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ABSTRACT
This article presents a preliminary view of perceptions of the sexual and reproductive health of indigenous migrant women in an agricultural valley in Northwestern Mexico. A qualitative design was implemented with individual interviews and participatory workshops. The objective was to learn about indigenous migrant women's experiences with health services and their understanding of their sexual and reproductive rights. It was found that family was not a sufficient source of sexual information or education; that for women participating in this study, talking about sexual and reproductive health meant talking about reproduction; that the education system participates little in this aspect and that the health sector fails to respond in a timely and sufficient manner to this segment of the population. It is necessary to develop a more comprehensive view of the sociocultural components of sexual and reproductive health in order to carry out a medical practice that considers the needs and perceptions of indigenous women. For women themselves, the challenge is to appropriate their body, to re-signify their sexual and reproductive rights and to exercise these rights.
ARTICLE HISTORY
Received 14 June 2016
Accepted 12 June 2017
KEYWORDS
Sociology; sexual health and indigenous women; reproductive health and indigenous women; sexual and reproductive rights
Introduction
This article presents results of a broader investigation concerning the perceptions of sexual and reproductive health of indigenous migrant women living and working in the San Quintín valley, one of the two main agricultural valleys of northern Baja California, Mexico. This research aimed to learn about the perceptions that these women have regarding their own body, the stages of female growth and development, knowledge concerning family planning methods, traditional approaches to menstrual discomfort, care during pregnancy and puerperium, as well as their understanding of sexual and reproductive rights. Their experiences with the health services, as well as their understanding of some aspects of their sexual and reproductive health are discussed.
Over the past forty years the San Quintín Valley has become come to be an important agricultural exporter to the US market and a major centre of attraction for migrant jornaleros (day labourers). The intensification of commercial agriculture traditionally required a migrant workforce. The latter came from South-East Mexico, mainly from Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Veracruz, with mixteca, triqui, zapoteca and...