Refugees, Race, and Gender: The Multiple Discrimination against Refugee Women
Eileen Pittaway & Linda Bartolomei
Abstract réinstallation. Se basant sur une étude de cas portant sur This paper examines the intersectionality of race and une section de la politique sur les réfugiés en Australie, il gender in refugee situations, and the multiple forms of illustre l’impacte qu’a cette discrimination sur les femmes discrimination experienced by refugee women. It explores réfugiées. La Conférence contre le racisme, qui doit se tenir the notion of racism as a root cause of refugee generation, bientôt, offrira une occasion unique à la communauté and the gendered nature of the refugee experience. The internationale de se pencher sur ce phénomène. manner in which racism and sexism intersect to compound the human rights violations that refugee women experience Introduction is explored in the treatment of sexual violence in interna- ore than per cent of the world’s refugees are tional and domestic law and policy; during armed conflict; women and their dependent children. Violence in refugee camps; in countries of first asylum; and in Magainst women is rampant during armed con- countries of resettlement. Using a case study of one strand flict. It is manifested through involuntary relocation, as of refugee policy in Australia, it illustrates the impact of forced labour, torture, summary executions of women, this discrimination on refugee women. The forthcoming forced deportation, and racist state policies denying or World Conference against Racism offers a unique opportu- limiting public representation, health care, education, nity for this phenomenon to be addressed by the interna- employment, and access to legal redress. Rape and other tional community. forms of sexual torture are now used routinely as strate- gies of war in order to shame and demoralize individuals, Résumé families, and communities. Resettlement policies actively Cet article examine la façon dont des considérations de discriminate against women on grounds of both race and race et de genre se croisent dans les situations concernant gender. The gender blindness of the Refugee Con- les réfugiés, ainsi que les multiples formes de discrimina- vention and international law and domestic policy relat- tion qui frappent les femmes réfugiées. Il explore la notion ing to refugee women has been recognized only relatively du racisme comme cause primaire pour la génération de recently within the international system. The Refu- flots de réfugiés, ainsi l’aspect relié au genre de l’expérience gee Convention does not recognize persecution based on des réfugiées. La manière dont le racisme et le sexisme grounds of gender as a claim for refugee status, nor is it s’entrecoupent pour aggraver encore plus les violations des clear that violence on grounds of gender can be consid- droits de la personne dont sont victimes les femmes réfu- ered as persecution. Rape has been recognized as a crime giées est explorée dans un nombre de contextes, dont : le against humanity, a war crime, and an act of genocide in traitement de la violence sexuelle dans les régimes de loi et the Statutes of the International Criminal Court, but to de politiques au niveaux international et domestique ; date only thirty-two of the sixty nation states needed to dans les situations de conflits armés ; dans les camps de ratify these statutes before they can become operational réfugiés ; dans les pays de premier asile et dans les pays de have done so.
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Racism as a Root Cause of Refugee Generation country, and despite the acknowledged contribution In an address to the Human Rights Commission in made by refugees to their host countries over the years. Geneva on March , , the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, stated that The Gendered Nature of the Refugee Experience “violations of human rights, racism, and xenophobia At the preparatory committee for the World Conference were to blame for the world’s growing number of up- against Racism held in Geneva in May , a paper titled rooted people.” Preparations for the World Conference “Racism, Refugees, and Multi-Ethnic States” was pre- against Racism (), to be held in Durban in Septem- sented. Prepared by five invited experts on refugee issues, ber , have provided a unique opportunity to address at least four of whom were men, the paper details the the issue of racism as one of the root causes of increased many links between refugee issues and racism. Despite refugee flows in the international public arena. The Office the fact that per cent of the world’s refugees are of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees women and their dependent children, not once in the () estimates that there are some million refugees twenty-seven-page document is gender mentioned. Not and an additional million internally displaced peoples once is the well-documented difference in refugee experi- across the world in more than forty countries. Most wars ence between men and women acknowledged or ad- are now intra-state rather than inter-state conflicts. Many dressed. The experience and impact of racism during of these civil wars are characterized by violence resulting armed conflict is clearly a gendered experience: the ma- from heightened ethnic tensions driven by economic jority of those who are killed or “disappeared” are men goals. These include disputes over access to natural re- and male youths. This accounts for the refugee popula- sources and land, which intersect with goals of economic tions, who in the majority are women and their depen- and ethnic supremacy, as evidenced through recent and dent children, who generally have been exposed to ongoing conflicts in Sierra Leone, Angola, Fiji, and Indo- extreme physical violence. Research has shown that the nesia. legal protections for women around the world, including There are multiple manifestations of racism in the ex- refugee women who