The world's conscience was shocked when it became known that rape had been used an instrument of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. But the atrocities perpetrated against women and girls in the former Yugoslavia are not by any means unique. Rape and other forms of sexual violence, employed as a means of humiliating females and terrorizing whole communities, have also been reported in Haiti, Myanmar, Rwanda and Sri Lanka, to give just a few recent examples. In a much larger number of countries, police and prison guards routinely inflict sexual abuse upon their female captives in order to extract information from them and to intimidate the families, social groups and political movements with which they are associated.
As experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina has shown, when sexual violence is committed in a systematic manner, it can play an important role in prompting whole communities to abandon their homes and to seek safety elsewhere. Tragically, however, female refugees may find that in fleeing from persecution and violence, they have actually increased their exposure to the threat of sexual abuse. All too frequently, border guards, police officers, military personnel and camp officials in countries of asylum have been known to exploit their positions of power by demanding sex from refugee women and girls and by forcing them into prostitution. At the same time, refugees (both female and male) may find themselves at risk of sexual violence from members of their own community, particularly in situations where established social structures and values have been undermined by conflict and displacement.
The problem of sexual violence was highlighted in 1993 by the very large number of rapes reported in the Somali refugee camps of Northeast Kenya, apparently committed by both Somali bandits and local security personnel. Responding to the gravity and widespread nature of such incidents, UNHCR is now attempting to address the problem of sexual violence in a more systematic manner. One result of this process has been the production of a comprehensive set of guide lines for UNHCR staff and other field workers, suggesting ways in which sexual violence can be combated and its victims assisted.
Survival strategies
The use of rape as a weapon of persecution and war has found its way into the media headlines. But the protection problems of displaced females are to be found predominantly in the less dramatic and day-to-day struggle for survival.
Refugees originate primarily from countries which are characterized by high infant and maternal mortality, low life expectancy, rampant illiteracy, rapid rates of population growth and static or declining standards of living. Families and communities normally cope in such adverse circumstances by pooling their assets and by employing survival strategies which make optimal use of limited local resources. But when a crisis occurs and people are forced to move away from their usual place of residence, these life sustaining techniques may no longer be feasible or relevant.
The loss of a spouse or partner represents a particularly serious but all too common blow to the physical safety and material security of female refugees. Although comprehensive statistics on female headed households are lacking, the trend is well documented; refugee movements tend to split up nuclear families, thereby increasing (often dramatically) the percentage of women who must care for children and elderly relatives without the assistance of a partner. Surveys show that in some refugee situations more than 30 per cent of all households are headed by females.
When a husband is dead or absent, a wife can no longer rely on the usual division of labor between males and females, however inequitable that may be. The multiple demands made upon female heads of household can be overwhelming, jeopardizing their physical and emotional welfare and exposing them and their family members to the risk of exploitation. Painful sacrifices often have to be made. By standing in a queue to collect basic needs such as food or water, for example, a woman may have to forfeit the chance to receive medical attention. And to get some help with domestic chores, some children may have to be kept out of school-a practice which helps to explain the three to one ratio of attendance of refugee boys to girls.
Specific needs and interests
The protection that female refugees receive from the international community often fails to recognize their identity as women. Gender-specific forms of persecution are often given insufficient attention in refugee status determination procedures. If a female refugee is registered in the name of her male partner, and if only the husband's situation is considered during a family's request for asylum, then the specific needs, interests and opinions of the women will almost inevitably be ignored. Similarly, if the design and management of a refugee camp does not take into account the practical requirements of those women who are pregnant, those who have young children to care for and those who are at risk of sexual violence, then their marginalized status is certain to be reinforced.
The protection needs of refugee women cannot, however, be properly understood or addressed by making a simple distinction between males and females. Women within the same refugee population may differ markedly in terms of their age, education, social status and wealth not to mention family size and composition. If they are to be effective, assistance and protection strategies must take due account of these differences. The mere establishment of a women's committee in a refugee camp, for example, may do little to empower the majority of females if it consists of females with similar characteristics, values and interests.
At the same time, there is a need to recognize that many of the problems confronting refugee women must also be addressed by means of complementary activities targeted at refugee men. The reproductive health of refugee women, for example, which in many countries is jeopardized by high birth rates, a high incidence of teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, provides an obvious case in point.
From The State of The World's Refugees 1995: In Search of Solutions, by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Copyright 1995 by UNHCR. Reprinted by permission of Oxford University Press, Inc.
