Refugees

Resilience in South Sudanese Women: Hope for Daughters of the Nile

Citation:

Wanga-Odhiambo, Godriver. 2013. Resilience in South Sudanese Women: Hope for Daughters of the Nile. Lanham: Lexington Books.

Author: Godriver Wanga-Odhiambo

Abstract:

This book traces the origin and developments of civil wars in Southern Sudan and how they impacted the female population. It shows how these refugee South Sudanese women dealt with homelessness in host countries through various coping strategies, and their eventual resettlement in USA where again they experienced cultural collisions. Finally, Resilience in South Sudanese Women traces their settlement in America, the challenges they experienced, and how they overcame them through determination and resilience. (Abstract from WorldCat)

Annotation:

Table of Contents:

1. "Historical Background to Sudan's Civil War"

2. "Movement Beyond Borders"

3. "Settling In: Self-Settlement in Nairobi"

4. "Providing for Refugees"

5. "Coping Strategies: Establishment of Social Networks"

6. "Behold the Promised Land: America"

7. "Sudanese Women: The Real Heroines" 

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Livelihoods Regions: Africa, East Africa, Americas, North America Countries: Sudan, United States of America

Year: 2013

Development of a Screening Tool to Identify Female Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in a Humanitarian Setting: Qualitative Evidence from Research among Refugees in Ethiopia

Citation:

Wirtz, Andrea L, Nancy Glass, Kiemanh Pham, Amsale Aberra, Leonard S Rubenstein, Sonal Singh, and Alexander Vu. 2013. “Development of a Screening Tool to Identify Female Survivors of Gender-Based Violence in a Humanitarian Setting: Qualitative Evidence from Research among Refugees in Ethiopia.” Conflict and Health 7 (1): 13. doi:10.1186/1752-1505-7-13.

Authors: Andrea L. Wirtz, Nancy Glass, Kiemanh Pham, Amsale Aberra, Leonard S Rubenstein, Sonal Singh, Alexander Vu

Abstract:

Background: High levels of gender-based violence (GBV) persist among conflict-affected populations and within humanitarian settings and are paralleled by under-reporting and low service utilization. Novel and evidence-based approaches are necessary to change the current state of GBV amongst these populations. We present the findings of qualitative research, which were used to inform the development of a screening tool as one potential strategy to identify and respond to GBV for females in humanitarian settings.

Methods: Qualitative research methods were conducted from January-February 2011 to explore the range of experiences of GBV and barriers to reporting GBV among female refugees. Individual interview participants (n=37) included female refugees (≥15 years), who were survivors of GBV, living in urban or one of three camps settings in Ethiopia, and originating from six conflict countries. Focus group discussion participants (11 groups; 77 participants) included health, protection and community service staff working in the urban or camp settings. Interviews and discussions were conducted in the language of preference, with assistance by interpreters when needed, and transcribed for analysis by grounded-theory technique.

Results: Single and multiple counts of GBV were reported and ranged from psychological and social violence; rape, gang rape, sexual coercion, and other sexual violence; abduction; and physical violence. Domestic violence was predominantly reported to occur when participants were living in the host country. Opportunistic violence, often manifested by rape, occurred during transit when women depended on others to reach their destination. Abduction within the host country, and often across borders, highlighted the constant state of vulnerability of refugees. Barriers to reporting included perceived and experienced stigma in health settings and in the wider community, lack of awareness of services, and inability to protect children while mothers sought services.

Conclusions: Findings demonstrate that GBV persists across the span of the refugee experience, though there is a transition in the range of perpetrators and types of GBV that are experienced. Further, survivors experience significant individual and system barriers to disclosure and service utilization. The findings suggest that routine GBV screening by skilled service providers offers a strategy to confidentially identify and refer survivors to needed services within refugee settings, potentially enabling survivors to overcome existing barriers. 

