tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/refugee-women-55128/articlesrefugee women – The Conversation2022-07-25T01:59:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1871642022-07-25T01:59:09Z2022-07-25T01:59:09ZRefugee and migrant women are often excluded from mainstream domestic violence services and policy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475350/original/file-20220721-16-g59b1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4415%2C2121&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Australia, the discussion around gendered violence is increasingly focused on diversity. However, policy and services continue to be based mostly on the experiences of white, Anglo-settler women.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07256868.2022.2102598">research</a>, published in the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07256868.2022.2102598">Journal of Intercultural Studies</a>, involved interviews with 31 frontline workers. These workers came from mainstream domestic violence organisations, refugee resettlement organisations, and migrant organisations who support women experiencing violence. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/she-beams-goodness-and-light-rosemarys-way-is-about-a-hero-transforming-the-lives-of-migrant-and-refugee-women-159124">'She beams goodness and light': Rosemary's Way is about a hero transforming the lives of migrant and refugee women</a>
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<h2>Blaming ‘culture’</h2>
<p>Our research revealed domestic and family violence in refugee and migrant communities is often racialised and blamed on “culture”. </p>
<p>Some workers indicated “culture” contributed to refugee or ethnic minority women “putting up with” violence, where Anglo-settler Australian women would, apparently, not.</p>
<p>One Anglo-settler worker from a mainstream domestic violence organisation said:</p>
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<p>Maybe they’re not used to having freedoms and rights and protection […] I’ve just noticed that women from perhaps African countries or Middle Eastern countries, possibly refugee women […] have a much higher tolerance I would say to violence […] they put up with a lot before reaching out.</p>
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<p>When white women seem to “put up with” violence, the conversation is not about their “culture”. Instead, the focus is on what might prevent them from leaving. </p>
<p>That includes <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-doesnt-she-just-leave-the-realities-of-escaping-domestic-violence-29537">economic vulnerabilities and homelessness</a>, and fear for their or their children’s safety. It includes worries that the law and police may not be <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254092424_Seeking_Help_for_Intimate_Partner_Violence_Victims%27_Experiences_When_Approaching_the_Criminal_Justice_System_for_IPV-Related_Support_and_Protection_in_an_Australian_Jurisdiction">able to protect them</a>. </p>
<p>Instead of focusing on systemic problems and broader social inequalities, many blame women’s cultural backgrounds as the reason for them not engaging with mainstream services.</p>
<p>That’s despite <a href="https://www.mcwh.com.au/the-muses-project-multicultural-and-settlement-services-supporting-women-experiencing-violence/">evidence</a> migrant and refugee women experiencing violence often encounter particular barriers – such as deportation threats, and financial or language barriers – when they do reach out. </p>
<h2>Critiquing the ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’ tag</h2>
<p>The category of “<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329041447_The_%27Culturally_and_Linguistically_Diverse%27_CALD_label_A_critique_using_African_migrants_as_exemplar">culturally and linguistically diverse</a>” reinforces the idea culture is something possessed by foreigners, refugees or ethnic minorities – rather than something all Australians have.</p>
<p>Quite a few service workers used “Australian” to refer to white Anglo-settlers, when actually <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-28/census-2021-data-shows-a-changed-australia/101177152">people of diverse ethnicities and identities</a> are obviously Australian too. </p>
<p>The vague term “culturally and linguistically diverse” can set ethnic and cultural minorities apart from the majority. It can also homogenise them into a single, broad category. This can create the perception a single intervention will work for the entire group. </p>
<p>Domestic violence organisations, even migrant-specific ones, don’t have to collect client data on ethnicity, country of birth or visa pathways. Refugees and migrants are usually categorised simply as “culturally and linguistically diverse”. This limits our understanding of the unique experiences and needs of <a href="https://theconversation.com/one-third-of-migrant-and-refugee-women-experience-domestic-violence-major-survey-reveals-163651">refugee and migrant women</a>. </p>
<p>It’s time we critically reflected on whether the “culturally and linguistically diverse” terminology <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv%3A38576">is still useful</a>, or just entrenching inequalities.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475302/original/file-20220721-15-h7fwgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475302/original/file-20220721-15-h7fwgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475302/original/file-20220721-15-h7fwgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475302/original/file-20220721-15-h7fwgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475302/original/file-20220721-15-h7fwgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475302/original/file-20220721-15-h7fwgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475302/original/file-20220721-15-h7fwgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475302/original/file-20220721-15-h7fwgk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The vague term ‘culturally and linguistically diverse’ can set ethnic and cultural minorities apart from the majority.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Overwhelming small, migrant-led service providers</h2>
<p>Instead of integrating diverse perspectives and needs into mainstream services and policy, a range of culturally and linguistically diverse-specific services have emerged. </p>
<p>“Mainstream” (typically Anglo-settler) Australians are usually referred to “mainstream” services. “Culturally and linguistically diverse” peoples are increasingly referred to “culturally and linguistically diverse” services.</p>
<p>Yes, there are few other options for services aiming to tailor support to cultural minorities. But we identified a number of consequences. </p>
<p>This approach seems to deepen assumptions and stereotyping based on “culture”. Workers in migrant services said they had clients referred to them only because the client was not fluent in English (even though all services can engage interpreters).</p>
<p>Some workers from cultural minority heritage said they were expected to take clients from cultural minority backgrounds on the assumption they shared their experiences or history. </p>
