“We at least say we are equal”: Gender equality and class in healthcare professionals’ discursive framing of migrant mothers

Feminist solidarity and hopeful imaginings in the MeToo movement in Iceland

“…Kjaran and Halldórsdóttir (2022) argue that these systems of inequality further isolate and marginalise immigrant women as their voices are smothered. These experiences of inequality in the supposedly gender equal Iceland support the idea that the sufferings of immigrant women are caused by mindsets from the cultures they are considered to represent, rather than the oppressive elements of the culture they have moved to (Símonardóttir et al, 2021). Immigrant women are, thus, cast as victims that need to be saved by their enlightened and liberated western white sisters (Orgad and Gill, 2022).…”

“…They wanted to step forward as agents for change and not be automatically placed in the passive category of women who need to be saved. In neoliberal societies, such as Iceland, there is a tendency to view violence as exclusively located within pathological backward cultures (Símonardóttir et al, 2021). The MeToo stories from the women of foreign origin pinpoint how the perpetrators are Icelandic and include women; sexual violence thus becomes both more intersectional and complicated.…”

“…To sum up, women of foreign origin entered the movement despite their stigmatised histories of being found wanting and backwards thinking (Símonardóttir et al, 2021) and they claimed a speaking position. This transformed the movement into an affective and collective flow of resistance that included different bodies and histories.…”

Implementation gaps in culturally responsive care for refugee and migrant maternal health in New South Wales, Australia

“…Moreover, refugee and migrant women are situated at the intersection of various marginalised identities related to race, gender, class, and often traumatic experiences [ 11 ] and are viewed in healthcare settings as “racialised and gendered bodies” ([ 64 ], p. 3). Yet structural racism and intersectionality are often not recognized within healthcare structures, policies, or professional development modules [ 11 , 12 , 14 , 69 ]. This failure results in the current culture-oriented discourses and policies in the healthcare system and ultimately a tokenistic promotion and enactment of culturally responsive/competent care [ 69 , 70 ].…”

“…The term “cultural competence” has been widely used in many countries, yet it risks implying that “culture can be reduced to a technical skill for which clinicians can be trained to develop expertise” ([ 10 ], p.1673). Failing to recognise that migrant and refugee women inhabit multiple social dimensions including race, gender, and class [ 11 , 12 ], “cultural competence” reduces patients to stereotypical cultural characteristics, which in turn continues to reproduce the existing social inequality [ 13 ]. In Australia the term “cultural safety” has gained popularity in healthcare policy and practice particularly to capture the need to tailor service provision to Indigenous communities [ 14 ].…”