 

Keywords: refugee, displacement, conflict, gender-based violence, sexual violence, reproductive health, Ethiopia

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Reproductive Health, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Ethiopia

Year: 2013

The Gender-Specific Terror of El Salvador and Guatemala: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Central American Refugee Women

Citation:

Aron, Adrianne, Shawn Corne, Anthea Fursland, and Barbara Zelwer. 1991. “The Gender-Specific Terror of El Salvador and Guatemala: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in Central American Refugee Women.” Women’s Studies International Forum 14 (1): 37–47. doi:10.1016/0277-5395(91)90082-S.

Authors: Adrianne Aron, Shawn Corne, Anthea Fursland, Barbara Zelwer

Abstract:

A taxonomy of three broad categories describes the forms of sexual abuse commonly found in El Salvador and Guatemala, where gender-specific political repression traumatizes people and gives rise to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD). If the psychological problems of Central American women refugees are to be addressed meaningfully, we must attend not only to the special characteristics of the assaults they have endured, but also to features of the pre-trauma environment in which they lived, and the post-trauma experience of exile. Of particular importance is the distinction between institutionalized and noninstitutionalized sexual assault; that is, assault sanctioned by the government as a normative act of social control versus assault which is considered deviant, criminal, and punishable by law. A case study of a Central American refugee woman suffering from PSTD is presented, to illustrate the psychological symptoms attendant to trauma and the use of sexual abuse as a form of political repression.

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Health, PTSD, Sexual Violence, SV against Women Regions: Americas, Central America Countries: El Salvador, Guatemala

Year: 1991

Performing Refugeeness in the Czech Republic: Gendered Depoliticisation through NGO Assistance

Citation:

Szczepanikova, Alice. 2010. “Performing Refugeeness in the Czech Republic: Gendered Depoliticisation through NGO Assistance.” Gender, Place & Culture 17 (4): 461–77.

Author: Alice Szczepanikova

Abstract:

The article examines the gender micropolitics of non-governmental assistance to refugees in the Czech Republic – a post-socialist society which is becoming a country of immigration. It critically examines relations of power between refugees and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). These NGOs act as mediators between refugees and the state, media, wider public and academic production of knowledge. It is argued that despite the important roles they play in securing refugees' access to rights, their assistance is often perceived as problematic by refugees. The article analyses these relations in a wider context of the institutions of the refugee system where the state has increasing power in defining the conditions under which NGO assistance to refugees is provided. The study is based on qualitative research among recognised refugees from the former Soviet Union living in the Czech Republic and local NGOs assisting them with integration into society. I demonstrate how particular forms of assistance and public representation depoliticise refugees in a sense of fostering rather than challenging unequal power relations that lock refugees in a position of clients lacking political means of influencing their place in a receiving society. This is done by conceptualising ‘a refugee’ as a performative identity that is being produced and enacted in feminised NGO spaces. The analysis highlights refugees' critical reflections on their position in the relations of assistance.

Keywords: NGO assistance to refugees, depoliticisation, Czech Republic, Gender, power relations

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Humanitarian Assistance, NGOs, Post-Conflict, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights, Security Regions: Europe, Central Europe Countries: Czech Republic

Year: 2010

Lost Boys, Invisible Girls: Stories of Sudanese Marriages across Borders

Citation:

Grabska, Katarzyna. 2010. “Lost Boys, Invisible Girls: Stories of Sudanese Marriages across Borders.” Gender, Place & Culture 17 (4): 479–97. doi:10.1080/0966369X.2010.485839.