<p>Culturally and linguistically diverse-specific services are often small and underfunded compared to mainstream services. </p>
<p>This practice of referring refugee and migrant women can overwhelm smaller, migrant-led services. It also deprives mainstream workers of learning from women from diverse backgrounds.</p>
<p>We should stop referring women based on cultural stereotypes, or assuming that working with refugee and migrant women is not the job of mainstream services.</p>
<h2>It’s time for change</h2>
<p>Culture is often blamed for domestic violence in refugee and migrant communities. </p>
<p>The category “culturally and linguistically diverse” continues to reinforce assumptions. This contributes to “othering” and can lead to small services being overstretched.</p>
<p>It’s time the voices of refugee and migrant women experiencing domestic violence are heard and <a href="https://edspace.american.edu/culturallysustainingclassrooms/wp-content/uploads/sites/1030/2017/09/Mapping-the-Margins.pdf">recognised in mainstream policies and programs</a>. Policies and services should critically reflect on the cultures and inequalities within mainstream systems.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/temporary-migrants-are-people-not-labour-46941">Temporary migrants are people, not 'labour'</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187164/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Maturi has worked in domestic violence and refugee resettlement organisations, and was employed by a mainstream domestic violence organization while conducting this research (up until January 2020). While contacts helped to get the participation of some organisations for this research, most interview participants were unknown to the researcher. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Munro receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>In Australia, the discussion around gendered violence is increasingly focused on diversity. However, policy and services continue to be based mostly on the experiences of white, Anglo-settler women.Jenny Maturi, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of QueenslandJenny Munro, Lecturer, School of Social Science, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1063022019-03-07T11:38:02Z2019-03-07T11:38:02ZOnce captives of Boko Haram, these students are finding new meaning in their lives in Pennsylvania<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262467/original/file-20190306-100778-1x2z1ic.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chibok schoolgirls freed from Boko Haram captivity shown in Abuja, Nigeria in 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Nigeria-Chibok-Girl/3ddb77fb72f14083ba21fc26392afee8/8/0">Olamikan Gbemiga/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Of all the challenges faced by people who’ve been displaced, perhaps none is more important than to find new meaning in their lives. And so it is with the four young women who are students in a college prep class that I teach at Dickinson College.</p>
<p>All four students were among the more than 200 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/11/world/africa/nigeria-boko-haram-girls.html">Chibok schoolgirls</a> who were <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2014/05/17/world/africa/nigeria-abducted-girls/">abducted by Boko Haram</a> in April 2014. The kidnapping triggered international outrage and prompted the worldwide <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/hashtag-wars-whos-behind-nigeria-bringbackourgirls-movement-n100771">#BringBackOurGirls</a> campaign.</p>
<p>As we approach the five-year anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok schoolgirls – many of whom are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/world/africa/nigeria-election-corruption.html">still being held captive</a> – it is worth taking a look at what the world has done to help those who have survived the ordeal. The Nigerian government has secured the release of <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-chibok-girls-survivors-of-kidnapping-by-boko-haram-share-their-stories-60-minutes/">less than half </a>of the kidnapped schoolgirls, with at least 100 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/world/africa/nigeria-election-corruption.html">still being held captive</a>.</p>
<p>The class I teach at Dickinson offers a small glimpse into the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls’ lives. It is an outcome that their captors in Boko Haram – a terrorist group whose name means “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-27390954">Western education is forbidden</a>” – never wanted to imagine.</p>
<p>Over the past year or so, the four students I teach have worked hard to achieve their dream of obtaining a high school equivalency diploma so they can have a shot at college. They have attempted the GED practice test and real tests quite a few times. </p>
<p>Assessors said it would take about five to seven years to get them ready for college. However, something took place in February that leads me to believe it won’t take that long. But before I tell that story, a little background is in order.</p>
<h2>Escaping captivity</h2>
<p>While the Chibok school kidnapping is widely associated with the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, fortunately, my students never had to be “brought back.” That’s because they were among the lucky ones who <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-american-ordeal-of-the-boko-haram-schoolgirls-1523661238">escaped</a> from the insurgent group as they were being taken to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/29/nigeria-sambisa-forest-boko-haram-hideout-kidnapped-school-girls-believed-to-be-held">Sambisa Forest</a> in Nigeria.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262254/original/file-20190305-48450-14vqkxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262254/original/file-20190305-48450-14vqkxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262254/original/file-20190305-48450-14vqkxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262254/original/file-20190305-48450-14vqkxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262254/original/file-20190305-48450-14vqkxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262254/original/file-20190305-48450-14vqkxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262254/original/file-20190305-48450-14vqkxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262254/original/file-20190305-48450-14vqkxi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">#BringBackOurGirls campaigners protest in Lagos, Nigeria in 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Nigeria-Kidnapped-Girls/691d46e19e9c4ca6a3bcd9a115751440/14/0">Sunday Alamba/AP</a></span>
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<p>How the four young women came to be my students at a small, <a href="https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20048/history_of_the_college/1404/the_dickinson_story">historic</a>, private liberal arts college in Pennsylvania is a long and complicated story. Not all of it has been pleasant. The Wall Street Journal told much of their <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-american-ordeal-of-the-boko-haram-schoolgirls-1523661238">rough ordeal in the United States</a> in 2018.</p>
