Unaccompanied migrant girls and adolescents: challenging social services

Abstract

This research is an analysis of the group of Unaccompanied Migrant Girls and Adolescents sheltered in the Children and Adolescent Care System of the Autonomous Community of [anonimizado] (Spain). This group is especially invisible due to the combination of their status as minors, migrants and women. The numerical scarcity of detections and receptions of this profile makes specialized and appropriate intervention to the needs that they present difficult. Through the analysis of the files of unaccompanied migrant girls and adolescents received in [anonimizado] in the period 2011-2021, specific profiles of this group will be established according to their migratory reasons, which will allow their various vulnerabilities and specific needs to be detected. The perspective of the professionals who have intervened with these girls will be included, with the aim of proposing recommendations to improve the intervention, oriented and appropriate to the profile studied. The research aims to promote the visibility and empowerment of girls and adolescents as emerging agents in migratory projects with specific characteristics, contribute to their study given the existing scarcity of research and specific data, and incorporate recommendations for improvement in the intervention with these girls and adolescents that guarantee their protection in light of their specific needs.