Supporting Migrant Women in Brussels to Regain Control over their Lives
Abstract
In Brussels, many migrant women without legal status have no or limited access to health care and other basic services. Their access to descent care is mainly hampered by a lack of information, limited fnancial resources and poor experiences in the past. Three non-governmental organisations joint eforts to help migrant women without legal status to come out of their isolation. Action research during the implementation process was conducted in order to know which elements contributed
to increased feelings of trust and reinforced autonomy among the target group and more willingness to support migrants among a larger population. Our major conclusion is that mental health and well-being is largely defned by (the quality of) social relations and interactions – an aspect that is too often forgotten as a result of the medicalization of mental health related problems.