Women-Led Strategies Amid Structural Inequalities: An Ethnography of a CSO Supporting Migrant Mothers in Valparaíso, Chile

Abstract In Chile, a country deeply shaped by its colonial past, discrimination and exclusion toward South-to-South migrants have long been prevalent, intensifying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Migrant women who experience motherhood have been particularly affected, navigating overlapping systems of oppression and privilege. While much has been written about gender as a category that intersects with multiple inequalities, the specific contributions of women-led civil society organizations (CSOs) in supporting women at the intersection of migration and motherhood remain insufficiently explored. This study addresses the gap through ethnographic research conducted in between March and August 2020 as part of a broader project (2020–2023), carried out from within the team of a CSO supporting South-to-South migrant mothers. Here, we examined the organization’s strategies during the pandemic in Valparaíso, Chile. We identified four strategies, some of them effective in the support of migrant participants: (a) using the CSO’s name as a strategy to highlight participants’ intersectional positions of marginalization, (b) the use of WhatsApp as a support channel for organizations, (c) networking with other CSOs and local institutions, and others not: (d) “them versus us”: the olla común—common pot—and symbolic violence. Our findings advance debates on intersectional migration studies by highlighting the role of CSOs’ led by women experiencing motherhood during a global crisis and the potential of such organizations to address structural inequalities and advocate for the rights of migrant women experiencing motherhood and facing violence and discrimination in Latin America.