WUNRN
THE WORLD MUST RISE TO THE
CHALLENGE OF KEEPING REFUGEE GIRLS SAFE
The
refugee crisis hitting Europe means alarming numbers of girls are being exposed
to violence and exploitation. But, as Sarah Costa of the Women’s Refugee
Commission explains, we know from past emergencies what girls need to stay safe
– and it’s time for the humanitarian response to consider girls from the start.
By Sarah Costa* - September 22, 2015
As the refugee crisis unfolds in Europe,
one vulnerable group of people remains invisible to media attention. Adolescent
girls are missing from photographs, articles and, most worrying, probably also
from humanitarian relief efforts.
We know, from humanitarian emergencies the
world over, that refugee girls are at heightened risk. In flight, a girl is a
magnet for violence and exploitation.
This is a tremendous challenge, and the scale
of the problem is growing. In Sweden a flood of lone young refugee children
have been arriving in swelling numbers, with 12,000
expected this year and the same again next year.
A lone girl can easily be trafficked
because she won’t be missed.
Some of these are girls, and some of the
girls are orphaned; they lose their families to conflict or during the journey.
Some are already married but lose their husbands. Without their usual family
and community protections, they’re vulnerable to rape and other violence.
A lone girl can easily be trafficked
because she won’t be missed. It’s been reported that last year, out of
13,000 unaccompanied minors who arrived as refugees in Italy, 4,000 went
missing.
In desperation, some girls feel they have
no choice but to engage in survival sex with men who promise food for them and
their children.
HIDING IN PLAIN
SIGHT
Seeing the risks, families typically react
by hiding the girls or marrying them off. Sadly, this only exacerbates the
problem. If humanitarians don’t see the girls, they are not considered in the
design of assistance programmes. In the rush to provide water, food and
shelter, the protection programming that reduces the risk of violence against
girls is put aside for later. We know all too well that later never
comes.
But invisibility should not be mistaken for
helplessness. Even in these crisis situations, girls can recover and, if given
the opportunity, they can thrive and even move beyond their own expectations.
Take Muzoon, living in the Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan. When she noticed more and more girls were getting married early,
she set off on a mission to make sure they went to school instead. Her efforts
led Malala Yousafzai to open a girls’ school in the camp.
In programmes with our partners in refugee camps, we’ve
trained and employed teenage Syrian girls to run focus groups designed to
investigate their unique needs. They soaked up the opportunity with relish.
“This project has brought order, accuracy
and purpose to our daily lives,” one girl told us.
Another said: “Frankly, I was so happy this
week… I learned something so useful: being able to introduce the work and to
understand why it’s important.” Once girls understand how the humanitarian
system works within their communities, they’re empowered to make their voices
heard.
EUROPE’S CHALLENGE
Europe could be that haven refugees are
betting on. If they are welcomed humanely, girls could return to school and
regain the potential that was taken from them when they became refugees. In
fact, if the governments of Europe and the humanitarian community made a
commitment to treat displacement as an opportunity, the girls are often the
first to take advantage of that opportunity to build new lives, such as 11-year-old Manar who is thriving with her mother and
sisters in the UK.
We don’t really know what’s happening with
the girls fleeing to Europe right now: there are no dedicated statistics or
data-gathering on them. That should trouble us all.
And the daily headlines show European
countries struggling to cope with the influx of desperate groups of people amid
chaos. In the scramble to provide shelter for tens of thousands of refugees,
have officials in the hastily constructed registration centres and camps
considered the safety needs of girls? Do they know that where lights and
latrines are placed play a crucial role in keeping girls and women safe? Are
they consulting girls and women about their unique needs?
Under international law and the laws of
most European nations, refugees have a right to protection from targeted
violence. The fact that the girls have made it this far, from the violence that
drove them from their homes, to closed borders and hostile police in Europe,
proves their resilience. We must match their strength and step up to this
challenge to ensure their safety.
*Sarah Costa is the Executive Director of the Women’s Refugee Commission.