Author: Katarzyna Grabska

Abstract:

Forced migration challenges and changes gender relations. The transnational activities of refugees resettled in the West create gender asymmetries among those who stay behind. This article explores the transnational marriages of young southern Sudanese women (‘invisible girls’), who either stayed in Sudan or remained in refugee camps in Kenya, to Sudanese men who were resettled to America, Canada or Australia (‘lost boys’). Incorporating gender as a relational category into the analysis of transnational practices that migrants and refugees engage in is important. The article argues that there is a need to put feminist analysis at the centre of transnational processes resulting from (forced) migration. It looks at the connections between different geographical locations, the impacts of the migration of young refugee men on bridewealth and marriage negotiations and the gender consequences for young women, men and their families. It is argued that transnational activities, such as marriage, contest, reconfigure and reinforce the culturally inscribed gender norms and practices in and across places. Transnational marriage results in ambiguous benefits for women (and men) in accessing greater freedoms. Anthropological analyses of marriage need a geographical focus on the transnational fields in which they occur. The article seeks to deepen understanding of the nuanced gendered consequences of transnationalism. It shows how gender analysis of actions taken across different locations can contribute to the theorisation of transnational studies of refugees and migrants.

Keywords: transnational marriage, transnationalism, refugee displacement, Gender, Sudan, migration

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Class, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Economies, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Households Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Sudan

Year: 2010

Transnational Family Networks in the Somali Diaspora in Egypt: Women’s Roles and Differentiated Experiences

Citation:

Al-Sharmani, Mulki. 2010. “Transnational Family Networks in the Somali Diaspora in Egypt: Women’s Roles and Differentiated Experiences.” Gender, Place & Culture 17 (4): 499–518. doi:10.1080/0966369X.2010.485843.

Author: Mulki Al-Sharmani

Abstract:

Diasporic Somalis are increasingly leading a transnational life in which family members are sustained through networks of relations, obligations and resources that are located in different nation-states. These networks and relations enable diasporic Somalis to seek safety for themselves and their relatives, minimize risks and maximize family resources. In this article, I examine three key dimensions of such a way of life, namely: migration; remittances; and transnational family care. I focus on the roles that women play in this family-based support system. For instance, women move and facilitate the movement of other family members; they remit to family members; and they provide care for children and sick relatives. But these transnational households are not free from tensions. Family members are placed in hierarchical relations shaped by age; parental authority; possession of western citizenship; financial resources; and bonds of familial reciprocity and gratitude. Women gain appreciation from relatives and a sense of self-respect for their new roles. Some of the women also make use of the family network to arrange for the care of their children and sick relatives, while they engage in transnational trading activities. However, young and single female relatives often sacrifice or delay their individual dreams because of their familial obligations. I conclude that transnationalism – as a way of organizing and sustaining livelihood, resources and relations of Somali families – is not always emancipating or marginalizing for Somali women. Rather the benefits and challenges of such a way of life for women are different, mixed and uneven.

Keywords: diaspora, transnationalism, Gender, refugee families

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Households Regions: Africa, East Africa, North Africa Countries: Egypt, Somalia

Year: 2010

Gender and Feminist Geographies in the Middle East

Citation:

Fenster, Tovi, and Hanaa Hamdan-Saliba. 2013. “Gender and Feminist Geographies in the Middle East.” Gender, Place & Culture 20 (4): 528–46. doi:10.1080/0966369X.2012.709826.

Authors: Tovi Fenster, Hanaa Hamdan-Saliba

Abstract:

This article aimed to review the research carried out in the Middle East primarily on gender and feminist geography and also on place formation, urban space, movement and mobility in the social and political sciences. This aim turned out to be challenging primarily because of the colonial and post-colonial history of the region that continues to have a profound effect on the development of academic knowledge among Middle Eastern scholars as well as a restricted accessibility to material published inside the Middle East. Despite this, the article primarily focuses on feminist research on Middle Eastern women done by Middle Eastern scholars and published in Middle Eastern journals and books primarily in Arabic (and Hebrew in Israel). However, during the process of reviewing a large variety of articles, book chapters and books that exist on Middle Eastern women, we realized that it is sometimes difficult and rather artificial to review the material with only this division in mind. In the end, we reviewed the literature on gender and feminism in the Middle East mainly highlighting local published research and also briefly referring to research published in the West by both Westerners and local researchers. The article begins with presenting its research methodology. It then analyzes the website and literature review that we carried out on the contexts, frameworks and themes of gender and feminist geography and spatial research in the Middle East with particular attention on the research carried out in Israel/Palestine. We focus on the private–public spheres; migration and diaspora and the veil as key concepts in analyzing the literature in this section. In the last section, we explain the reasons for the limitations on gender and feminist research in geography inside the Middle East and mention some general conclusions.

