Internally Displaced Women
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Displaced women are often heads of household. Of
the millions of civilians who left their homes in search of safety, many were
separated from their close families during the journey. Countless displaced
women became de facto heads of their households, when their husbands fled to
another area, were pressed into regular or rebel armed forces, arrested or
killed. In their husbands’ absence, many displaced women are caring for children
and older parents alone in an unfamiliar environment.
Female-headed IDP
households
Countries with a high proportion of households headed by female
IDPs:
Angola, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (especially
Srebrenica), Burundi, Colombia, DRC, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guinea, Kenya, Indonesia
(Aceh), Liberia, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda
Guiding Principles guarantee women
protection
The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement underline the
need not to discriminate on the basis of sex. They also provide for explicit
protection for women. Provisions in favour of displaced women are guided by two
core issues: first, to safeguard them from gender-specific violence, and second,
to uphold their rights to equal access and full participation in assistance
programmes. Guiding Principle 4.1 spells out that the Principles should be
applied without discrimination of any kind, including sex. According to
Principle 11.2, IDPs shall be protected against gender-specific violence, rape,
forced prostitution, slavery and sexual exploitation. Principles 7, 18, 19, 20
and 23 underline the rights of women to equal access and participation in
decisions affecting them and in assistance programmes, taking into account their
special needs.
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Sexual violence
In a climate of
war, sexual violence against displaced women has been perpetrated with total
impunity by both regular armed forces and armed non-state actors. In 2004,
widespread sexual violence against displaced and other women was reported in 12
countries.
Countries with widespread sexual violence against displaced
and other women (2004):
- Burma (Myanmar)
- Colombia
- DRC
- Bangladesh Burundi
- Uganda
- Liberia
- Nigeria Russian Federation
- Somalia
- Sudan
- Zimbabwe
In Burundi, DRC and Liberia, there were reports of sexual abuse committed against displaced women by international peacekeepers as well. While some women have voluntarily joined armed forces, many others have been forced to do so, like the hundreds of women who were abducted by a militia in Nigeria in May 2004. Sexual abuse has also been a cause of displacement in 2004, for example reports of sexual abuse of women belonging to minority groups in Bangladesh.
The vast majority of internally displaced women lack the means to get appropriate health and psychological care, and victims of sexual violence are generally too afraid to report abuses. Campaigns against gender-based violence, supported by local and international actors, have helped raising this difficult issue in several countries undergoing internal displacement, such as DRC and Burundi. It is difficult to say whether sexual violence has decreased as a result.
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Durable solutions remain elusive
In 2004, hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people returned home in Afghanistan, Burundi, DRC, Angola and Sri Lanka. But in these countries, durable solutions for many displaced women have remained elusive, particularly due to the lack of recognition of their right to inherit land and the presence of landmines in areas of return. In Burundi, a bill allowing women to inherit land has been sitting in parliament for years, and many displaced women had no choice but to remain in IDP camps. They depend largely on the goodwill of others living in the camp or charity groups. In DRC and in Liberia, customary law has prevented women from inheriting land. In Afghanistan, women heads of households have had limited access to the customary mechanisms (jirgas and shuras) used to settle property and land issues, and as a result had difficulty claiming their land upon return. In Angola and Sri Lanka, landmines have prevented the return of both men and women. This has particularly affected Angolan women as they constitute the majority of farmers. Their search for landmine-free land often causes conflict over access to traditionally communal lands.
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Successful coping strategies
Despite the great negative impact of conflict on women, they have shown remarkable resilience in many countries undergoing internal displacement. In an effort to survive and provide for their family, displaced and other women have engaged in trade and other economic activities to support their families. Women’s organisations from every continent also contributed to the protection of IDPs. In Afghanistan, women's organisations have successfully implemented programmes for displaced persons. In Colombia, women’s groups provide health and social services to victims of violence, including IDPs, and are outspoken on peace and security issues.
The Georgian NGO AssistYourself publishes a newspaper for displaced women from Abkhazia and circulates information as a way of bridging the gap between them and local women. In Uganda, a displaced women’s group performs plays and dances about their life in “protected villages”.
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Specific needs of displaced women and men
Over the past few years, humanitarian actors, such as UN organisations, NGOs and donors, have identified the need to take into account the specific needs of displaced men and women when providing protection and assistance. As a result, they have developed a series of guidelines and checklists to help humanitarian actors to address gender issues in armed conflict.
Gender refers to socially constructed roles of women and men ascribed to them on the basis of their sex, whereas the term sex refers to biological and physical characteristics.
Translating these guidelines into practice has been another challenge altogether. In February 2004, a workshop on the Future International Response to Internal Displacement – a major inter-agency and donor meeting looking at the future international response to internal displacement in Geneva -deplored the lack of attention paid to gender issues in programmes benefiting IDPs.