Participants, and Information Production Procedures

Our study consisted of a sample of sixteen residents of Santiago de Chile, ten men (62.5%) and six women (37.5%), aged between 21 and 44 years; twenty-nine semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with them, averaging between half and one hour in duration, at the rate of one or two interviews with each participant.² The interviews followed a semi-structured script based on four thematic axes, constructed in accordance with the research objectives: 1) migration trajectory and experiences in Chile; 2) ethnic-racial order; 3) sex-gender order; and 4) perceptions and evaluations of Chile as a destination country.

A theoretical sample with two inclusion variables was made use of: first, the relationship between the educational level of the participants and their work in Chile at the time of the interview, taking into account that a negative relationship in this dimension, that is, that trained people performing in low-skilled work, can stress identity imaginaries; second, the sexual orientation of the participants was deemed a relevant element in understanding their positions in the sex-gender axis and its intersectional spaces. This way, the sample included five enunciation positions: 1) basic / secondary education, optimal education / work relationship; 2) technical / professional education, optimal education / work relationship; 3) technical / professional education, negative education / work relationship; 4) homosexual person, optimal education / work relationship;³ 5) homosexual person, negative education / work relationship.

The participants were recruited by means of the snowball method, after contacting various organizations (civil society, schools, companies); those who agreed to participate in the study were informed on the purposes and conditions of the interview, as well as read and signed an informed consent approved by the Ethics Committee of the university to which the first author belongs. Finally, the interviews were fully transcribed and anonymized to protect the identities of the participants.

Information Analysis and Interpretation Strategy

At first, a thematic content analysis was carried out, defined as a set of message content analysis techniques from which indicators (quantitative or not) are obtained, which allow inferring knowledge regarding the production and reception conditions of messages (^{Bardin, 1996}).

In this process, the coding and categorization strategies were carried out sequentially (^{Bardin, 1996}) based on the debate and permanent and systematic review among the authors of this paper, thus preventing potential interpretation biases and ensuring high-quality research.

The coding, or transformation of textual hard data, was guided by the following rules:

1) presence or absence; 2) intensity; 3) direction; and 4) order (^{Krippendorff, 2013}). Thus the elements of the textual material or registration units were selected, to which codes were assigned according to their references to the topics of interest (for example, identity references and/or experiences associated with the ethnic-racial and sex-gender axes), taking into account the importance given (intensity) and the positive or negative evaluations contained in the text (direction). Likewise, the textual material was coded in relation to the points in time of the participants’ migration trajectories (order), for example, recording their experiences in the country of origin and the country of destination.

The categorization, or process through which the recording units are distributed according to their references to the topics of interest, was guided by the rules of: 1) exhaustiveness; 2) mutual exclusion, and 3) formation of significant categories (^{Bardin, 1996}). In this way, categories and subcategories were constructed, distributing each coded recording unit in a single category according to their specific significance references, and only meanings related to the established research objectives were incorporated.

Subsequently, the material produced was subjected to an intersectional analysis, defined as a knowledge approach oriented to the study of social privilege/oppression (^{Collins, 1991}), which does not have defined methodological strategies (^{Brah, 2012}). The strategy employed to incorporate an intersectional lens included carrying out various inference processes, that is, the construction of deductions or explanations of what is found explicitly or implicitly in the texts (^{Krippendorff, 2013}). These inferences were made according to the research questions of this study and within an explicit context that served as a guide (^{Krippendorff, 2013}).

Migration Trajectory, and Work and Social Experiences in Chile

Next, categories and subcategories are presented that account for the motivations of the participants to emigrate from Haiti to Chile, as well as their work and social experiences in the host country.

The category Reasons for migration includes perceptions about living conditions in the country of origin, associated with emigration. Migration as a family project is included as a subcategory.

My dad says: “Marcelo, what do you think? Chile gives all foreigners a chance to earn some.” And I say: “if you want to, I want it too, because you are my father and you know what is good for me” (Marcelo, position 3, personal communication, April 30, 2019).