have experienced violence, are perience of refugees and other displaced peoples. Refu- largely gender blind and do not address the reality of gees are forced to leave their country or community of women’s lives. Charlesworth and Chinkin have argued origin because of a well-founded fear of persecution for that “the very nature of international law has made deal- reasons of race, ethnicity, or nationality, religion, political ing with the structural disadvantages of sex and gender opinion, or membership of a particular social group. difficult.” Refugee women continue to be discriminated Once the conflicts that caused them to flee are declared against in situations of armed conflict, in refugee deter- over, often following the intervention of superpowers, minations, and in resettlement because of their gender. racism can preclude safe return and integration of refu- The special needs of refugee women have not been ac- gees back into the communities from which they fled. knowledged within the system except in relatively re- Despite this knowledge, repatriation is often forced on cent years. Only since the thirty-fourth session of the refugee communities by host countries and agencies General Assembly held in has there been a special unable or unwilling to sustain the financial cost of the emphasis on the urgent and particular needs of refugee refugee population. Internal armed conflict, generating women. Kourula indicates that it was not until that large numbers of internally displaced peoples, is most of- the specific needs of refugee women were included as a ten institutionalized racism and must be recognized as such. separate agenda item at ’s annual Executive Com- As the flow of uprooted peoples increases, many states mittee () meeting. In Conclusion No. are increasingly reluctant to host refugees. Narrow defini- () considered the link between the widespread na- tion and interpretations of refugees, as reflected in the ture of sexual violence perpetrated against refugee Convention and the Protocol, often leave those women and their coerced displacement. This trend to discriminated against on the grounds of minority or eth- single out the special needs of refugee women has contin- nic status unprotected. Refugees are routinely demonized ued ever since. However, “efforts to address the particular by Western countries and the media as “illegal immi- situation of refugee women have so far fallen short of the grants” and “economic migrants.” This is despite evi- adoption of any legally binding international instru- dence that the majority of people seeking asylum have a ments singling them out as a specific group.” Despite a genuine fear of persecution if returned to their home small number of judgments by refugee review tribunals
22 Refugees, Race, and Gender
in resettlement countries including Canada, America, though all women are subject in some manner to dis- and Australia—which have accepted that in certain situa- crimination based on gender, this distinction is com- tions, for the purposes of the Convention, women can be pounded for some women when gender discrimination considered as a social group—there has been strong resis- “intersects” with discrimination on other grounds, which tance within the international community to accepting may include, among other things, race, class, and colour. gender-based asylum as grounds for refugee status. This notion of “intersectionality” has been defined in the There have been some advances by and in some following manner: domestic government policy towards recognizing the The idea of ‘intersectionality’ seeks to capture both the specific situation of women, demonstrated by the estab- structural and dynamic consequences of the interaction be- lishment of gender guidelines. There is, however, a gen- tween two or more forms of discrimination or systems of eral lack of political will to implement them, as evidenced subordination. It specifically addresses the manner in which by their ad hoc application. There has been little recogni- racism, patriarchy, economic disadvantages and other dis- tion of the manner in which racism and sexism intersect criminatory systems contribute to create layers of inequality to doubly discriminate against refugee women in either that structure the relative positions of women and men, international or domestic legal instruments and policies. races and other groups. Moreover, it addresses the way that specific acts and policies create burdens that flow along The Interesectionality of Race and Gender these intersecting axes contributing actively to create a dy- namic of disempowerment. International awareness of the way in which multiple forms of discrimination intersect to inhibit the empower- Non-government organizations (s) around the ment and advancement of women has its origins in world have documented the fact that the oppression at the First World Conference on Women, and subse- women suffer because of their race, religion, caste, quent women’s conferences, the last of which, the Fourth ethnicity, nationality, and other socio-political categories World Conference on Women, was held in Beijing in . is aggravated by the discrimination they face because of The conference outcomes document, the Beijing Plat- their gender. As a result, women, more than men, are sub- form for Action (), was adopted by all member jected to double or multiple manifestations of human states. It recognizes that factors such as age, disability, rights violations. socio-economic position, or membership in a particular ethnic or racial group could compound discrimination The Intersectionality of Race and Gender in on the basis of sex, to create multiple barriers for Refugee Situations women’s empowerment and advancement. In documen- During armed conflict, women can become the targets of tation for the World Conference against Racism, the “ethically motivated gender-specific” forms of violence. Committee to Eliminate Racial Discrimination noted Ideological