{"id":1050,"date":"2020-03-07T20:48:06","date_gmt":"2020-03-08T01:48:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lerrn\/?p=1050"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:21:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:21:00","slug":"an-equal-world-is-an-enabled-world-reflections-on-gender-equality-in-refugee-contexts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lerrn\/2020\/an-equal-world-is-an-enabled-world-reflections-on-gender-equality-in-refugee-contexts\/","title":{"rendered":"An Equal World is an Enabled World: Reflections on Gender Equality in Refugee Contexts"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Amanda Klassen<\/strong><\/p>\n

March 8<\/span>th<\/span>, 2020 marks the 55<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0year that International Women\u2019s Day (IWD) has been celebrated around the world<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>T<\/span>his year the IWD theme is\u00a0<\/span>#EachforEqual, an equal world is an enabled world<\/span><\/i> which highlights the difference that individuals can make. IWD is an opportunity to celebrate the many amazing accomplishments of women around the world but is also a time to reflect on the continued challenges that women face in their day to day lives due to prevailing<\/span>\u00a0gender<\/span>\u00a0inequality.<\/span>\u00a0Achieving gender equality across all sectors and issue areas is crucial for improving economies and communities around the world<\/span>. [1]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While the themes\u00a0<\/span>of IWD\u00a0<\/span>tend to be applied to reaching \u201cgender parity\u201d in an economic sense, they also highlight the need for achieving equality as a mechanism for improving circumstances for women living in specific vulnerable contexts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>In many societies around the world women face discrimination and violence in their\u00a0every day\u00a0lives, this becomes even more pronounced in times of displacement.\u00a0<\/span>At present, there are over 70 million people who have been forcibly displaced around the world, and this number continues to grow.\u00a0<\/span>Women make up fifty percent of refugee, stateless and internally displaced populations<\/span>, but are largely the most vulnerable in these situations<\/span>. [2]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>One of the most prevalent issues in any displacement setting is the high levels of sexual and gender-based violence\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span>are<\/span>\u00a0often linked to cultural\u00a0<\/span>barriers<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>lack of access to safe reporting and legal mechanisms,\u00a0<\/span>and to situational factors such as<\/span>\u00a0over-crowding, lack of privacy, unsafe shelters and inadequate WASH facilities<\/span>. [3]<\/span>\u00a0Achieving women\u2019s equality would help to mitigate some of these challenges and ensure that better protection mechanisms can be put into place<\/span>\u00a0by giving women access to decision making forums.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One\u00a0<\/span>of the many ways that\u00a0<\/span>humanitarian organizations such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)<\/a> seeks to address gender inequality and protection is\u00a0<\/span>through the use of<\/span>\u00a0gender mainstreaming policies and approaches.\u00a0<\/span>The Women\u2019s Refugee Commission<\/a> argues that gender equality programming in humanitarian situations has been proven to increase access to services for women, increase participation and agency in decision making, and to decrease incidences of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV)<\/span>. [4]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Yet, in many cases, these kinds of policies are difficult to implement properly in humanitarian settings.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some critics of gender mainstreaming policies argue that Western conceptualizations of gender equality and gender mainstreaming often operate under assumptions of the third world \u201cother\u201d. In emergency and humanitarian contexts power and structural inequalities are reinforced as Western aid agencies bestow equality upon the oppressed other<\/span>. [5] <\/span>To support this argument, evidence from humanitarian contexts such as Cambodia have demonstrated that\u00a0<\/span>Western approaches to gender mainstreaming are not effective<\/span>. The most\u00a0<\/span>successful initiatives will take cultural context and norms into\u00a0<\/span>consideration, and engage with local religious leaders and community organizations to find appropriate solutions<\/span>.[6] <\/span>\u00a0Michau\u00a0et al. (2015) argue that programs which attempt to reach only one group of people, or that do not include community-based groups will likely run into challenges, and that it is necessary to tackle issues broadly. This can be done using programming that is holistic in its approach\u00a0<\/span>so as to<\/span>\u00a0both offer support for those who have been victims of SGBV, but also to address the structural inequalities that perpetuate SGBV<\/span>. [7]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Thus, while it is imperative to incorporate gender-sensitive policies and programming into humanitarian and refugee contexts, it is also necessary to ensure that they are culturally and contextually responsive to ensure success. While the most important goals are to eliminate SGBV and to lead to gender equality; the mechanisms for achieving this goal involve ensuring that women are empowered, and equally able to express their agency and participate in decision making processes.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The theme of IWD 2020 asks us to consider how an equal world will be an enabled world<\/span>; h<\/span>ow women\u2019s equality<\/span>\u00a0can<\/span>\u00a0lead to empowerment, protection, and a better future for all<\/span>; and how individuals have the power to make the most difference.<\/span>\u00a0In the case of humanitarian emergencies, ensuring the input of refugee women is crucial for achieving equality and empowerment. The distinct way that refugee women interact with the multitude of power structures in urban, camp and other displacement settings make them uniquely qualified to understand what appropriate solutions are, and how success is measured<\/span>. [8]<\/span>\u00a0Giving the voices of refugee women equal time in decision making forums will lead to better success of humanitarian programming, and to finding long-lasting and durable solutions for their plight.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bartolomei, Linda, and Eileen Pittaway. \u201cRefugee Women and Girls: Key to The Global Compact on Refugees; Notes on Project Methodology: Reciprocal Research through Community Consultation,\u201d 2018.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

