UC San Diego

This thesis looks at the ways in which Central American migrant women confront and navigate violence in their home countries and the migrant controls in Mexico due to border externalization. It analyzes the techniques of self they use- the strategies and actions they take when they decide they must leave, throughout their journey and at their current location. This study is based on ethnographic fieldwork and 16 semi-structured interviews with migrant women from NTCA that took place between September and December 2016. I conclude that women embark in this odyssey to protect their children and themselves from the unbearable violence of gangs and poverty.