Intersectional Borders in Argentina: Migration, Inequalities, and Judicial Colonialism

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to explore the challenges of intersectionality in the formulation of public policies in Argentina, and thus examine the colonialism ingrained within State structures in general and its judicial system in particular. To that end, this approach is based on the analysis of a legal process that condemned Reina Maraz Bejarano to life sentence in 2014. She is a migrant Bolivian woman, indigenous (Quechua speaker who does not understand Spanish), poor, and a victim of violence, who spent almost two years in jail accused of murdering her husband, also Bolivian, without comprehending the legal process by which she had been detained. This case, which embodies different intersections of social inequalities affecting a woman’s life, reveals the absence of public policies in Argentina oriented to respond to these intersections. The intention of this chapter is not to determine whether Reina is innocent or guilty but to enrich the discussion about the importance of including an intersectional perspective in the State sphere and in public policy-making processes in order to consider—and provide answers to—the many situations of inequality and oppression people face during their lives, which affect their experiences and their access to justice.