We still fight in the dark (2021–2022)
This project focuses on a co-production of creative arts-based research developed with Brazilian migrant women survivors of gender-based violence in London.
Delivered in partnership with Migrants in Action (MinA), the project used participatory theatre, audiovisual production, and collaborative workshops to centre women’s lived experiences and explore pathways to healing, agency, and rights-claiming. It foregrounds migrant women not as passive victims, but as active agents navigating and resisting multiple forms of violence shaped by structural inequalities.
Importantly, the project also created space for participants to critically engage with and reflect on data generated in earlier research on transnational violence and violence against migrant women, enabling them to reinterpret, challenge, and expand findings produced years before through their own lived experiences and creative expression.
Research Methods:
- Participatory and co-produced arts-based research, including theatre workshops, audiovisual storytelling, ethnographic observation, and wellbeing evaluation tools.
- The project involved a series of experimental workshops and creative sessions co-developed with participants, alongside pre- and post-intervention evaluation of wellbeing.
Key Objectives
Develop co-produced, creative arts-based workshops with migrant women survivors
Explore how creative participation impacts wellbeing, agency, and collective solidarity
Capture and share women’s lived experiences through artistic and audiovisual outputs
Generate policy-relevant insights grounded in migrant women’s perspectives
Support community healing and rights-based advocacy
Key Findings
Creative, co-produced research can contribute to improved mental wellbeing among participants
A strong sense of belonging is central to understanding migrant women’s experiences of violence, isolation, and resilience
Safe, collaborative spaces enable women to build trust, share experiences, and develop agency
Creative engagement fosters both individual empowerment and collective forms of solidarity and connection
Publications
Go to Publications Archive
Partners
- King’s College London (Geography Department and Policy Institue)
- Migrants in Action (MinA)