Investing in Hope? Gendered Resistance and the Struggle of Migrant Women's Associations in Ireland

Of the 436 migrant associations we could describe as migrant-led and migrant-organized that we identified in 2009 (De Tona et al., 2010), 66 groups were specifically set up by and for migrant women. These associations are important beyond their numeric presence, considering that women are also affiliated with general migrant associations. Assessing women’s roles in general migrant associations is difficult, because their work is often subsumed under men’s work. At the same time, there are no designated men’s groups. Setting up migrant women’s associations is a clear manifestation of the specific needs and struggles experienced by women, and of the specific acts of resistance that women enact.