frameworks developed by extreme forms of that racial discrimination does not always affect women nationalism and fundamentalism that reify women’s im- and men equally or in the same way: “There are circum- age as “bearers of the culture and values” have led to stances in which racial discrimination only or primarily widespread sexual assaults against women as political acts affects women, or affects women in a different way, or to a of aggression. Such acts of sexual aggression are often fu- different degree than men.” The United Nations Divi- elled by race- and gender-based propaganda. An addi- sion for the Advancement of Women (), in collabora- tional intersect of race and gender is the forcible tion with the Office of the High Commissioner for impregnation of females from one ethnic group by males Human Rights () and the United Nations Devel- from another group as a form of genocide. Women bear opment Fund for Women (), organized an Expert the direct impact of these actions. Racism, racial dis- Group Meeting on “gender and racial discrimination” to crimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance have in- contribute to further understanding of this issue. This creasingly been used to incite armed conflicts over resources meeting provided an opportunity to explore the ways in and rights within and between countries around the world. which multiple forms of discrimination affect the lives of The “othering” of refugees—that is, regarding one or women. The report of this expert meeting identified that several sections of the community as “the other,” or of in- the failure to address the “‘differences’ that characterise trinsically lesser value than the dominant culture or the problems of different groups of women can obscure power holders—has increased, particularly in some or deny human rights protection due to all women.” Al- countries in Europe where the concept of “fortress Europe”
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has fostered a climate of xenophobia and racism. cause the post-traumatic symptoms such as depression, Theodor van Boven has identified “a climate and a per- loss of sleep, anger, fear of strangers, and feeling dirty are ception that a priori regards a foreigner as an adversary, a similar to those of other trauma, the root of the problem rival, a competitor, or an adventurer who is a threat to often goes unrecognized and untreated. There is still a prosperity, culture and identity.” conspiracy of silence surrounding the true extent of the Refugee women are actively discriminated against on problem, and until it is fully acknowledged women will the grounds of their ethnicity and their gender. They are not receive the services they deserve. often devalued or “othered” on grounds of their race, and this racial discrimination effectively removes any need by Refugee Women at Risk: A Case Study the aggressors to respect them by gender. This effectively An examination of the Australian Women at Risk Pro- “others” them twice and makes them prime targets for gram, illustrates the racism inherent in much refugee rape, systematic rape, and sexual torture for the purpose policy. This research, first undertaken by Pittaway and of shaming the men of their communities. Members Winton in on behalf of the Australian National Con- themselves of patriarchal societies, women are also sultative Committee on Refugee Women (), and “othered” by their own communities, making this form revisited by Hercus, Ray, and Pittaway in , high- of torture extremely effective, to the point where women lights the gulf between policy and practice, and the gen- are sometimes murdered in “honour killings” and are of- der blindness that has led to the ongoing discrimination ten rejected by their own communities because they have against refugee women in international law and policy. been “violated” by the aggressors. The Women at Risk Program (WaRP) is designed to Women are raped to humiliate their husbands and fa- identify refugee women at risk of violence in refugee thers, and for reasons of cultural genocide. They are camps or during armed conflicts and to fast-track their forced to trade sex for food for their children. They are removal to safety in Australia. Since its inception, the raped by the military, by border guards, and by the program has failed to meet its modest quota. In the first peacekeeping forces sent to protect them. Rape and two years of implementation, less than a third of the an- sexual abuse is the most common form of systematized nual allocation of sixty visas were issued each year, de- torture used against women, and it ranges from gang rape spite an estimated million refugee women and children by groups of soldiers to the brutal mutilation of women’s worldwide. In the program still remains significantly genitalia.There is evidence of military training to commit below quota. The research project aimed to discover why these atrocities. In recent ethnic-based conflicts in the identification of women at risk was proving so diffi- Bosnia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and East Timor, rape and cult. Interviews were conducted with officials, sexual violence have been used to target women of par- workers in refugee camps, and officials at Australian posts ticular ethnic groups and as an instrument of genocide. in Southeast Asia. Several implementation problems were Similar patterns are found in all armed conflict. In an ex- identified, such as a lack of information and poor communi- ploration of racism, misogyny, and politico-military vio- cation between levels of management, but these hurdles did lence in the construction of Western modernity, Uli Linke not explain an apparent apathy towards the program. cites a range of studies that have begun to explore the link A potential key to the problem became clear after it was between military patterns of rape and racial stratification. noted that a total of seven out of twenty-two senior male of- Refugee women