<p>That same year, Dickinson College president Margee Ensign was asked and agreed to <a href="https://www.philly.com/philly/education/dickinson-college-president-nigerian-captives-boko-haram-margee-ensign-20180518.html">welcome the young women to our campus</a>. She had <a href="https://www.philly.com/philly/education/dickinson-college-president-nigerian-captives-boko-haram-margee-ensign-20180518.html">done the same</a> a few years earlier with some of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls when she was head of the American University of Nigeria, where I also used to teach.</p>
<p>The students are all on full scholarship funded by the Nigerian government’s <a href="http://victimssupportfundng.org/">Victim Support Fund</a> and the <a href="http://mmfnigeria.org/">Murtala Mohammed Foundation</a>.</p>
<h2>Journey to the United States</h2>
<p>I came to Dickinson College in the fall of 2017 as a visiting professor in international studies. I first met the four former Chibok schoolgirls in April 2018, when Dickinson launched the <a href="https://www.dickinson.edu/bridge">College Bridge program</a> in which they are now enrolled. </p>
<p>Through the program, the young women take a college prep class with me that focuses on critical and analytical thinking skills. They also take math, English, science, social studies and GED preparatory classes.</p>
<h2>A global mission, challenging work</h2>
<p>In many ways, the bridge program at Dickinson is in line with UNESCO’s new <a href="https://en.unesco.org/themes/right-to-education/campaign">#RightToEducation</a> campaign that is meant to expand access to higher education for refugees. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, among the world’s 16.1 million refugees, <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/57d9d01d0">only 1 percent of college-aged refugees</a> attend university, compared to 34 percent of all college-aged youth globally. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262255/original/file-20190305-48447-1mdeuew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262255/original/file-20190305-48447-1mdeuew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262255/original/file-20190305-48447-1mdeuew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262255/original/file-20190305-48447-1mdeuew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262255/original/file-20190305-48447-1mdeuew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262255/original/file-20190305-48447-1mdeuew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262255/original/file-20190305-48447-1mdeuew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Released abduction victims, schoolgirls from the Government Girls Science and Technical College Dapchi, shown after a meeting with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, at the presidential palace in Abuja, Nigeria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Nigeria-YE-Africa-2018/3bdbd1a4d3424c0ead8206d03028b5c6/6/0">Azeez Akunleyan/AP</a></span>
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<p>The work of preparing students with refugee backgrounds for college is far from easy. Aside from adjusting to a new culture and environment, sometimes a new language and a different method of learning, displaced persons struggle to find new meanings in their displacement. When education becomes their main pursuit, it must necessarily provide those new meanings. </p>
<h2>A breakthrough</h2>
<p>For a student named <a href="https://www.philly.com/philly/education/dickinson-college-president-nigerian-captives-boko-haram-margee-ensign-20180518.html">Patience</a>, new meaning has been found in her quest to become a schoolteacher or counselor. Patience has taken a significant step toward that goal. It came to light when she showed up over an hour late to my class one day in February.</p>
<p>“What happened today?” I asked when she walked in, trying to keep my voice and expression from revealing my disappointment.</p>
<p>“I went to take my GED Math this morning. I told you,” she said.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how I forgot that she was going to take the GED Math, but I did. Had I remembered, I would have sent her one of my motivational texts to get her inspired. This was her third attempt on the GED.</p>
<p>“How did it go?” I asked.</p>
<p>“It went well,” she answered, her voice flat, face emotionless.</p>
<p>“So …” I stammered, “did you pass?” </p>
<p>“Yes, I did,” she said, and then told me her score. The whole class erupted in cheers and claps. I was so excited, I rushed and hugged her without thinking. The other students joined. It was one of the most rewarding moments in my decade of teaching. A few weeks later, Patience passed her GED Science exam as well.</p>
<h2>Inspiring others</h2>
<p>Patience is the first among the four women to pass a GED test. In order to appreciate what a big deal this is, consider where these young women have come from.</p>
<p>Beyond having had a tumultuous life, the students come from an unimaginably poor educational background. The Government Girls Secondary School they attended in Chibok, Borno state, is in a very remote part of Nigeria. You normally wouldn’t have good teachers in such remote areas. But with the Boko Haram insurgency that has plagued the region for the past decade, the situation is far worse. The insurgency has prompted most of the good teachers to leave. According to Human Rights Watch, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/nigeria0416web.pdf">at least 611 teachers have been deliberately killed</a> by the insurgents since 2009, forcing a further 19,000 teachers to flee. The students have told me that their school at Chibok did not have qualified science, math or language teachers. Their science labs had no equipment. </p>
<p>The Borno state Ministry of Education and many other states in northern Nigeria generally do not prioritize education for girls due to religion and culture, which both support early marriage. In Borno state, the attendance rate for female secondary school students is <a href="https://www.epdc.org/epdc-data-points/schooling-northern-nigeria-challenges-girls-education">29 percent</a>, compared with a national average of 53 percent. So this is a huge achievement for Patience and the other women in their journey toward college. When they eventually get into college, I believe it will inspire thousands of other young girls from that region of the world.</p>
<p>For her part, Patience hopes to inspire girls worldwide.</p>
<p>I know this because in early 2019, I worked with Patience and her fellow students on listening and comprehension skills. For one exercise, I had them watch and then write their opinion about <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/mary_maker_why_educating_refugees_matters?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tedspre">this inspiring talk</a> by Mary Maker, a former South Sudanese refugee who is now a teacher at a school in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, on the power of education for women from crises societies.</p>
