GEMMS

Gendered violence & poor mental health among migrants in precarious situations (GEMMS) Research Group.

The link between Gendered Violence (GV) and poor Mental and psychosocial Health (MH) is widely acknowledged, yet poorly understood. Interventions that address these global health challenges generally do so in silos, ignoring the reinforcing cycle of GV and MH. Further, existing interventions are limited in their reach as they only address the needs of fixed populations. As a result, there is little uptake among migrant groups, especially those living in precarious situations, including people displaced due to conflict and disaster, as well as rural poor moving in search of livelihood opportunities. These situations are associated with chronic precarity in work and living conditions, barriers to healthcare and, for those who cross national borders, in their legal status. This precarity can create additional burden and result in different risks, responses and resilience to GV and poor MH over time and in different places.

The GEMMS research group brings together academics with a range of relevant GV, MH and migration expertise and practitioners who provide on-going support to migrants to establish a program of work that generates new knowledge and improved understandings, and co-design evidence-informed training intervention and public health solutions. Building on research and interventions in South Africa and India and border spaces in Cambodia and Zimbabwe, we apply theoretical and empirical insights to support efforts to improve the lived realities of migrants in precarious situations through participation of affected populations in research.