Unemployment or layoff experiences are also associated with emigration to Chile.

I was working in Haiti and then I lost my job, and I have friends here (...) I spent about ten months without a job and spent everything I had, so I know I can come (…) and here I can get a job (…) to take care for my family (Pedro, position 1, personal communication, April 10, 2019).

The negative effects of the political crisis in Haiti are also linked to emigration to Chile:

In Haiti (...) I was studying at the university (...) in Port-au-Prince, but the situation in Haiti was not good, political matters were not good, so I decided to come to Chile to study and finish my studies” (Alejandra, position 3, personal communication, February 26, 2019).

Finally, sexually-dissident participants reported acute homophobia and transphobia as their reason for emigration to Chile.

I have two aunts in the United States, and I told them: “I can’t live in this country” (...) “I don’t feel well,” and she told me: (...) “where do you want to live?,” and I told her that I want to live where there is no discrimination because I have to live my life as I want (...) and she called me one day and said: “do you have a passport?,” “I told her, yes” (...) she said “alright, I’m going to send you some money,” and (...) [laughs] I traveled here (Mario, position 5, personal communication, July 17, 2019).

Within the category Work and social experiences in Chile, statements on the work environment and the social interaction of the participants in this country are included. There, the perception of having to endure poor working conditions is identified, associated with the need to regularize their immigration status by means of a visa that depends on an employment contract.

They put me to work eight lucas⁴ a day, Saturdays and Sundays too (...) when the [employer]handed me the contract, I asked him to apply the contract’s considerations to me (...) and he told me that “no, take it or leave it,” and I told him: “well, it’s fine because I have papers in process,” so I’ll keep working there until I’m given my visa and then I’ll leave that job (Marcos, position 2, personal communication, August 17, 2019).

On the other hand, the participants see themselves as the most discriminated workers in Chile (Haitians as the most discriminated workers), reporting worse working conditions compared to Chilean workers or workers of other nationalities:

The boss treats Haitians very badly, worse than people from other countries, they don’t mistreat Venezuelans, they treat them just like Chileans (...) but not the Haitians, they have to work more (Alejandra, position 3, personal communication, February 26, 2019).

When I make any mistake, all Chileans talk to my boss. When Chileans make some mistake, no one says a thing, nothing happens (Cristian, position 1, personal communication, April 30, 2019).

Participants also stated that Haitian women face more significant conditions of labor discrimination and exploitation than Haitian men, such as “the boss wants to work with Haitian women only, he does not want any Haitian men (...) you have to work fifty hours a week and only one day off, no Chilean is going to accept that” (Alejandra, position 3, personal communication, February 26, 2019). This contributes to discouraging their participation into the labor market, as pointed out by Marcos when referring to his wife: “she is not working because there is a lot of discrimination in jobs here, they mistreat Haitian women, that is why I am not very interested in her working” (position 2, personal communication, August 17, 2019).

In another area, our interviewees referred to their participation in evangelical religious organizations (Baptist, Presbyterian or Pentecostal): “Pentecostal (...) every week (...) we have a Haitian group, and we meet there” (Marcos, position 2, personal communication, August 17, 2019). These appear to be important spaces of social belonging and identification: “I go to church. (...) I play bass, guitar, and piano (...) almost all Haitians (...) like to worship God (...) I cannot miss it” (Pedro, position 1, personal communication, April 10, 2019).

As for the motivations for emigrating from the country of origin, the social class and sex- gender-sexual orientation oppression described by the participants seems to act independently of other axes. However, as will be seen later, these dimensions of oppression act in conjunction with other axes of difference in both cases. Thus, social class oppression is articulated in conjunction with the ethnic-racial axis, while in the case of sexual dissidence, the sex-gender axis is articulated with social class, being linked in both cases with the decision to emigrate.

On the other hand, the Chilean labor environment is perceived as a racialized, precarious, xenophobic and sexist space, where oppression is articulated in the axes of social class, nationality, ethnicity-race, sex-gender and the migrant condition itself, giving rise to the construction of an identity as Haitian-migrant-worker. In contrast to this subordinate identity, as pointed out by the participants, religious identification provides elements for the construction of more positive and liberating social identities.