who have suffered rape and sexual ficials in Australia, Thailand, and Hong Kong interviewed abuse report keeping their trauma secret from determin- for the project had all used the same revealing phrase to de- ing (immigration) officers for fear of being labelled pros- scribe the difficulties of identifying refugee women at risk. titutes and being denied refugee status or visas on moral They described the trauma that some women experi- grounds. Such fears are well documented by , Am- enced as “only rape,” implying that rape or the likelihood nesty International, and many aid agencies working with of being raped was insufficient grounds for considering a refugee women. A study conducted in Winnipeg, woman for the WaRP. These officials used the phrase Canada, found that more than per cent of refugee when asked whether they considered rape and sexual women who had been raped, and per cent of other abuse to be grounds for referring women to the WaRP. refugee sexual-assault victims, did not tell their refugee Their argument was that if a woman was complaining workers of their experience. Far more sought help for of only rape and sexual abuse, she could not possibly be psychosomatic symptoms related to the experience. Be- considered a woman at risk. As one man commented, “If
24 Refugees, Race, and Gender
only rape was the criterion, I could send you most of the women were forcibly impregnated to destroy ethnic pu- women in this camp. It happens all the time, especially to rity. They were often systematically tortured in a way that the young single women, and we can’t do much about it.” suggested that soldiers had been trained to do it; for ex- A official stated that rape was not grounds for ample, the cutting of nipples with wire cutters after rape refugee status, therefore it could not be grounds for the has been reported across Indochina and Indonesia. From WaRP, and that to qualify for this program a woman had Latin America come stories of genital mutilation with to be experiencing extreme forms of violence and not electric prods, with broken glass, and through the use of only rape. A third said rape was so common that it could trained dogs. not be seen as grounds for consideration and, anyway, Apparently, despite much rhetoric about protecting that was how women got extra food (from the guards refugee women, many people in positions of influence who raped them), and was therefore hardly likely to be were unwilling or unable to accept rape and sexual tor- classified as “extreme danger.” The worst comment was ture during an armed conflict as a major problem. This that often what happened wasn’t really rape anyway, be- has been well documented internationally. While the cause some women “exploited” their sexuality within the rape and sexual torture of women had been noted as a camp system in order to get favours from the guards. An- component of the problem at the time of the original re- other official commented that because it had often hap- search conducted by the in , it was not rec- pened to women before they reached the camps, it was no ognized at the time that it might be the key. It was only on longer an issue. And the final remark was that “it happens reflection that the significance of the phrase “only rape” so often to these women that they get used to it, sort of became clear. An incident at a meeting in Sydney further expect it, and they don’t see it as violence like being reinforced the importance of the realization. When in- beaten up or tortured.” formed of a case involving the pack rape of a refugee The interviewees were asked if anyone talked to the woman, a prominent cleric sitting on the board of a ma- women about the rape and sexual abuse. Most acknowl- jor overseas aid agency remarked, “I hope she enjoyed edged that such conversation did not occur because the it!” Horrifying though his statement was, this man women were too ashamed or shy to discuss such issues voiced a very commonly held view of rape and sexual with male officers. It was apparent from the research that abuse, though perhaps he expressed it more blatantly in the camps there was no treatment or support for than usual. This attitude, while not overtly expressed, was women who had been raped or sexually abused prior to reflected in the comments of determining officers and arrival, and that there was little protection within the their superiors in discussions about the WaRP. camps. Interviews with women and service providers in Because refugee policy is strongly linked to interna- Hong Kong indicated that often camp security staff per- tional human rights instruments, it was hoped that a so- petrated abuses within the camps. These comments lution might be found in using them. The researcher highlighted not only insensitivity to gender but also rac- undertook a major literature survey in order to identify a ism, as they implied that refugee women were of lesser solution to the problem of interpretation. It was found social standing and therefore of lesser value than those that the relevant human rights instruments did not ad- making the comments, who were mainly Anglo-Saxon. equately address the torture and trauma of refugee While it can never be proved, it can be hypothesized that women. Not only did these instruments not provide a so- they would not have made these comments about women lution, they were part of the problem. The issue was not from their own ethnic groups and class. only invisible in Australian policy, it was also silent in the It is worth noting that the interviews conducted with rest of the world. Until , rape during conflict, which refugee women in Australia and with the women in includes rape, systematic rape, and premeditated sexual camps indicated that the rape of refugee women was not torture, was not considered a crime against humanity, a just the result of an opportunity that men seized when war crime, or grounds for refugee status. they found themselves in a position of power over vul- The literature survey identified the gender blindness nerable women. Much of the rape and sexual torture was inherent in human rights instruments, which is based planned and systematic. In camps it was institutionalized upon the notion of “public” and “private” spheres in human and a way of keeping control. These acts were undertaken rights. The “public” addresses the political sphere, the with relative impunity. During conflicts, women were sphere most often occupied by men, especially in the raped in an attempt to extract information, to shame developing countries, which are the biggest generators of communities, and to destroy the social fabric. The refugee populations. The “private” reflects the domestic
