Gendered Research Encounters: Reflections on Fieldwork on Sexual Violence With Migrant Men in Transit

This paper reflects on qualitative fieldwork conducted by a female researcher with migrant men in the transit zones of Brussels and Calais, investigating the gender-sensitive topic of sexual violence against men. Drawing on fieldnotes from participant observation, it analyses three interconnected relational processes: negotiating access, negotiating intimacy and boundaries, and negotiating disclosure. The analysis shows that access, rapport, and disclosure were continuously negotiated through gendered, racialised, and institutional positioning. These dynamics affected how the researcher was perceived, but also what became articulable, silenced, or interpretable within research encounters. The paper argues that positionality should therefore be understood as constitutive of the production and interpretation of qualitative data. It highlights the importance of embodied reflexivity for research on sensitive topics and for understanding the relational conditions under which knowledge is produced.