<p>Patience and the others could relate very easily with the speech and with the speaker. It spoke to their past and their present, their hopes and aspirations. The proof is that in her essay about the video, Patience wrote that she wants to have a voice like Mary Maker’s – and to speak for women who cannot speak for themselves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106302/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Four young women who escaped Boko Haram during the 2014 Chibok schoolgirl kidnapping are now studying in the US. Their professor recounts a recent breakthrough in their quest to go to college.Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob, Visiting International Scholar in International Studies & Political Science, Dickinson CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/981652018-06-21T18:48:07Z2018-06-21T18:48:07ZHow a photo research project gives refugee women a voice in resettlement policy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224148/original/file-20180621-137720-1g4r3bk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research that explores resettlement issues from refugee women's perspectives are needed to inform settlement policy and programs effectively.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Between 2000 and 2017, <a href="http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/populationfacts/docs/MigrationPopFacts20175.pdf">the number of refugees and asylum seekers</a> globally increased from 16 to 26 million. In 2016, women made up <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/5943e8a34.pdf">49% of global refugees</a>. Dominant representations of refugee women are that of <a href="https://unstats.un.org/unsd/gender/downloads/worldswomen2015_report.pdf">vulnerable and helpless victims</a>. This disregards women’s agency, voice, and deep desire for education and social enterprise. </p>
<p>Australia’s refugee intake is expected to increase to <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/discussion-papers/discussion-paper-humanitarian-programme_2017-18.pdf">18,750</a> in 2018-19, the largest intake <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09557571.2010.523820">in 30 years</a>. In 1989, Australia established a “<a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/discussion-papers/discussion-paper-humanitarian-programme_2017-18.pdf">Woman at Risk</a>” visa subclass for women and their dependants living outside their home country who have been subject to persecution because of their gender. Over 1,600 visas were granted in <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/australia-offshore-humanitarian-program-2016-17.pdf">2016-17</a> to vulnerable women and children.</p>
<p>Upon resettlement, women may face <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26976004">challenges</a> such as language difficulties, isolation, health issues, loss of family and support networks, violence and discrimination. These women’s voices can be excluded in forming policies, with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/26/a-tougher-language-test-would-punish-women-like-my-mother-who-have-lost-everything">significant impacts</a>. Research approaches which explore issues related to settlement from their perspective are needed to effectively inform settlement policy and programs.</p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>Our research explored refugee women’s perspectives on settlement in Australia. We conducted the research in partnership with <a href="http://www.ishar.org.au/">Ishar Multicultural Women’s Health Centre</a> in Western Australia. </p>
<p>We used the participatory education research method of photovoice, which has become increasingly <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19797541">popular</a> in health research with marginalised groups <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1609406918757631">globally</a>. It’s used as a tool for empowering participants in <a href="http://www.facultadeducacion.ucr.ac.cr/recursos/docs/Contenidos/Empowering_Women.photovoice.pdf">Costa Rica</a>, enhancing their self-perception in <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1757975914528960">Canada</a>, building their networks in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5879794/">Spain</a>, and supporting cultural resilience and <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.94.6.911">influencing policy</a> in the <a href="https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/keystone-characteristics-that-support-cultural-resilience-in-kar/5831026">US</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/allwomencount-art-and-culture-at-the-forefront-of-world-refugee-day-98326">#AllWomenCount: art and culture at the forefront of World Refugee Day</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Participants were provided with cameras and asked to photograph situations that represented their settlement experiences. Some 43 women participated in six small group sessions with a professional photographer. Training included the ethics of taking photographs, selecting topics, and photography practice. </p>
<p>Discussions of their images used the “<a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1609406918757631#">SHOWeD</a>” technique, a form of critical questioning which explored the stories behind their photos. This led to reflective recommendations for supporting successful settlement. We also conducted in-depth interviews with 11 women to explore their experiences of settlement issues and the photovoice method.</p>
<h2>The power of photographs and narratives</h2>
<p>Our participants selected photographs and wrote accompanying narratives for an exhibition which has been travelling across public libraries. This project highlights the challenges of their lives in Australia, the importance of family and social support, the need for education and employment and drawing on personal strength during resettlement. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224149/original/file-20180621-137714-iqs2s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224149/original/file-20180621-137714-iqs2s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224149/original/file-20180621-137714-iqs2s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224149/original/file-20180621-137714-iqs2s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224149/original/file-20180621-137714-iqs2s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224149/original/file-20180621-137714-iqs2s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224149/original/file-20180621-137714-iqs2s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p><strong>Light and warmth in war</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>Light makes me feel safe. War took all the light from our lives. We used this light to survive and hold us together. </p>