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sphere, including the sexual, the domain of most women, from developing regions such as Indochina, Africa, Iran, and as such is not addressed by human rights instru- Iraq, the Horn of Africa, and Central and Southern ments. Because of anomalies in the human rights instru- America. They were the “other,” people of lesser interna- ments, the rape and sexual abuse of women is seldom tional status than the major decision makers and power- recognized as torture. The preamble of the Torture Con- brokers in the world, subjects of pity and charity, rather vention acknowledges rape as torture, but the operating than people with equal rights. In war broke out in paragraphs in the directions to the Special Rappor- Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia was part of Europe and accessible teur on Torture refers to torture and rape. These seman- to Western media, and for that reason, from on- tics, these very minor changes in language, provide the wards, the international community learned more about basis for the dismissal of rape as torture. Judges have de- that war than about any other in the world. The sexual clined to accept it as the grounds for refugee status be- abuse of the women, the rape camps, and the “ethnic cause “[it] is the common experience of women cleansing” through the killing of males and impregnation everywhere.” Many cases of judges and officials dis- of females in the three countries involved was nightly counting the rape of refugee women and refusing the television news, inciting international outrage. protection of refugee status on these grounds have been It is suggested that this outrage intensified because the identified in Haiti, Kashmir, Tibet, Peru, countries in the women were Caucasian, and the villages and towns were Horn of Africa, and the former Yugoslavia. These cases obviously those of a developed country. The average per- are well documented; it is a universal problem. son in the Western world could identify with the women A classic case, cited by international human rights law- and their experience in a way that had not happened be- yers in their fight to change the legal recognition of the fore. Similar treatment of refugee women from develop- experience of refugee women, illustrates the issue. A man ing countries was well documented and reported in the was tied to a chair and forced at gunpoint to watch his past, but never received this level of response. As an ex- common-law wife being raped by soldiers. In determin- ample of this reaction, and Australia ing the case for refugee status, he was deemed to have started a major campaign to send “comfort packages” been tortured. His partner was not. (containing sanitary napkins and articles of feminine hy- From the understanding gained from the re-evaluation of giene) to women in the former Yugoslavia. Qantas the research findings and the literature survey, it became freighted the goods free of charge, and it was reported as apparent that, if the needs of refugee women were to be the most successful campaign that had ever recognized and addressed, there had to be change at an run. An African refugee, living in Australia and working international level. The rape and sexual abuse of refugee with the researcher, commented wryly, “There have been women, during a conflict, in flight, or in refugee camps, African women experiencing what those women are ex- had to be recognized as a war crime and be considered as periencing for many years. Do they think that we don’t persecution, and such a finding had to be reflected in in- bleed?” ternational law and conventions. Without such recogni- Acceptance of the magnitude of the abuse taking place tion, domestic law and social policy designed to address and the numbers of women being raped and sexually the needs of these women, although grounded in interna- abused was difficult, and the world then had to digest the tional law, would constantly fail to fulfill their goals. This fact that it was not just a handful of men perpetrating not only explained the failure of the WaRP. It also ex- these atrocities. In the same way that it was difficult to ac- plained why the experience of refugee women had not cept that it was Caucasian women being raped, it was been accepted and reflected in domestic policy. Gender equally painful to realize that was Caucasian men who blindness, patriarchal values, and racism combined to en- were raping them. This realization challenged many sure that the experiences of refugee women were not ac- men, who in some way identified with the collective knowledged or addressed. blame, and women, who had to accept the fact that many men who find themselves in positions of power will treat Manifestations of Racism in Refugee Policy women in this way. It was a strong statement about gen- Throughout , the escalating conflict in Yugoslavia der relations and was a difficult concept for many to con- and the resulting increase in refugee flows also high- template. The fact that they were from ethnically discrete lighted the racism inherent in refugee policy. In the s communities, and that the rape was racially motivated, and early s the majority of refugee women came was not acceptable to the Western world. For the first
