Abstract
The chapter discusses the risks, threats and set-backs girls face through the story of Tigist, who escaped an abusive household and worked as a sex worker on the streets of Addis Ababa. Her narrative shows the different forms of abuse migrant girls may encounter, but also illustrates their resilience. Girls’ lived experiences are discussed within the analytical framework on migration, risks and uncertainties, and vulnerabilities debates. The sources of vulnerability for migrant and refugee girls and young women are multiple: their position as girls and as women, their specific ethnic and national background, their legal situation as foreigners and the absence of parents, guardians or relatives. In addition, the nature of their work, their level of education, and the lack of support from international, national and community organizations, increase their vulnerability. Girls’ experiences in the long-term reveal the extent to which their volatile lives are marked by protracted uncertainty and precariousness.
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Notes
- 1.
NIKAT is a sex-workers’ organization in Addis Ababa (see Chapter 2).
- 2.
Tigist played a major role in the documentaries made on the basis of the research (see Chapter 2). We collected donations in order to help Tigist realize her dream of opening a coffeeshop. Drinking coffee is a favourite pastime in Ethiopia and preparing coffee a national custom. People drink coffee in many different places, including in front of small coffeeshops.
- 3.
Osella and Osella (2002, p. 119) note that in Kerala, body heat and strong sexual desire are an attribute of young people of both sexes, in contrast to other anthropological sources, where women are depicted as more prone to it.
- 4.
Young Lives study is a large-scale research programme at the University of Oxford. Their groundbreaking longitudinal research with 12,000 children growing up in 4 different countries has enabled the researchers to create new approaches to the study of children’s growing up and transitions . See https://www.younglives.org.uk/.
- 5.
It is also very likely that even if the girls knew, they did not feel it was appropriate to mention it in the interviews.
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Grabska, K., de Regt, M., Del Franco, N. (2019). Risks, Threats and Setbacks. In: Adolescent Girls' Migration in The Global South. Palgrave Studies on Children and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00093-6_6
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