Resistance, Intentionality, and Endurance: Understanding Asylum-Seeking Mothers’ Agency During Resettlement in Montreal, Canada

Asylum-seeking mothers are often cast as powerless and lacking agency as they resettle in a host country. With unprecedented numbers of families facing forced displacement, understanding womens' lived experiences of adaptation is critical to better serve their resettlement and health trajectories. This study aims to capture asylum-seeking mothers' sense of agency as they navigate resettlement in Montreal, Canada. We conducted 13 in-depth interviews asylum-seeking mothers and analyzed them using thematic analysis. We found that mothers experienced deprivation, discrimination, and precariousness in Canada that constrained their capabilities. Nonetheless, mothers continued to express agency in the form of i) resistance to the narrative of dependency ii) intentionality in their motherhood project, and iii) endurance through meaning-making. In highlighting asylum-seeking mothers' agency, this study may challenge the dominant discourse that characterizes these women as passive and helpless, instead supporting recognition of their capacities and drive for self-determination that can in turn guide research, policy and preventative and clinical interventions.