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time, the rape of women during armed conflict was con- sionary immigration policies by host countries. On the sidered a possible war crime. contrary, such policies account for the increasing number The experiences of the women from the former Yugo- of undocumented migrant female workers who have slavia brought about a major shift in the acknowledg- been trafficked or are most vulnerable to trafficking. ment of the experiences of women in conflicts. It brought Trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation, the rape and sexual abuse of women in such situations to transfer, and harbouring of persons and is conducted by the public consciousness. Because the women were Cau- threat, use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, casian, the Western world could identify with them. Be- fraud, and deception. The purposes of trafficking in per- cause they had experienced similar forms of torture, sons include involuntary servitude—domestic, sexual, or other refugee women identified with them. This gave an reproductive—in forced or bonded labour in conditions impetus to the work of the International Refugee Caucus akin to slavery. Refugee women, indigenous women, Dalit in its fight to have these issues addressed. However, public women, and women from ethnic minorities are some of consciousness of the issues was not sufficient at that stage the groups of women most vulnerable to trafficking. The to move beyond compassion to reparation. The majority extensive documentation of the exploitation of migrant of women raped and sexually abused in the conflict in the and refugee women, especially from countries in the former Yugoslavia were never accorded refugee status. Asia-Pacific region, underscores the fact that migration The majority of those who have entered Australia and and trafficking in women is a critical area of concern in other countries as the result of these atrocities came on the Asia-Pacific region, which must be included on the Special Humanitarian Visas. The lack of recognition that agenda of the World Conference against Racism. their experience was sufficient to warrant full interna- Racism directed at refugee populations in resettlement tional protection denied the gravity of the experience countries often causes refugee women to remain silent they had suffered. about their experiences of gender discrimination and violence within their own communities. Often racism Refugee Women, Racism, and Resettlement within the broader community exacerbates the pressure Racism is not only a cause of refugee movement, it also on refugee women to maintain their traditional roles in continues in countries of settlement and resettlement. order to keep their communities intact. The problems of Gender discrimination is also entrenched in social struc- many refugee women remain hidden in countries of re- ture. Refugee women, like many migrant workers, are fre- settlement. The racial barriers that men may face in ac- quently treated as second-class citizens in their countries cess to employment and education are concerns more of destination. Racist state policies of host countries in frequently aired in the public arena. As a result, the pre- the West and the Asia-Pacific, particularly on labour and vailing discourse in many resettlement countries among immigration, result in the exploitation of refugee and mi- refugee advocates is that refugee men find resettlement grant women. They are discriminated against in terms of far more difficult than do refugee women. wages, job security, working conditions, job-related Refugees face systematic discrimination on the bases training, and the right to unionize. They are also sub- of race, ethnicity, and gender in the process of selection jected to physical and sexual abuse. When illegally em- for resettlement in third countries—most often devel- ployed, they have no access to labour laws. They are not oped countries with predominantly white populations. given equal access to the law, nor are they treated equally Refugees are selected for resettlement from situations of under the law. Their employment opportunities are lim- refuge in first countries of asylum. There is a marked ited largely to domestic work or the sex industry, where trend for resettlement countries to give first preference to their right to work, freedom of movement, reproductive refugees most likely to “blend” into the host country. rights, right to acquire, change, or retain their nationality, Therefore humanitarian response from countries of the right to health and other basic human rights are violated. North to refugee populations from the South is markedly The result is that refugee women and their families are different from response to refugees from the North. For more vulnerable to religious, racial, and gender discrimi- example, in January the Africa News service re- nation and exploitation. ported the decision taken by the United States to termi- Their stateless condition makes refugee women and nate “family reunion” for refugees from seven African children easy targets for traffickers. Trafficking has not countries. According to American-based human rights been deterred by the imposition of restrictive and exclu- groups, this termination did not apply to refugees from