<p>–<strong>Alma</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224150/original/file-20180621-137717-1acf94v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224150/original/file-20180621-137717-1acf94v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224150/original/file-20180621-137717-1acf94v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224150/original/file-20180621-137717-1acf94v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224150/original/file-20180621-137717-1acf94v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224150/original/file-20180621-137717-1acf94v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224150/original/file-20180621-137717-1acf94v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Road to life: leaving weary worlds behind</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>The road represents the difficulties of life before coming to Australia. The turning point in my life came and I was able to overcome the difficulties of life with help from support organisations. </p>
<p>–<strong>Annie</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224151/original/file-20180621-137750-8k3m6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224151/original/file-20180621-137750-8k3m6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224151/original/file-20180621-137750-8k3m6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224151/original/file-20180621-137750-8k3m6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224151/original/file-20180621-137750-8k3m6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224151/original/file-20180621-137750-8k3m6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/224151/original/file-20180621-137750-8k3m6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>Happy times</strong></p>
<blockquote>
<p>My son is going to the library. It is important to me because in my country it was not possible for children to go safely to the library or school. In Australia, my children can have the opportunity to be educated, which is something I did not have. I enjoy being part of my son’s school. </p>
<p>–<strong>Gabriella</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Sustained English language education</h2>
<p>Settlement is a long, non-linear process and is shaped by intersecting factors including gender, age, ethnicity and education. English language proficiency is a key facilitator to successful settlement. But many women face competing priorities in accessing English language education when they resettle in Australia, including child care responsibilities and attending to the health needs of family members. </p>
<p>Refugee women need sustained access to English language tuition which takes into account their circumstances and immediate needs. Education and language programs <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/rr38-empowering_migrant_women_report.pdf">need to be flexible</a>, through access to home tutoring or childcare. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/universities-need-to-do-more-to-support-refugee-students-97185">Universities need to do more to support refugee students</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This recommendation was also made in a recent <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/committees/reportjnt/024098/toc_pdf/NooneteachesyoutobecomeanAustralian.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">parliamentary inquiry</a> into migrant settlement outcomes. It was also discussed in <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/publication-documents/rr38-empowering_migrant_women_report.pdf">research</a> on empowering migrant and refugee women.</p>
<p>Our participants reported personal benefits from taking part in the photovoice project. They enjoyed learning in small group settings and their confidence increased after talking in a group. They felt a sense of well-being sharing their successes and challenges, learned new skills and knowledge, and felt empowered sharing their resettlement journeys.</p>
<h2>Five recommendations to support settlement</h2>
<p>Our recommendations are drawn from the refugee women themselves and grounded in research. We propose:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>promoting strength-based approaches to support service delivery, that are sensitive to cultural differences</p></li>
<li><p>English language programs for refugees need to be responsive to the gendered circumstances of women</p></li>
<li><p>we support changes <a href="https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/fairgo/">proposed</a> by the Refugee Council of Australia to make family reunion accessible to women and their families</p></li>
<li><p>refugee women should be supported to gain education and employment through training, peer mentoring, learning entrepreneurial skills and building networks</p></li>
<li><p>approaches to building social cohesion and combating racism and discrimination from the <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/race-discrimination/publications/building-social-cohesion-our-communities">local</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/dec/05/denounce-racism-in-your-parties-un-rapporteur-urges-australian-leaders">Federal political levels</a> need to be formalised.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Our research has highlighted barriers to successful settlement by locating refugee women’s experiences in a broader Australian social and political context. Women’s resilience and agency should be considered in the development of policy, programs and service delivery.</p>
<p>Refugee women are often left out of the conversations around resettlement, and not enough is known about their specific needs. Our research and the international photovoice research highlights that community-based participatory education methods (such as photovoice) are an effective way to meaningfully add the voices of refugee women to the wider discourse on migration and settlement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98165/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jaya A R Dantas received funding from Healthways (The Health Promotion Foundation of Australia) for a project titled: 'Empowerment and mental health promotion of refugee women through photovoice'. Jaya has also received funding from Healthways to undertake intervention projects with refugee and migrant women. She is the International Health SIG convenor of the Public Health Association of Australia, a Board member of Centacare Employment and Training in WA, the Vice-Chair: Management Committee of Ishar Multicultural Women's Health Centre and a National Council Member of the Australian Federation of Graduate Women.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anita Lumbus is a PhD candidate and was the Project Manager of the Photovoice Project. Anita is a recipient of a Department of Education and Training Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship and a Curtin Research Top-Up Scholarship. She has also previously received a Curtin University Postgraduate Scholarship. Anita is an individual member of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shelley Gower has received funding from Healthways to undertake separate intervention projects with refugee women. She is a Lecturer in the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, a PhD candidate and was Research Officer on the Photovoice project.