity or combats and consolidates fragmentation caused by rising nationalist rhetoric. The study defined European identity as community-formed through interactions, transactions, and generational changes. The study used social psychology and social identity theory, which suggests that group membership, shapes a person's self-image. Qualitative literature review and historical accounts focused on migration post-2015.
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    Their Narrative: A Feminist Study Examining The Everyday Lives of Migrant Girls Who Sell Sex In Chipinge, Zimbabwe
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023-08) Nyahuma, Gloria Nyaradzo; Oliveira, Elsa
    This thesis explores the everyday experiences of unaccompanied migrant girls who sell sex in Chipinge, a small town in eastern Zimbabwe. The participants of this qualitative study were four adolescent girls, ages 16 to 18 years old, of Mozambique descent. Guided by feminist standpoint theory, intersectionality, and adolescent theory, the study examined three main areas: (1) factors that lead adolescent girls to migrate unaccompanied; (2) trajectories of unaccompanied migrant girls into selling sex; and (3) how unaccompanied migrant girls who sell sex access their daily needs in their host countries. Drawing on arts-based research (ABR), the main methods used were storytelling and mapping. Unstructured interviews were also conducted with each participant after the ABR phase of the study ended. Although each participant had unique circumstances that led them to migrate unaccompanied, most explained family circumstances such as, death of parents, violence in the home, and poverty as being immediate drivers for migrating to Zimbabwe alone. Each participant also had unique experiences that influenced their decisions to sell sex, but social networks and exploitation in other informal livelihood activities played a major role. Selling sex was the primary livelihood strategy that the participants in this study engaged, which enabled them to access their basic needs of accommodation, food, and childcare. Whilst being an important livelihood strategy, selling sex exposed the participants to risks of violence and health, including HIV.