Putting on Intersectional Glasses: Listening to the Voice of the Vulnerable

Abstract

Many share the concern that the Covid-19 pandemic has had devastating impacts on the vulnerable who are already disproportionately at risk of social exclusion. The health-related risks that the pandemic entailed and the challenges that resulted from the associated measures have led to new vulnerabilities for specific groups such as persons with disabilities, persons from a (forced) migrant background, and women/girls. This article will discuss the complexity of the multiple vulnerabilities during the Covid-19 pandemic by relying on data collected from immigrant women with disabilities. To this end, data from two women with disabilities who are members of the historically marginalized Turkish immigrant group in Austria were analyzed with regard to their experiences during the pandemic. Their accounts are analyzed from an intersectional perspective in order to document the effects of peri-post-pandemic measures on the lives of people with multiple disadvantages. The interviews and audio diaries by two immigrant women with disabilities recorded over seven months are used to delve into latent oppression structures and overlapping mechanisms of difficulties embedded in their experiences. The findings show how the multiple identities and struggles of the two women were affected during the pandemic by building upon each other.