Fragmented reproduction: women’s reproductive experiences and the carcerality of Swiss federal asylum camps

Abstract

This article examines the experiences of pregnant asylum seekers and mothers with newborn babies living in federal asylum camps in Switzerland. We argue that the carceral nature of these camps affects women’s reproductive lives through logics of fragmentation: a fragmented institutional system, insufficient spatial infrastructures within the camps, and a spatio-temporal fragmentation through constant transfers. However, some asylum-seeking women and their “allies” actively navigate and resist this fragmentation by seeking spaces of relief, thereby challenging the carceral nature of the asylum system. By combining carceral geographies with interdisciplinary studies of refugees’ reproductive health, we provide a more nuanced understanding of the impact of the carceral system on reproductive lives.