Review
On April 14th, I had the opportunity to listen to Laura Torres Vargas' discussion that focused on Venezuelan women migrating to Colombia from 2015 to 2020. With the conducted research, she can have an inside look at the complexity of the migratory process. She concludes her findings with three subtopics. They include the overall reasoning behind migration and the importance of seeking opportunities for Venezuelans in Colombia, the perception of Venezuelan women's sexuality, and the violence experienced by Venezuelan women. My perception of the issue was based on minimal information. The news that highlighted these issues would mention the escalation of the crisis at a rapid rate, specifically the food crisis. Hearing about the opportunity to hear her presentation on this topic was very informative and has been of personal interest since I was born in Bogota, Colombia. However, I was unaware of the risks that Venezuelans face when relocating and after relocating. The issue I had heard on the news regarded the lack of supplies that Venezuelans feel strongly about having the right to have.
When discussing the reasoning for Venezuelans seeking opportunities, she touches on the drastic economic and political changes faced by women from Venezuela. The reasoning includes the economic decline that caused instability and polarization in various areas of Venezuela, causing the public to panic. Panic began to ensue when the basic needs were no longer being met. Interestingly, I remember watching the news of various vendors showing their merchandise, all appearing to be scraps of food, even attempting to sell the skeleton of a fish. As a result of the drastic lack of necessities, many Venezuelans began to migrate to other countries, one of them being Colombia. While she described the food crisis and the fact that they had no other choice but to migrate, it reminded me of Alan Peleazs's writing, "Is there a glossary for those who have arrived and have no home?" (Peleazs, 2020) According to the Migration Minister of Colombia, from 2015 through 2020, the number of Venezuelans under the statuses of refugee, migrant, or undocumented was estimated to be counted at 2 million. With the increasing rate of migration Laura Torres Vargas' mentions the necessity of describing said events as a Human Crisis. She overall describes the perception of migrants and how they are perceived as a threat by society. They were forced out of their homes. Even when attempting to reestablish a new home, they are left with constant insecurity and unfamiliarity from the inability to call their new place home.
Vargas' goes on to discuss the issues women face, specifically the public perception of women's sexuality. She mentions the issues women face with migration, including economic necessity, ignorance of local spaces, time pressure, disease, and their responsibilities to live at their place of origin. One of the issues that she highlighted was the health concern revolving around pregnancies. Vargas describes the overall cost economically as well as the cost of natural resources. Interestingly, she mentions photographing pregnant women and using them in newspapers to highlight Venezuela's health system crisis. The exciting part is how Vargas describes these photos as an "eye-catching hook," representing and emphasizing a stereotype of Venezuelan women.
Another issue that involves the manipulation of news headlines is the concept of the work Venezuelan women who are migrants come to find, which mainly involves sexual jobs. However, there is an acknowledgment that Venezuelan women involved in the work are due to the economic crisis. They use the money earned in prostitution for their expenses in Colombia and to send back to Venezuela. Colombia has yet to regulate this form of employment and has begun to concern itself with the possibility of an increase in sexually transmitted diseases.
In Vargas' last subtopic, she highlights the violence Venezuelan women are more susceptible to experiencing, describing the murders of women by men caused by hatred, pleasure, and misogynistic motivators as femicide. The women who are more at risk are the Venezuelan women who are sex workers. "Is there the possibility of being Human once again? Is there a method to make sense of life and remember that after all the violence, the NDN is still an embodied subject making joy out of all that is supposedly Dead?" (Peleazs, 2020) This quote from Alan Peleazs's poetry resembles the hardship and trauma Venezuelan women must undertake to gain stability.
I believe the awareness of trauma's effect on oneself has increased in recent years. I find the importance of having programs that aid in coping with trauma readily accessible to those experiencing the complete restructuring of their lives forcefully, just as they had to do. Nevertheless, I would like to find more information after a specific time to find out how they could cope with the trauma they had or possibly continue to experience.
Works Cited Page
“'At Home, We Couldn't Get by': More Venezuelans Flee as Crisis Deepens.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 17 July 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/17/venezuela-migrants-americas-leaving-home.