ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4067-3178

Date of Award

Fall 2025

Language

English

Embargo Period

8-29-2027

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

School of Criminal Justice

Program

Criminal Justice

First Advisor

Dana Peterson

Committee Members

Frankie Bailey, David Hureau, Carlos Bustamante

Keywords

gender, migration, trauma, safety, service provision, qualitative methods

Subject Categories

Criminology | Criminology and Criminal Justice | Gender and Sexuality | Migration Studies | Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies

Abstract

While migrants face a variety of challenges in settling in the US including gendered risks for violence and exploitation, little research has investigated how safe they feel in the US, how trauma relates to challenges faced in settlement, and how migrant services potentially address gender-specific experiences including traumatic events and safety. This study aims to fill that gap by investigating the following questions: how does gender shape Central and South American migrants’ experiences of trauma and feelings of safety during migration and settlement in Upstate New York? Further, how do concerns of gender-specific needs and traumatic experiences impact the ways that local migrant service providers—a key part of many migrants’ settlement experiences—build their services and how they support migrants? To answer these questions, I employed two types of data. First, I conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 migrant service providers in Upstate New York on their perceptions centering around gender-specific challenges, trauma, and safety among their migrant clients. Providers were able to speak to ways that gender impacted challenges, trauma experiences, and safety during migration and settlement among their clients, but generally did not view these issues as part of their main concerns in programming and advocacy. They further discuss how their services are constrained by funding and resources which limits what they can focus on in their programming. Second, I surveyed 95 local Central and South American migrants who moved to Upstate New York between 2019-2024 to understand their gendered experiences in migration and settlement including trauma histories and feelings of safety. These surveys reveal that many new arrivals carry trauma with them, want to become independent more quickly, and generally feel safe and happy in the Upstate, and there are few statistically significant gender differences in these findings, though some note gender-specific challenges such as limited work opportunities. Altogether, providers and migrants outline gendered challenges at multiple levels. Funding changes stemming from continually shifting policies limit providers’ abilities for more gender-responsive programming and training around trauma. In addition, many migrants from this population come to the US having experiencing trauma but few services are available that directly address trauma or potential gender differences. Overall, neither providers nor migrants centered their main needs and challenges in settlement around gender, trauma, or safety. However, the process of settlement itself makes it difficult to become independent and as a result, these issues may not be at the forefront of their minds: instead, both providing services and settling in the US are characterized by legal challenges, funding issues, and limited agency and capacity for advocacy for both providers and migrants. Ultimately, this dissertation research furthers our understanding of how gender is viewed in settlement according to both providers and migrants and interrogates feelings of safety beyond research that illustrates heightened, gender-specific risks for migrants.

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This work is licensed under the University at Albany Standard Author Agreement.

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Available for download on Sunday, August 29, 2027

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