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Eastern European countries. Evidence of racism in refu- ship and Immigration, made not a single reference to the gee policy is further supported by figures quoted in the special needs of refugee women, despite acknowledging Boston Globe’s City Weekly section in December , the need to stress the protection of refugees when consid- which indicated that since only , refugees from ering their ability to resettle in Canada. Africa had been admitted to the , while more than The formal equality of discourse tends to isolate rac- half a million had been accepted from Eastern Europe. ism from sexism and other forms of discrimination, with Goodwin-Gill has pointed out that as the numbers of the result that the marginalization of women and girls is refugees and asylum seekers has increased, many Western often unacknowledged. Racism experienced by many nations have introduced measures to deter entry, includ- refugees in resettlement countries has multiple effects on ing immediate detention on arrival, the imposition of women. Refugee men who are denied access to employ- visa and transit requirements, and the fast-tracking of ment or decision making in the host country can attempt refugee determinations. These measures have been to retain their personal autonomy and power through implemented to a large extent because the majority of controlling their wives and children, and the result is of- those seeking entry have come from non-European coun- ten an increase in domestic violence. Resettlement coun- tries. Countries have also responded by trying to region- tries exhibit a strong preference for families with a male alize the solutions, by keeping many of those in need of head, and do not often select single women with large assistance within their regions of origin. Yet racism re- families for resettlement, on the grounds that they will mains inherent in this approach, for refugees in the South become an economic burden on the resettlement coun- are most likely to be assisted with basic food and medical try. Resettlement services seldom acknowledge the expe- supplies, while refugees from the North are often offered riences of refugee women and their need for services to resettlement in the North, and/or substantial assistance be provided. in the rebuilding of infrastructure. Such unequal re- sponse is justified on the grounds of cultural compatibil- Strategies for the World Conference against Racism ity. The level of assistance is also usually tied to the The Asia-Pacific Lobby Caucus is working to ensure that economic relationships between the countries concerned, refugee women are invited to participate in the World so that refugee-producing countries with few resources to Conference against Racism, and that they are provided offer countries of the North receive less assistance than with the opportunity to put forward their case. The Out- those countries upon which the North has strong trade comes Document for the Durban meeting was first re- dependencies. leased in March . It contains input from government An example of this imbalance is the discrimination in reports, expert groups meetings, the five regions of some Western countries against the resettlement of Afri- the world, and meetings of the Human Rights Com- can refugees, which is apparent in the differential treat- mission (). The document is being continuously ment given to refugees from Kosava (Caucasians) and amended through a process referred to as “Square Brack- refugees from non-Caucasian backgrounds. Discrimina- ets” and “Language” sessions. At each meeting of the tion against the resettlement of African refugees is argued , representatives from member states discuss the on the grounds that the difference in cultures could dis- document paragraph by paragraph and agree on lan- advantage refugees from the African continent. This, de- guage. If agreement cannot be reached on parts of the spite the fact that refugee flows from Africa are often a document, they are placed in “square brackets” until the consequence of colonizers’ imposition of their own cul- following meeting. The task of the Durban conference is ture, which seriously damaged the culture of the colo- the resolution of the language still in square brackets. nized. (Racist colonial policies often exacerbated the The Tehran Declaration, which was the Outcomes disadvantage experienced by women, for the sexual divi- Document of the Asian Regional Conference, included sions of labour were used to support racial and class divi- language on refugees and racism, but nothing on refugee sions of labour.) It is also noted that single (widowed, women. Some reference was made to the way in which separated) women with children are often denied access racism is experienced differently by women in general, to resettlement services on the grounds that they will be a but no reference was made to the intersectionality of race, drain on the host economy, as are families with mem- gender, and refugees. At the May meeting of the bers with a disability. In a recent address to the Canadian in preparation for the Durban meeting, progress Council for Refugees, Elinor Caplan, Minister of Citizen- was slow. While reference to refugees and asylum seekers
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was included in lists of some vulnerable groups (within ments to refugee women, regardless of their official some adopted paragraphs), the lists themselves have not status in a country of asylum. been accepted. •Refugee women must be involved in all aspects of The notion of lists of particular groups is the subject conflict resolution and negotiated settlements for of ongoing debate within the system, evidenced re- repatriation. cently at the special sitting of the General Assembly to re- •Increased gender disaggregated data collection on view the Beijing Platform for Action of last year. the refugee experience, and documentation of hu- Governments generally do not wish to commit in specific man rights abuses of refugee women must be ways to actions for particular groups. The intersection- implemented by government and United Nations ality of race and gender is a source of ongoing debate; see agencies. para , bis , which deals with women’s experience of • States should take seriously their humanitarian ob- sexual violence in armed conflict. Currently, three alter- ligations, without discriminating between the dif- native versions have been submitted by governments, ferent regions of the world, with regard to the each clearly indicating strong resistance to the recogni- principles of international