Kwapatakwapata! Young Malawian girls trapped in predatory odysseys

Tools

Nkhoma, Pearson. 2025. Kwapatakwapata! Young Malawian girls trapped in predatory odysseys. In: Brian Callan; Pearson Nkhoma and Naomi Thompson, eds. Critical Research and Creative Practice with Migrant and Refugee Communities. Bristol: Policy Press. ISBN 9781447372790 [Book Section] (In Press)

No full text available

Official URL: https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/critic...

Abstract or Description

Immigration continues to be a significant subject of political and public contention. The link between immigration and politics has become increasingly prominent in recent years, instigating the rise of different political parties and ideologies, both in the Global North and Global South. Immigration can also be described as the lifeblood of Brexit, the election of Donald Trump in the US. In the UK, immigration remains of of government’s priority pillars.

While immigration remains a topic of both global policy and public interest, the focus is usually on barring ‘immigration’. Consequently, the nuances of child migration, as told through the stories of the children and young people themselves, are often overlooked. The experiences of unaccompanied minors and other young migrants are frequently lost in broader immigration discussions, leading to a gap in understanding about unaccompanied minors or child migration in general. Yet, it is well documented that child migrants continue to face precarious realities. Media reports highlight the rescue of unaccompanied minors and adolescent girls among those crossing the English Channel and the detention of children in the US. Immigrants continue to be targeted with terror attacks, mob justice, racial and xenophobic fuelled attacks. Despite the appalling reports on the plight of migrants, there is still a lack of literature on the stories and experiences of unaccompanied minors and migrant children and young people especially girls and young women.

This chapter, therefore, seeks to address this gap by examining the lived experiences of child and young migrants, starting from the inception of their journey, partly through the lens of intersectionality. It positions immigration and asylum seeking as multifaceted phenomena rather than single-journey social phenomena, acknowledging the multiple levels of exploitation and inequalities faced by children and young people.

Item Type:

Book Section