A Gendered Approach to the Syrian Refugee Crisis
The refugee crisis that began in 2015 has seen thousands of refugees attempting to reach Europe, principally from Syria. The dangers and difficulties of this journey have been highlighted in the media, as have the political disagreements within Europe over the way to deal with the problem. However, despite the increasing number of women making this journey, there has been little or no analysis of women’s experiences or of the particular difficulties and dangers they may face. A Gendered Approach to the Syrian Refugee Crisis examines women’s experience at all stages of forced migration, from the conflict in Syria, to refugee camps in Lebanon or Turkey, on the journey to the European Union and on arrival in an EU member state. The book deals with women’s experiences, the changing nature of gender relations during forced migration, gendered representations of refugees, and the ways in which EU policies may impact differently on men and women. The book provides a nuanced and complex assessment of the refugee crisis, and shows the importance of analysing differences within the refugee population. Students and scholars of development studies, gender studies, security studies, politics and middle eastern studies will find this book an important guide to the evolving crisis.
Reframing Syrian Refugee Insecurity through a Feminist Lens
While there has been a shift in security studies from the security of states to that of people, realpolitik still takes place under the banner of an emerging discourse of "refugee crisis." Located at the intersection of security studies and refugee scholarship, this book is both a process and a product. It explores the multi-leveled sites of refugee security construction and policy translation that play an instrumental role in informing how Syrian refugee insecurity is engendered and experienced in the case of Lebanon. It sheds light on how impromptu choices made by involved bodies—such as the Lebanese government and the UNHCR—can significantly impact local realities, creating a vicious cycle of Syrian refugee insecurities.
Unpacking Gender
Shifting Sands
The conflict in Syria has created a humanitarian crisis, with almost two million people having fled to neighbouring countries in the hope of escaping the violence. Thousands of Syrian refugees continue to enter Lebanon each week, putting increasing pressure on the ability of host communities and aid agencies to provide them with support. The situation has created intense levels of stress for refugees, as in many cases they are forced to take on new responsibilities at odds with their traditional gendered social roles. In order to understand these changing roles, Oxfam and the ABAAD - Resource Centre for Gender Equality conducted a gender situation and vulnerability assessment among Syrian refugees and Palestinian refugees from Syria now living in Lebanon. The findings are presented in this report, which aims to contribute to an improved understanding of the gendered impact of the Syrian conflict and subsequent displacement on refugees now in Lebanon. The report concludes with detailed recommendations for development and humanitarian practitioners and donor agencies, to help them design and implement gender-sensitive programming that addresses these shifting gender roles and helps to minimize stress and tensions among refugee populations (at individual, household and community levels) and between refugee and host communities.
Gender-Based Violence in Migration
With contributions from a diverse array of international scholars, this edited volume offers a renewed understanding of gender-based violence (GBV) by examining its social and political dimensions in migration contexts. This book engages micro, meso, and macro levels of analysis by foregrounding a conceptualization of GBV that addresses both its interpersonal and structural causes. Chapters explore how GBV frameworks and migration management intersect, bringing to the forefront the specific inequalities these intersections produce for migrant women. Drawing upon several disciplines, the authors engage in co-writing a critical engagement which proposes an original understanding of how the concepts of intersectionality, vulnerability and precarity speak to each other from a feminist perspective. This volume will be of interest to scholars/researchers and policymakers in Gender Studies, Migration and Refugee Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Trauma Studies, Human Rights and Socio-Legal Studies.