Keywords: Gender, feminism, middle east, veil, private-public spheres, migration-diaspora

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Forced Migration, Refugees, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Terrorism Regions: MENA, Asia, Middle East

Year: 2013

Refugee Women: Beyond Gender versus Culture

Citation:

Bassel, Leah. 2012. Refugee Women: Beyond Gender versus Culture. London: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Refugee-Women-Beyond-Gender-versus-Culture/Bassel/p/book/9780415603607.

Author: Leah Bassel

Abstract:

Debates over the headscarf and niqab, so-called ‘sharia-tribunals’, Female Genital Operations and forced marriages have raged in Europe and North America in recent years, raising the question – does accommodating Islam violate women’s rights? The book takes issue with the terms of this debate. It contrasts debates in France over the headscarf and in Canada over religious arbitration with the lived experience of a specific group of Muslim women: Somali refugee women. The challenges these women eloquently describe first-hand demonstrate that the fray over accommodating culture and religion neglects other needs and engenders a democratic deficit.
 
In Refugee Women: Beyond Gender versus Culture, new theoretical perspectives recast both the story told and who tells the tale. By focusing on the politics underlying how these debates are framed and the experiences of women at the heart of these controversies, women are considered first and foremost as democratic agents rather than actors in the ‘culture versus gender’ script. Crucially, the institutions and processes created to address women’s needs are critically assessed from this perspective.
 
Breaking from scholarship that focuses on whether the accommodation of culture and religion harms women, Bassel argues that this debate ignores the realities of the women at its heart. In these debates, Muslim women are constructed as silent victims. Bassel pleads compellingly for a consideration of women in all their complexity, as active participants in democratic life. The book will appeal to students and scholars throughout the social sciences, particularly of sociology, political science and women’s studies.
(Routledge)

Topics: Citizenship, Civil Society, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Forced Migration, Refugees, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Political Participation, Religion, Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, North America, Europe

Year: 2012

The Gender Politics of the Namibian Liberation Struggle

Citation:

Akawa, Martha, and Bience Gawanas. 2014. The Gender Politics of the Namibian Liberation Struggle. Basel Namibia Studies Series 13. Basel, Switzerland: Basler Afrika Bibliographien.

Authors: Martha Akawa, Bience Gawanas

Annotation:

Contents

Preface by Advocate Bience Gawanas

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. "There can be no national liberation without the full participation of women": The role and position of women in the liberation struggle

2. Idealized struggle? Public and Visual Representations of Women

3. Women and the SWAPO Refugee Camps

4. Sexual Politics in the Camps

5. Education and Training

6. "All has not been won. Not everything has been lost": Women in post-independent Namibia

Epilogue

Abbreviations

List of Illustrations and Maps

Bibliography

Index

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Femininity/ies, Political Participation, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Exploitation and Abuse, Sexuality, Violence Regions: Africa, Southern Africa Countries: Namibia

Year: 2014

Gender, home & identity : Nuer repatriation to Southern Sudan

Citation:

Grabska, Katarzyna. 2014. Gender, home & identity : Nuer repatriation to Southern Sudan. Oxford: James Currey.

Author: Katarzyna Grabska

Abstract:

"Analyses the experiences of exile and return of Nuer women and men of all ages and how they negotiate and reshape gender identities and relations in the context of prolonged war and violence." - WorldCat

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Men, Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: South Sudan

Year: 2014

Pages

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