co-operation, burden- tion that sexual violence during armed conflict is a seri- sharing, and the resettlement of refugees in their ous violation of international humanitarian law. They countries, to ensure that state refugee policies fulfill include one version that suggests that “sexual violence in the human rights principles inherent in the Refugee the context of armed conflict can be a violation of inter- Convention and Protocol, and that resettlement is national humanitarian law.” Based on the writers’ experi- offered to all refugees, regardless of race, creed or ence of lobbying within the system, this is a familiar gender and family composition. debate that has been active throughout a range of •The World Conference calls on states to make inter- meetings that deal with women’s human rights, including national funding and other services, such as re- Beijing Plus Five and the International Criminal Court settlement services, available to refugee populations () process. Underpinning the objections of certain in an equitable manner based on need, and unre- countries is a fear that if sexual violence is recognized as a lated to cultural and economic imperatives, with re- public crime in situations of armed conflict, it will chal- settlement places offered to the most vulnerable, lenge their current situation, in which sexual violence is targeting women and their dependent children. considered to fall within the domain of the family, of the •The World Conference calls for an updated defini- private sphere, and is therefore neither a crime nor an tion of refugees and a revision of individual status area of state responsibility. The Vatican and certain fun- determination procedure to ensure that the claims damentalist Catholic and Islamic states have aligned at of people who are evicted by ethnic violence and each of these meetings to protest the recognition of rape women at risk are recognized, particularly women as a war crime and a crime against humanity and to pro- subject to racially based gender violence, including test against calls for ratification of the . The Vatican rape, systematic rape, and sexual torture, and their contends that such recognition may lead to social accep- dependent children. tance of abortion. It is the writers’ view that these objec- •The World Conference urges states to recognize the tions are motivated by a desire to prevent any state different barriers that refugees and immigrants, in incursion into the “sacred” domain of the family and particular women and children, who comprise therefore into the ability of Church or religious law to per cent of the refugee population, face as they en- control this so-called private space. deavour to participate in the economic, social, po- litical, and cultural life of their new countries, and Recommendations to the encourages states to develop strategies to facilitate The Asia-Pacific Refugee Caucus is lobbying to have the the long-term integration of these persons into following recommendations included in the Outcomes their new countries of residence and the full enjoy- Document of the , Durban, September : ment by them of their human rights. •A “human rights” approach to the intersectionality •Special attention should be given to the violations of race and gender in refugee situations must be of the human rights of refugees in refugee camps adopted by agencies and governments. This will and detention centres. In these places, women and involve the application of all human rights instru- girls who are bereft of effective protection often face
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particular problems. Under these circumstances, been raised. This in itself is an important part of the long they are often subjected to sexual or other assaults. process of achieving positive change for refugee women. It is essential that women are involved in refugee The intersectionality of race and gender in refugee situa- camp management, and policy making and man- tions and the multiple forms of discrimination that it agement systems for relief and rehabilitation. The generates have been named and discussed. The issue will United Nations and States must ensure that women not go away. who are refugees and in other emergency humani- tarian situations are protected from acts of violence Notes .All Africa News Service, “Racism to Blame for Growing Num- including sexual violence, rape, and abuse, and en- ber of Refugees, Says Top Refugee Official () on-line: sure appropriate methods of recourse for victims, Library Expanded Academic Int’l Ed.
30 Refugees, Race, and Gender
fleeing female genital mutilation, documented in Fauziya .Research data, WaR Project , interviews conducted Kassinga and Layli Miller Bashir, Do They Hear You When You by Pittaway in Hong Kong refugee camps in March and Cry? (Bantam Doubleday, Dell Publishing Group, ). in Thai refugee camps in September . Interviews in Aus- . , “Gender Related Dimensions of Racial Discrimina- tralia were conducted by Pittaway and Sylvia Winton in Sep- tion” () General Recommendation , International tember . Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, .Research data, WaR Research Project ( Ar- Doc. /C//Misc./Rev.. chives, Sydney, Australia). . , “Gender and Racial Discrimination,” () Report of .Research data, WaR Research Project , interviews by the Expert Group Meeting , on-line: United Nations Pittaway with refugee women in Whitehead Refugee Camp,
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Refugees,” East African, January , on-line: All Africa Linda Bartolomei is a senior research associate in the Global News Service
Eileen Pittaway is the director of the Centre for Refugee Research and a lecturer in the School of Social Work, University of New South Wales. She is a board member of the Australian National Committee on Refugee Women, and will be attending the conference to work with the Asia- Pacific Refugee Caucus.
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