HIV and Gendered Migrations: an Articulation of Young Women's Diverse Migration Experiences on the Thai-Lao border

This thesis explores young Lao women's diverse and complex migration experiences from Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) to Northeast Thailand. It argues that Lao women's migration experiences are not monolithic, and that they often do not fit into rigid and exclusive classification systems outlined by policy-makers on both sides of the border. This cross-border study centres around young Lao women's multifaceted migration experiences, the multiple forms of gendered agency that they exercise in their varied social locations, and the real or perceived interconnections between migration and HIV 'risk' in this social context. The central aim of this research is to provide a nuanced understanding of the ways that global and local discourses, policies, and practices surrounding HIV and migration affect the everyday lives, overall health, and well-being of Lao migrant women through the narration of their own experiences.