Ethnic-Racial Order

This section collects perceptions, experiences or assessments of the participants regarding the order and the articulations of the ethnic-racial thematic axis, referring to the situation in their country of origin before migrating to Chile. The Social Hierarchies in Haiti category includes statements on the most distinguishable social ranks in Haiti, that is, social classes, ethnic-racial castes, and nationality.

In the social class subcategory, participants reported to us to marked differences in living conditions in Haiti, where a minority group enjoys a comfortable lifestyle, while the majority of the population barely has the basic resources necessary for survival. Participants explained these hierarchies as discrimination towards people in disadvantaged socioeconomic positions.

The problem in Haiti is that the social distance between the richest and the poorest is so huge that you can find a Haitian and you don’t think he is Haitian (...) there are Haitians who could even provide for Europeans, for Americans (...) and there are also Haitians who live from day to day, who have to go out and make it happen so they can eat that day (Carlos, position 2, personal communication, August 20, 2019).

Over there it’s all about the money, (...) if I kill you, but have the money, justice will let me go (...) money is always above everything over there. That is very firmly established in Haiti, those who have the money don’t care about anything, and if someone has no money they can even go to jail and nothing will happen (Maria, position 1, personal communication, September 14, 2019).

Also, privileged groups tend to invest their capital in other countries and show disinterest in the social demands of the Haitian population: “There are people who have the means but never think of helping (...) they could start businesses, that way one could find a little job, make a living, but they don’t do that, they go to other countries to start their businesses there” (María, position 1, personal communication, September 7, 2019).

Those who have money (...) don’t pay attention to what is happening to the poor, they do not care about the demonstrations in the streets, about strikes, that is your thing, what they are always interested in is earning money (Marcos, position 2, personal communication, August 17, 2019).

Finally, the social class dimension is articulated with the sex-gender dimension, determining the possibilities of sex-gender identification or expression for sexual dissidents. In this intersectionality, being in an otherwise privileged position can minimize the risks of suffering violence.

There is a lot of discrimination in Haiti, a lot of ill-will against people like me. You can (...) there are people who are not discriminated against (...) if you have a lot of money, people don’t interfere in your life, you can do whatever you want, anything. If you don’t have money, when they see you in the street they yell at you, they say: “hey, hey, hey,” they throw stones at you, they can beat you up in groups, it’s very bad (Fabiola, position 4, personal communication, September 13, 2019).

On the other hand, the hierarchical differences associated with the ethnic-racial axis show how a group of Haitians with European colonial ancestry (from France or Spain) and a different phenotype from the majority of the population (Afro-descendants) concentrates most socioeconomic and political power in Haitian society. “There are two races in Haiti, a rich part that is white, because it was colonized (...) by France and Spain” (Carola, position 3, personal communication, March 16, 2019).

From colonization times (...) today there is a small group of what they called “children of white people,” and society in general is black (...) this small group has a huge percentage of the country’s wealth, the big companies and the decision-making power, ruling power (...) people say that 90% [concentrates all wealth] (Carlos, position 2, personal communication, August 20, 2019).

This minority group of European descent and whitened phenotype would have their houses in socioeconomically well-off neighborhoods of the Haitian capital.

There are people whose origins are from other countries, like France, they have lighter skin, long straight hair, and live in a city or a street all to themselves (...) people of a different skin color, with different hair, in different houses. In Port-au-Prince (...) there is a part like that, where people who are sort of a different class live (Alejandra, position 3, personal communication, March 5, 2019).

Likewise, this group that owns the land, industry and trade would have a decisive influence on the Haitian government’s agendas, being held responsible by some participants for the economic and political crises in Haiti.

The people in Haiti who have more money (...) are white, but Haitians. They are mixed, children of foreigners and Haitians, they have a lot of money, a lot of land (...) warehouses and stores (...) they support the president and the president supports (...) all the things that are good for them, and that is why the rest of population does not have much to live on (Pedro, position 1, personal communication, April 17, 2019).