</span></em></p>Refugee women’s voices are often left out of resettlement policy. A participatory research method called photovoice helps uncover resettlement issues from their perspectives.Jaya Dantas, Dean International, Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of International Health, Curtin UniversityAnita Lumbus, Researcher and PhD Candidate, Curtin UniversityShelley Gower, Lecturer in Research Methods, Research Officer in International Health, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/983262018-06-18T13:54:52Z2018-06-18T13:54:52Z#AllWomenCount: art and culture at the forefront of World Refugee Day<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223177/original/file-20180614-32313-xuvuyo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ro Murphy</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The number of forced migrants is now at an <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/stories/2017/6/5941561f4/forced-displacement-worldwide-its-highest-decades.html">all-time global high</a> – and a majority of these <a href="https://www.ipinst.org/2014/10/rethinking-women-and-forced-migration">are women and children</a>. Images of refugee women are a familiar sight in press coverage of the variously defined “refugee” or “migrant crisis”. These are portrayals of victims – their eyes downcast, arms clutching a young child in tearful desperation as they teeter aboard an inflatable craft. </p>
<p>Yet these images do not represent the richly complex identities of refugee women themselves – nor do they give voice to their often overlooked gender-specific concerns. These include issues such as the threat of sexual violence – both while on the move and in UK detention – as well as gender-related persecution, inadequate housing for families (a particular concern for women with children), and entrapment in domestic violence due to spousal “leave to remain” arrangements.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/">World Refugee Day</a> on June 20 presents an important opportunity <a href="https://www.unrefugees.org/news/on-world-refugee-day-we-commemorated-the-strength-courage-and-perseverance-of-millions-of-refugees/">to commemorate</a> “the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees”. And it is heartening to see that asylum-seeking and refugee women have now been channelling the current surge in global feminist activism to make their voices heard with particular clarity and force. So here are just some of the reasons we should be celebrating woman power and listening to their message – that #AllWomenCount.</p>
<h2>Riding the wave of the hashtag</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223178/original/file-20180614-32327-636h1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223178/original/file-20180614-32327-636h1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223178/original/file-20180614-32327-636h1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223178/original/file-20180614-32327-636h1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223178/original/file-20180614-32327-636h1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223178/original/file-20180614-32327-636h1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223178/original/file-20180614-32327-636h1v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than 20 organisations supporting refugee women’s rights joined lobby parliament on International Women’s Day in March 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ro Murphy</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/timesup?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Ehashtag">#TimesUp</a> to <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23MeToo&src=typd">#MeToo</a>, the campaign for women’s rights has never been more globally visible than in 2018. If Donald Trump’s presidency has given one (paradoxical) gift to the world, it has surely been the international galvanising of feminist opposition. Women have stood shoulder to shoulder across cities, countries and continents to protest at endemic sexual violence, misogyny and gender discrimination, institutionalised and otherwise.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pussyhat-power-the-feminist-protesters-crafting-resistance-to-trump-and-his-supporters-72221">Pussyhat power – the feminist protesters crafting resistance to Trump and his supporters</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The art of protest has been both reignited and reinvigorated, as street marches have been matched with an awareness of the power of the hashtag and the viral image. And at grassroots level, refugee women have been riding this wave with impressive style. As Monica Aidoo, intern for the London-based grassroots organisation <a href="http://www.refugeewomen.co.uk/staff-trustees/">Women for Refugee Women</a>, puts it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Refugee women have always taken a strong stand for their rights through different kinds of protest. However, it is now exactly 100 years since women in the UK fought for the vote and it is frustrating to see that refugee women are still having to fight for their rights in almost every aspect of their lives: immigration, healthcare, housing … Women have decided to make their voices heard in any way they can. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>While woman-focused support organisations have undertaken bold and highly <a href="http://www.refugeewomen.co.uk/events/">visible political protests in 2018</a> – instigating, for instance, a <a href="https://naccom.org.uk/allwomencount-lobby-parliament-8th-march/">day-long lobby</a> of the UK parliament involving 20 women’s groups for International Women’s Day, or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/gallery/2018/jun/02/womens-banners-to-celebrate-100-years-of-suffrage-in-pictures">flying protest banners</a> at the 100-year suffrage celebration marches on June 10 – equally important has been the virtual visibility of these activities. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hundred-years-of-votes-for-women-how-far-weve-come-and-how-far-theres-still-to-go-91169">Hundred years of votes for women: how far we've come and how far there's still to go</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Today, refugee women are making their voices heard not only on the streets but through social media: on Twitter at “<a href="https://twitter.com/4refugeewomen?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">4refugeewomen</a>”, for instance – as well as by blogging and through the use of hashtags such as <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23AllWomenCount&src=typd">#AllWomenCount</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Setherfree">#SetHerFree</a>. The result is a new-found global visibility and solidarity that is louder and reaches more people in more places than ever before. </p>
