Raising children in a violent context: An intersectionality approach to understanding parents' experiences in Ciudad Juárez

• Social class and gender intersected to shape parents' experiences in Juárez.
• Fathers had increased mobility as compared to mothers.
• Lacking a car and cell phone heightened mothers' isolation within the home.
• Options for informal employment were reduced, impacting mothers to a greater degree.
• Fathers' role as provider forced them to take on dangerous jobs.

SynopsisChildren's and parents' daily lives are rarely highlighted in coverage of drug wars. Using 16 interviews with parents in the Mexican border city of Juárez in 2010, we examine how drug violence impacts families with a focus on intersections of gender and social class. Related to mobility (the first emergent theme), fathers had increased mobility as compared to mothers, which caused different stresses. Material hardships heightened mothers' isolation within the home, and mothers more often had to enforce children's mobility restrictions, which children resisted. Related to employment (the second emergent theme), fathers took on dangerous jobs to provide for the family while mothers had fewer options for informal employment due to violence. In sum, men and women faced different challenges, which were intensified due to class-based material disadvantages. Conformity with traditional gender expectations for behavior was common for men and women, illustrating the normalization of gender inequality within this context.