"I am not a victim ... I am a survivor" Support networks and participatory recovery processes in Afro-descendant women displaced by the colombian armed conflict

Abstract

This paper presents the results of an investigation whose objective was to describe the role established by community networks in the recovery processes associated with mental health and the resignification of experiences, in a group of Afro-Colombian women survivors of the armed conflict, victims of forced displacement, residents of the city of Bogotá and members of the organization La Comadre (Colectivo de Mujeres de la Asociación Nacional de Afrocolombianos Desplazados (AFRODES)). Method: An investigation with a qualitative approach and narrative topic design was analyzed. Two techniques are applied to collect information: interviews and participant observation; the first was carried out with six women, while the second was carried out during 4 participations in group meetings to which the researchers had access and in which groups of between 30 and 50 women participated. For the interviews, a categorical analysis was carried out based on the procedures of theoretical coding, while participant observation will be implemented as a complementary technique to triangulate and delve into the categories found with the first one. Results: two axial categories associated with the role played by the Network were identified 1. roots in the territory based on the preservation of ancestrality and 2. identification as subjects of collective reparation, and a selective category related to passage from victim to survivor. The discussion focuses on two elements: on the one hand, recognizing the importance of support networks and participatory recovery processes affected in ancestrality as essential engines of recovery processes and, on the other hand, in proposing a defense of the intersectionality category as a central element to understand the situation of Afro-Colombian women in the context of the Colombian socio-political situation. The text ends by highlighting the importance of considering the above elements in the psychosocial intervention and recovery processes aimed at this population, especially those affected by professionals in the psychological discipline