We were under French colonization (...) mestizo races resulted from that, children of white and black people (...) they are the ones who have the power, they are the ones who have all the money in the country, they are the ones who govern the country, they are the ones who cause all disorder (...) they are responsible for the wrongdoings, the misdirection of power (Marcos, position 2, personal communication, August 17, 2019).

Statements referring to social hierarchies by nationality reveal a hierarchical split in which white people-foreigners occupy a privileged position and Haitians a subordinate one: “If a white person arrives, they are paid in American, and we are paid in Haitian (...) more value is given to foreigners than to us” (Pedro, position 1, personal communication, April 10, 2019). “If I have a son with you, he is called a mulatto, and if he does not have money, he will have problems with whiter people, because they have more money in my country, even if many of them are foreigners” (Miguel, position 3, personal communication, April 17, 2019).

This manner, being of a foreign nationality, which brings together elements of prestige and socioeconomic power, articulates nationality with the whitened phenotype. However, some participants do not directly associate this hierarchy-creating nationality with specific phenotypic characteristics, and also identify groups of non-white foreigners in positions of privilege with respect to Haitians.

My aunt is Haitian, and she has a Dominican husband (...) when she wants to come visit to my mother (...) that Dominican who is my aunt’s husband doesn’t want to (...) as we are Haitians and he is Dominican (...) he doesn’t want to (...) you know there’s people who are racist (Jorge, position 1, personal communication, September 8, 2019).

In the thematic axis described, colonial memories are articulated with ethnic-racial and social class oppressions. This configuration is in turn articulated with national hierarchies, giving rise to an identity positioning heir to a subordinate history, crystallized as a subordinate national identity. In this sense, the articulation of the positions of social class, ethnicity-race and nationality, and colonial memories, provide keys to the understanding of Haitian identity as a subordinate national one.

Sex-Gender Order

This section deals with experiences, descriptions, prescriptions and evaluations, in reference to the sex-gender system, throughout the migration trajectories of the participants.

The first category, referring to the country of origin, is the traditional sex-gender order in Haiti, including references to homophobia/transphobia, linked to the risk of suffering violence and/or lack of police protection due to dissident sex-gender identifications/expressions:

On the street where I lived over there, there was a man-man couple who rented a house, and we kicked them out (...) the first time we told them how they can’t do that (...) then we got into the house and beat them (...) it was normal for us (...) for the government it was also normal (...) the police can come, the chief of police can come, but nothing will happen because they are also with them (Juan, position 1, personal communication, March 7, 2019).

In Haiti (...) people kill homosexuals, they cannot walk in the street (...) it is very dangerous (...) they are shot down with guns, and the police will not defend them (Jorge, position 1, personal communication, September 8, 2019).

The aforementioned finds another institutional expression in the lack of public services to carry out a gender transitioning: “For women they have contraceptives, but like, for a woman like me, if I want to transition there’s no way, you have to cross into the Republic Dominican” (Fabiola, position 4, personal communication, September 13, 2019).

Secondly, the subcategory Violence against women, expresses the acceptance of aggression towards women in relationships, and the lack of police/judicial control before it.

In my country, when you have a woman, if the woman does something wrong, I can [gesture of hitting] (...) hit her and nothing happens to you (Cristian, position 1, personal communication, April 30, 2019).

The law is no real safety, because the man (...) fights with the woman, and sometimes nothing happens (...) when the justice system goes after them, they go to Santo Domingo (Pedro, position 1, personal communication, April 17, 2019).

Thirdly, in the subcategory Traditional female roles and stereotypes, the responsibility for carrying out household chores, and the persistence of attitudes and behaviors of subordination, respect or obedience towards men are included.

They treat them very badly, they believe Haitian women are just house maids, to take care of the house and their children (Fabiola, position 4, personal communication, September 13, 2019).

Over there women do their thing, which is the house, that the house is clean (...) and men go out to work (...) it is not like here in Chile that the woman is demanding (...) over there it is not like that (Juan, position 1, personal communication, February 27, 2019).