<h2>Her voice, her story</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223179/original/file-20180614-32304-724ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223179/original/file-20180614-32304-724ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223179/original/file-20180614-32304-724ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223179/original/file-20180614-32304-724ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223179/original/file-20180614-32304-724ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223179/original/file-20180614-32304-724ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223179/original/file-20180614-32304-724ll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Afghan-British film director and women’s rights activist Najia Khaan during filming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Najia Khaan</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There has been an outpouring of woman-powered creativity in 2018, through which refugee women have sought to shift the authorship and ownership of their narratives back into their own hands. Refugee Week 2018 – the national festival that accompanies World Refugee Day – is showcasing many woman-led projects by groups, such as <a href="https://twitter.com/wastcampaigning?lang=en">WAST Manchester</a> and <a href="https://allevents.in/leeds/women-of-power-by-mafwa-theatre/1000046695452355">Mafwa Theatre at Leeds Refugee Forum</a>, which have instigated participant-led drama projects that enable women to tell their own stories on their own terms. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nottsrefugeeforum.org.uk/projects/womens-group/">PAMOJA Women Together Group</a>, based in Nottingham meanwhile, has collaborated on <a href="https://nottinghamrefugeeweek.org/speaker/and-still-i-rise/">an exhibition of photography and poetry</a> inspired by the work of Maya Angelou: “And Still I Rise”, that testifies to the positive qualities possessed by women in their group. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223180/original/file-20180614-32304-piyzfr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223180/original/file-20180614-32304-piyzfr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223180/original/file-20180614-32304-piyzfr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223180/original/file-20180614-32304-piyzfr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223180/original/file-20180614-32304-piyzfr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223180/original/file-20180614-32304-piyzfr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/223180/original/file-20180614-32304-piyzfr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Image from the PAMOJA exhibition ‘And Still I Rise’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rasha Kotaiche</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>At individual levels, too, women from refugee backgrounds, including <a href="https://bookscover2cover.com/2017/02/rana-abdulfattah-on-exile-and-syria-memoir-and-poetry/">Rana Abdulfattah</a>, a Syrian poet exiled in Turkey and film directors such as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8642604/bio">Najia Khaan</a>, whose family fled Afghanistan for Pakistan and on to the UK when she was an infant – are using Refugee Week as a public platform for gender-conscious advocacy. </p>
<p>In her film <a href="http://www.saradanmedia.co.uk/films/documentary-finding-soraya/">Finding Soraya</a>, Khaan returns to her native Afghanistan in search of the spirit of the lost progressive ideas of Afghanistan’s last queen, Soraya. Her project was motivated, she says, by a desire “to educate the world that Afghan women are not just blue burqas. Soraya – and other Afghan woman – deserve for their stories to be told”. Speaking of the transformative effect that her creative practice has had on her own life, Khaan states: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have been fighting for my rights since I was a child. I came to the UK at the age of nine. But I was stuck between two cultures and didn’t have an identity for myself. I feel I didn’t locate my identity or voice until I made this documentary.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Khaan is not alone in the sense of empowerment she has found within the act of creative self-representation. In her poem When Life Happened (which is currently on display at Nottingham Central Library), PAMOJA group member Ola writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Haven’t you seen the most beautiful message<br>
That comes out of a mess?<br>
Trust the author of time, your creator.<br>
You are not late<br>
Because time is in your hands.<br>
So be happy -<br>
Your time is now.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Judging by the volume of refugee women’s voices now making themselves heard, it would seem Ola is indeed correct. For all refugee women – the time is now.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-women-are-collaborating-to-tell-stories-that-break-through-the-noise-on-syria-93754">How women are collaborating to tell stories that break through the noise on Syria</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/98326/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Ball works as Senior Lecturer for Nottingham Trent University. She is affiliated as a volunteer with the PAMOJA Women Together Group at Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum, and with the Refugee Week festival as Vice-Chair of the Nottingham branch. From September 2018-September 2019, she is funded by the Leverhulme Trust to work on a research project about the cultural representation of refugee women, 'Moving Women, Moving Stories'. </span></em></p>Asylum-seeking and refugee women have been channelling the current surge in global feminist activism to make their voices heard.Anna Ball, Senior Lecturer, School of Arts & Humanities, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/978702018-06-17T10:02:37Z2018-06-17T10:02:37ZRefugee women use their voices through digital storytelling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222213/original/file-20180607-137315-6gsk48.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Egenie told her story for her father whom she describes as her friend and mentor.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Storytelling <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-02036-8">is innate</a> to humans. For millennia, ever since cave paintings were used to record practices, storytelling in all its different forms and genres has contributed to rich cultural traditions from one generation to the next.</p>
<p>Like people themselves, storytelling methods have changed over time. <a href="https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol22/iss10/3/">Digital storytelling</a> is one such approach. Digital storytelling was originally used in community development, or more broadly for artistic and therapeutic purposes. More recently, it has been adapted as an arts-based research approach due to the creative potential of using digital means to create and share stories to audiences including decision makers. Its most common form is a three to five minute movie with images, sounds, music and voice-over narration of a person’s story. </p>
<p>Wider access to technology has increased possibilities to share stories via digital means. Digital storytelling is an excellent method to “co-create” research, where <a href="http://methods.sagepub.com/case/digital-storytelling-participatory-research-refugee-women">narrators participate in a process</a> that has more meaning to them. </p>