DFID. \u201cBangladesh Sexual and Gender Based Violence Assessment,\u201d no. November (2017): 3\u20136. https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2017\/09\/28\/myanmar-global-appeal-un-action.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Eisenbruch, Maurice. \u201cViolence Against Women in Cambodia: Towards a Culturally Responsive Theory of Change.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry<\/span><\/i>\u00a042, no. 2 (2018): 350\u201370. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/s11013-017-9564-5.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Karen Women\u2019s Organization. \u201cSalt in the Wound,\u201d 2013. https:\/\/www.burmapartnership.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/290995511-Salt-in-the-Wound-Full-Report-English-Version-FINAL-for-Website.pdf.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Michau, Lori, Jessica Horn, Amy Bank, Mallika Dutt, and Cathy Zimmerman. \u201cPrevention of Violence against Women and Girls: Lessons from Practice.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>The Lancet<\/span><\/i>\u00a0385, no. 9978 (2015): 1672\u201384. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(14)61797-9.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Olivius, Elisabeth. \u201cConstructing Humanitarian Selves and Refugee Others.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>International Feminist Journal of Politics<\/span><\/i>\u00a018, no. 2 (2016): 270\u201390. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/14616742.2015.1094245.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSites of Repression and Resistance: Political Space in Refugee Camps in Thailand.\u201d <\/span>Critical Asian Studies<\/span><\/i>\u00a049, no. 3 (2017): 289\u2013307. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/14672715.2017.1333268.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Strategic Executive Group. \u201c2019 Joint Response Plan for Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis,\u201d 2019.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thackeray, David. \u201cThe Theme of International Women\u2019s Day 2020, Explained.\u201d World Economic Forum, 2020. https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2020\/03\/international-womens-day-2020-theme-each-for-equal\/.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

UNHCR. \u201cFigures at a Glance.\u201d Statistical Yearbooks, 2020. http:\/\/www.unhcr.org\/figures-at-a-<\/span>glance.html.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Women\u2019s Refugee Commission. \u201c”We Need to Write Our Own Names\u201d: Gender Equality and Women\u2019s Empowerment in the Rohingya Humanitarian Response in Cox\u2019s Bazar,\u201d 2019.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Amanda Klassen March 8th, 2020 marks the 55th\u00a0year that International Women\u2019s Day (IWD) has been celebrated around the world.\u00a0This year the IWD theme is\u00a0#EachforEqual, an equal world is an enabled world which highlights the difference that individuals can make. IWD is an opportunity to celebrate the many amazing accomplishments of women around the world […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[292,1,195],"tags":[558],"yoast_head":"\nAn Equal World is an Enabled World: Reflections on Gender Equality in Refugee Contexts - LERRN: The Local 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