As can be seen, gender stereotypes are strongly rooted in the sociocultural imaginary of the participants’ country of origin, and are still maintained even in situations where women assume non-traditional gender roles.

There are some who work, who do business, but that doesn’t mean their word is respected. It has always been the same (María, position 1, personal communication, September 7, 2019)

When my wife goes to work, if I don’t work, even if I don’t have something going, my wife is respectful, she respects me, my wife will not to be in charge of the house because she knows that it is me who is the man of the house (Cristian, position 1, personal communication, May 7, 2019).

The last subcategory, Traditional sexual division of labor, evidences the different and complementary gender roles for men and women, from which women are assigned to the private sphere and reproductive tasks, and men to productive tasks in the public spaces of society.

The priority of having to work belongs to the man, the man has to work (...) and the woman stays at home taking care of the children (Pedro, position 1, personal communication, April 10, 2019).

Men work more than women, women stay at home to take care of the house (Alejandra, position 3, personal communication, February 26, 2019).

The second category, Sex-gender order in Chile, has as its first subcategory Rejection of the recognition of homosexual rights, which deals with the participants’ perception, acceptance and recognition of the rights of these people. Such rejection appears to be associated mainly with the religious beliefs of the participants, which expressly prohibit this type of sexual identities/expressions.

God does not like that (...) and it is not accepted in the Bible (...) it is bad, it is cursed (Cristian, position 1, personal communication, April 30, 2019).

God has warned us of this through His word, He said that men do not have to lay with men and neither do women (Carola, position 3, personal communication, March 16, 2019).

The second subcategory, which operates in the opposite direction to the previous one, accounts for a positive evaluation of the acceptance of homosexual or transgender people in Chile and includes the experiences of sexually-dissident participants.

Here I can do everything I want, yes, I have no problem with this country, I’m happy, I don’t want to go live in my country [laughs] (Mario, position 5, personal communication, July 17, 2019).

In Chile there is little discrimination, they will to talk about you to make you feel bad (...) there is few people that will confront you and say bad things to you. It’s a different life in Chile than in Haiti (Fabiola, position 4, personal communication, September 13, 2019).

On the other hand, the third subcategory, Negative assessment of female power, includes descriptions and evaluations against the power of women in Chile, which is perceived to lead to the breach of their duties of obedience or respect towards men. Likewise, this subcategory includes negative evaluations of the impossibility of men of exercising violence towards their partners (women) and of the high number of perceived separations or divorces.

In Chile women are always bossing men around (...) I don’t like that (...) why do women boss men? No (...) not there, not in my country (Miguel, position 3, personal communication, April 17, 2019).

Chilean women have a husband (...) they have other boyfriends⁵ and the husband can’t say anything about that, only be jealous (...) he can’t hit them. No, not in my country (Cristian, position 1, personal communication, May 7, 2019).

Here a woman separates from a man right away, just like that, that’s why I don’t want a relationship with a Chilean woman [laughs], when you marry bad things can happen, but we can (...) talk to each other; but not here, they divorce after one year, one year or eight months, they separate (Cristian, position 1, personal communication, May 7, 2019).

On the other hand, some participants make a positive assessment of female power in relation to their perception of the power exercised and the roles played by women in Chile.

What I like the most about the gender order here is that women are respected just like men, that is, just like a men have their say, women also have their say (María, position 1, personal communication, September 7, 2019).

Women work in Chile (...) in Haiti, men do everything (...) Here in Chile (...) they always go to work (Jorge, position 1, personal communication, September 8, 2019).

As a counterpoint to the above, the participants also reported on Chilean couples that follow the traditional forms of power distribution between men and women:

Here (...) women work harder (...) harder than men (...) I know of men who stay at home smoking, drinking, while the woman works (...) I saw this woman cry because she is working and the man doesn’t want to work, the money this woman earns, she can’t hide it (...) the man, although he doesn’t work, he controls the woman (Alejandra, position 3, personal communication, February 26, 2019).

