Sexual Citizenship in Migrant Latin American Communities
Immigrant Appreciation Day- Keynote
Location
Library and Gallery, Albin O. Kuhn : Gallery
Date & Time
May 1, 2024, 11:00 am – 11:50 am
Description
Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP here.
Sexual Citizenship in Migrant Latin American Communities
Estefanía Simich Muñoz, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor
In
2021 a narrative-based study was conducted to identify the
conceptualization of sexual citizenship among migrant Peruvian women
residing in the U.S. Sexual citizenship is described as the access to
sexual rights, the expression of sexual desire, the autonomy over one’s
sexual identity and the intersection with the state (Richardson, 2015),
and to what extent this individual is treated as a citizen who has
rights within that system. The main question addressed in this study
was: How do migration experiences of Peruvian women to the United States
discursively position their sexual citizenship differently across their
journey?
This
question was explored through experiences before migration, during
migration journey, adaptation to a new environment, and settlement in
the United States. Based on this research the construction of Peruvian
women’s sexual citizenship was influenced by Peru’s national conditions
and the introduction of neoliberalism which further exacerbated the
unsafety of the social environment for women. Furthermore, similar
examples of national conditions such as gender violence, the
introduction of neoliberalism, and the push for necropolitics in other
Latin American nations have influenced the way that women navigate their
daily lives as well as how they experience their sexual citizenship as
migrant women in the United States.
Biography: Estefanía Simich Muñoz is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Board Approved Supervisor in Maryland and an AASECT Certified Sex Therapist and Supervisor. She owns a bilingual sexuality practice in Baltimore where she advocates for sex positivity and healing ancestral wounds related to sexuality within the Latinx community. She is also the Chair of the Sex Therapy Certification Committee at the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists. As an immigrant in the United States, Dr. Simich Muñoz passion lies in supporting migrant populations who have experienced violence and sexual trauma. She started her journey as a sexuality professional working with underserved Latinx youth in Washington, DC by providing sex positive education and resources to youth in the community. She currently advocates as an immigration court expert on gender violence and LGBTQI+ violence cases involving Latin American immigrants. In the past she has been in the role of Clinical Director in an Intimate Partner Violence, Human Trafficking and Sexual Assault non-profit, and she has been a consultant for the governmental and non-profit sectors in Peru, The Netherlands, and the US. As an academic, Dr. Simich Muñoz focuses on how sexual citizenship is experienced in migrant populations.
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