Final Reflection: Refugee and Gender Workshop

By: Erika Lonseth

War and conflict is horrible for everyone who is impacted by it;

however, it is necessary to examine the specific needs, experiences, and
vulnerabilities from a gendered perspective. This is because, in many
ways, war is experienced differently by women than by men due to the
often limiting and oppressive factors that women experience in society
in general, as well as specifically in times of war and conflict.
Lack of educational or livelihood opportunities, as well as domestic
roles, place women and girls in a position of dependency, which is
amplified during times of conflict because of lack of resources and
increased insecurity (Womens Refugee Commission, 2009). These
factors can have great consequences on women and can place them in
positions where they are extremely vulnerable, through experiences
such as extreme poverty, unsafe living conditions, lack of livelihood,
prostitution, human trafficking, and gender-based violence (Womens
Refugee Commission, 2009). Often society stigmatizes females for these
conditions, without taking into consideration the plethora of factors and
vulnerabilities that lead women and girls into such circumstances.
Stigma and lack of understanding in regards to these issues perpetuates
the cycle of oppression that refugee women experience.

Women and girls can also be victims of physical, sexual, and

psychological violence during times of war and conflict. Rebel groups
target women strategically in order to commit such acts of violence to
humiliate, terrorize, and demoralize communities (Womens Refugee
Commission, 2009). Specific examples of such violence could be sexual
assault, forced recruitment, sexual slavery, kidnapping, human
trafficking, torture, forced prostitution, forced early marriage, or female
genital mutilation (Womens Refugee Commission, 2009). Women and
girls can also be victimized during the process of fleeing conflict, since
during these periods of time they are extremely vulnerable to be
mistreated or taken advantage of during their journey to safety. Then,
after arriving to the country of refuge, many women continue to
experience oppression, stigma, and discrimination for both being a
woman and being a refugee, which makes it difficult to integrate as well
as heal from the traumatic experiences that caused them to flee their
home country (Womens Refugee Commission, 2009).
When looking at gender and refugees in Ecuador, we must take
into account that women everyday face extra barriers to integrate just
because they are women, and that this, combined with the other factors
of oppression and xenophobia, increases the vulnerability of refugee
women substantially. This knowledge calls for the inclusion of refugee
womens perspectives in bettering the supports and systems that are
meant to assist them in healing and integrating into a new community

(Womens Refugee Commission, 2009). Furthermore, it is essential that

we recognize the strengths, resilience, and skills that refugee women
bring to our communities and allow for opportunities for them to partake
in empowerment and leadership roles to create a shift in the power
differences women experience in society. It is important to recognize the
need to take extra measures to protect refugee women from further
violence, as well as assist them in their path to healing from the trauma
they have experienced. Finally, we must challenge the stigma,
stereotypes, devaluation, and objectification of women, which
perpetuates a culture of oppression and the allowance of gender-based
violence in our societies.

Reference:
Women's Refugee Commission. (2009). Refugee girls: The invisible faces
of war. Retrieved from
https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/images/stories/ref_girls_FIN
AL.pdf