Women and children face unique risks during times of conflict and related displacement, including rape, domestic violence, child abuse, exploitative labour and so on. In these situations, community-based programs, designed in consultation with affected women and children, offer the most sustainable protection.

Humanitarian organisations and policymakers now recognise that the risks faced by women and children during conflict are different to those faced by men. Whereas men and boys are more likely to face forced recruitment and abduction to serve as combatants, and arbitrary arrest and detention, women are more likely to be the victims of sexual or gender-based aggression and violence.

Women lack many of the traditional protection mechanisms available to men, such as safe access to food, fuel, schools and markets. Armed groups tend to target women and girls not having either a male “protector” or positions of community leadership and decision-making.  But what are the specific safety risks that displaced women and children suffer? What are the most effective protection solutions? These have not been well-documented.

Research from the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, addresses this lack of documentation, building on research from the University of New South Wales’ Centre for Refugee Research. The report identifies several categories of particularly vulnerable women and children: displaced girls and elderly women, urban refugee women and girls, physically and mentally disabled women and girls, and internally displaced people.

Key risk factors during displacement include:

• Incidents of gender-based violence (such as rape, assault, polygamy and child marriage) were commonly reported by Bhutanese women in refugee camps in Nepal.
• Recruitment by armed factions as combatants, cooks, labourers, and sex slaves has been documented in Sierra Leone, Liberia and in northern Uganda.
• Food insecurity forces women into ‘transactional sex’ (exchanging sex for food or other goods and services), to survive has been reported in northern Uganda and Liberia.
• Collection of firewood forces women to walk long distances, preventing them from participating in camp activities and making them vulnerable to rape.
• Abuse by people in authority has been documented in refugee and internally displaced people camps in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Nepal.
• Loss of traditional male roles such as income generation and providing food and shelter contributes to lack of protection.

The report treats situations of ‘displacement’, ‘integration’ (where refugees are integrated into their host communities) and ‘return’ as distinct. Phases of integration and return involve many of the same risks to women and children as displacement. But they also bring unique risks – such as the problems of negotiating landmines and lack (or loss) of property rights.

Suggested protection solutions for women and children during displacement, based on fulfilment of human rights as outlined in Universal Declaration of Human Rights, include:

• Participation of displaced women and children in identification of risks and solutions: for example, the Bhutanese Refugee Women’s Forum’s participation in Nepalese refugee camps.
• Community-based solutions, such as pooling resources and establishing other support and safety networks.
• Visible security personnel and female staff in camps to provide greater protection to women.
• Safe and accessible water points and latrines, night lighting, and separate facilities for females.
• Safe houses and timely legal responses for victims.
• Adequate documentation such as registration cards and work permits for both male and female refugees.

The report also provides checklists to assist those working to protect women and children in situations of flight, displacement or reintegration.

Source(s):
‘Displaced Women and Girls at Risk: Risk Factors, Protection Solutions and Resource Tools’, Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children, February 2006 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development, US Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Canadian International Development Agency

id21 Research Highlight: 24 April 2007

Further Information:
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children
122 East 42nd Street
New York
NY 10168-1289
USA

Tel: + 1 212 551 3115
Fax: +1 212 551 3180
Contact the contributor: wcrwc@womenscommission.org

Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, USA

Other related links:
'Displaced by development: Gender, rights and ‘risks of impoverishment’'

'Women facing war: how does armed conflict affect women?'

'Women building peace'

'Refugee women and HIV/AIDS: what role for relief organisations?'

'The impact of conflict on women: the case of Somalia'

Eldis - Gender, conflict and emergencies resource guide

UNHCR - resourcecs on refugee women