Forced displacement

The Forced Displacement project was part of the Migration and Displacement workstream, Co-investigated by Professor Brad Blitz and Professor Amirthalingam Kopapillai. It was co-directed by Professor Eleonore Kofman.

While the number of forcibly displaced people continues to rise worldwide, there remains very little discussion around the impact of gender and the need for policies directed specifically at women. All too often, women are treated as objects of development, not as informed participants and leaders. In this context, this research explores the nature of migration and displacement (internal and international) for adults, adolescents and children through a gender lens to better to understand the many ways gender informs experiences of displacement and access to resources and opportunities in displaced households.

This research measures how gender inequalities are affected by forced displacement in in Afghanistan, Erbil in Kurdistan, Islamabad in Pakistan and Istanbul in Turkey.

It specifically examines how these inequalities might be addressed in policies of international protection and assistance to facilitate the empowerment and acquisition of skills of displaced girls and women.

The research conducted a semi systematic literature review of how gender is described in humanitarian discourses, including by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), other UN agency reports, national government reports and NGO reports over a twenty- year period. Next, the project team conducted a survey of displaced populations in all focus countries. The survey, in all focus countries, aimed to better understand how gender features in respondents’ lives and how it structures their experiences as well as their current living conditions, finances, asset ownership, safety and security concerns, access to services, social networks and relationship with other displaced people and the host community, and water, sanitation and hygiene issues they face.

Key Findings:

Global discourse on displacement is not embedded in the realities on the ground. 

It is difficult to translate global discourse on displacement from key actors, such as the UN, into national and subnational contexts, and then marry this up with developments on the ground. For example, at the international level Sri Lanka appears to be putting proactive policies in place that are aware of gender realities, but how local laws and policies reflect these priorities is unclear. This damaging gap between rhetoric and action is built upon the assumptions that high level discourse is both indicative of forthcoming policy and that it drives decisions – but this is not the case on the ground.

Across all contexts, there are profound differences in terms of health and education by gender amongst displaced groups. 

People of all genders lose human and social capital because of displacement. However, these effects are further magnified for women based on gender, particularly when it comes to education, as is the case with Sri Lanka.

Displacement accelerates existing gender inequalities and vulnerabilities and, in some contexts, precipitates early marriage.

There are vast differences between male and female participants at the time of their marriage. This was particularly evident in survey responses from Afghanistan. Among girls in Afghanistan, early marriage remains a significant reason for dropping out of school.

Displacement compromises health and sanitation, access to clean water and reproductive health across all contexts.

There are clear and consistent challenges in accessing sufficient healthcare, food and water, although certain populations struggled more than others, such as those living in rural areas vs more urbanised areas. In Afghanistan, participants record that most income is spent on food and that they often needed loans. Further, only 22% of female respondents have access to sanitary towels, with most using cloth. This is especially problematic given the lack of access to clean water.

The granular details of displacement camp living conditions are overlooked in place of broader messages on displacement management.

In many contexts the discourse implies that displaced persons living in camps have access to clean water and bathroom facilities. However, often there are no questions asked about how much clean water is available and how often people can access it. This level of detail is overlooked.

Recommendation:

International Organisations

Gender inclusive policies and trainings on forced displacement need to be better implemented at the national level. There is a need for both better training and communication of gender inclusive policies at the international level to the national and local governments. Doing so could improve both awareness and understanding of why gender analysis in forced displacement policies is so important.

Effective humanitarian training must be made available. 

To make good on promises and ambitions, as recorded in humanitarian discourse, it is essential to reaffirm these messages with effective training and consistent communication to humanitarian and development partners.