<p>I used digital storytelling in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25741136.2018.1464740">my research</a> with women who had arrived in Australia on <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/visa-1/204-">Woman-at-risk visas</a> within the previous year. This visa category was introduced in 1989 to address the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ concerns about the vulnerable situation of refugee women and children.</p>
<p>As part of the research, women from diverse countries – among them Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Iran shared narratives they decided for themselves.</p>
<p>Through this method of narrating their stories, the women were present in the research process in ways that interviews and questionnaires cannot fully capture. Digital storytelling is an approach that makes sense to them and that values what they have to say. </p>
<p>Telling stories from academic research is crucial. But rigid publication standards often result in writers <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amj.2013.4003">withholding the “human” element</a> to sound more scholarly. Even when quotes are included, they are trimmed and dissected to “fit” in. That’s why arts-based methods like photography, creative writing, dance, theatre performances, film-making, or digital storytelling are likely to convey the human or storytelling elements more fully. </p>
<p>In research areas that are quite complex, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/article-abstract/45/3/988/1667167?redirectedFrom=fulltext">like refugee studies</a>, this is especially important. Creative methods can be alternative pathways to finding out and sharing unique stories about people we often do not hear about.</p>
<h2>Maha’s story</h2>
<p>For researchers like me, creating digital stories involves listening to the narratives participants want to convey using digital media. I can journey alongside the women as they decide what experiences to include in their stories.</p>
<p>Maha called her story New Life. Originally from Sudan, Maha felt confused, lost, and frustrated when she first arrived to Brisbane, Australia. She wondered whether she had made a big mistake. Everything looked strange and unfamiliar, and she didn’t know where to go to buy the essentials for her four children.</p>
<p>Through the digital storytelling process, Maha shared poignant examples of her difficulties. At one point, she had to sell her rings because her family went without food for two days. But, as she said in her digital story:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m a fighter.</p>
</blockquote>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222211/original/file-20180607-137285-3y89z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222211/original/file-20180607-137285-3y89z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222211/original/file-20180607-137285-3y89z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222211/original/file-20180607-137285-3y89z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222211/original/file-20180607-137285-3y89z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222211/original/file-20180607-137285-3y89z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222211/original/file-20180607-137285-3y89z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/222211/original/file-20180607-137285-3y89z1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Maha enjoys henna as her work, her culture, a practice that makes her happy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
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<p>In her video, Maha spoke of her determination to turn her situation around for her children’s sake, and not be seen as a “helpless” single refugee woman.</p>
<p>Maha now helps other families who arrive to Australia and feel the same confusion she experienced. She hopes that these new families’ adaptation will be made easier through her assistance. </p>
<p>Usually, the label of “refugees” does not offer opportunities to understand unique stories such as Maha’s. Women and men experience settlement differently, and there is also much <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1473325012449684">diversity among women</a>. </p>
<p>Digital stories are a great way to enter a space to witness and understand what matters most to the “protagonist”. In this way, women’s stories are valued, their issues are not missed, and they can participate in a process where they recognise their own strengths and hopes for the future – and not just difficulties. </p>
<h2>Egenie remembers her father</h2>
<p>Egenie’s story is called Ubuntu = Togetherness. <a href="https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/28706/04chapter4.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y">Ubuntu</a> is an African philosophical concept that speaks to the bond that connects people despite differences. </p>
<p>She was born in the DRC and the memories that matter most to her are about a happy childhood surrounded by love and support. Later, Egenie and her family were displaced and forced to live in a tent in Durban, South Africa. That’s when things became difficult. In her video, she said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was an open cage, a prison with no roof or walls to shield us. People who were sleeping alongside my family in that park were not bound by ubuntu.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Egenie faced the hardest challenge of her life during that time: her father disappeared when the makeshift camp was attacked one night. She and the rest of her family managed to move to a safe environment, and eventually to Australia. When we met in Brisbane in 2015 to talk about her story she still didn’t know whether her father was dead or alive.</p>
<p>The memories of her father helped Egenie become an active community leader. She uses the support of those around her who want to see her flourish and embrace new opportunities in Australia. She sees herself as an agent of change whose strength comes from the tragic episodes of her life.</p>
<h2>Listening with intent</h2>
<p>As a researcher, it is an incredible experience to enter a space where such detailed and intimate stories come up – and to be trusted with these narratives. These women own their digital stories and they can choose how and where to share them. As such, the videos are not publicly available. This is an ethical research approach that avoids appropriating others’ stories for academic purposes.</p>
<p>Listening with intent, rather than just asking questions or seeking answers, makes for rich encounters. These dialogues show protagonists’ strengths and hopes, and these are the elements of the stories that remain with us long after watching their digital stories.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Lenette and co-Chief Investigators Robert Schweitzer, Mark Brough, Kate Murray and Ignacio Correa-Velez received funding from the Australian Research Council (LP140100609) for the research 'Developing Best Practice for Settlement Services for Refugee Women-at-Risk'.</span></em></p>Wider access to technology has increased possibilities to share stories via digital means.Caroline Lenette, Associate Professor & Deputy Direction, UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.