The category Changes in the sex-gender order from Haiti to Chile includes Permanence of gender roles and stereotypes as a first subcategory, with respect to those roles assumed in the country of origin. “We keep to our customs, because there the husband is always respected, the husband has the power and that is respected” (Ada, position 2, personal communication, September 14, 2019). “I have no problem, things remain the same with my wife, it’s the same as always” (Marcelo, position 3, personal communication, April 30, 2019).

On the contrary, the second subcategory, Changes in the exercise of gender roles, includes statements about experiences of a more egalitarian role distribution, greater male participation in domestic tasks, flexibility of the male role as exclusive provider, and greater participation of women in decision making. “This is a country where there is no time (…) that is why he helps with things, everything in the house, cleaning, ironing, washing, all of that” (Daniela, position 1, personal communication, March 7, 2019); “He got used to still ask me even if he makes the decisions (…) he behaves like that now. We both decide (...) it’s been better this way, much better” (María, position 1, personal communication, September 7, 2019).

In Haiti, when I go to a restaurant to have something with a woman, I pay for everything, but in Chile (...) I want to pay for everything, but she [Chilean girlfriend] tells me no, no, half and half (...) that’s the difference (Jorge, position 1, personal communication, September 8, 2019).

Thirdly, the subcategory Decrease in violence against women is linked to the perception of legal-police controls in the face of this phenomenon.

He changed, because he says you can’t hit women here (...) he is somewhat afraid, because he knows they can still send him to his country, they can put him in jail, so he changed a little like that (Maria, position 1, personal communication, September 7, 2019).

Finally, the subcategory Positive attitudes towards homosexuality displays incipient attitudes of greater acceptance towards these sexual expressions/identities in Chile.

It’s freely done here, it is legal. For that reason I have no problem with a person who does that (...) because it’s their life, they have their life, and I have mine (...) I see two men kissing, but I have no problem (Marcelo, position 3, communication staff, April 30, 2019).

These attitudes are followed by attempts at expanding their own interpretive frameworks of reference in order to explain these sexual identities/expressions, outlawed in Haitian society but perceived as accepted in Chilean society.

I talked to a Chilean friend and asked her: “why two men here?,” and she said: “it’s love, Miguel” (...) you must accept that, if you like a woman then it’s the same for two men that they can have sex, and I can’t have a say there (Miguel, position 3, personal communication, April 17, 2019).

The categories and subcategories of this thematic axis suggest incipient identity adjustments in the participants regarding their constructions in the sex-gender axes. These adjustments seem to be strongly influenced by the material and institutional conditions experienced and perceived in Chile, and by the subordinate social position of the participants within the articulation of dimensions of nationality, ethnicity-race, social class and migrant status.

Thus, this articulation of oppression dimensions places the participants in a subordinate position, from which they legitimize the perceived power of Chilean women. The same thing happens particularly in male participants, with the incipient acceptance of the expression of dissident sex- gender identities, at the same time discouraging violence against women. However, other participants maintain a position of hierarchy with respect to women and sexual dissidence; that is, they maintain the position they held in the sex-gender relationships prior to their arrival in Chile, without the articulation of dimensions of oppression in the host country modifying their identity constructions.

Limitations of this Study and Suggestions for Further Research

One limitation in this study was the difficult access to Haitians with technical-university level education practicing their professions or trades in Chile, which can be linked to the lack of formal agreements for the validation of secondary and university studies between Chile and Haiti (^{Rojas & Silva, 2016}). Likewise, it was difficult to access sexually-dissident participants; the outlawing of these identities in Haiti, as described by the participants, may explain these difficulties. Another important limitation was the interviewer’s lack of knowledge of Haitian Creole; conducting interviews in the participants’ own language could have contributed to a better understanding of some aspects of their subjectivity, this being an issue to be taken into account for future research. Finally, most of the phenomena analyzed and discussed from this study (for example, identities, racism, sex-gender elements, colonial memories) in relation to Haitian migration in Chile are presented as areas of study that require further deeper delving, both at their particular levels and in their complex interactions.