History and Hope: The International Humanitarian Reader

Issues of Power and Gender in Complex Emergencies

84 Two key issues dramatically affect the lives of women and children caught in the chaos of complex humanitarian emergencies: protection and equal access to relief goods and services. Equal access means that women and girls have the same access and rights to relief items, shelter, health services, access to clean water, sanitation facilities, training, employment, and education opportunities. Protection’s role includes safeguarding displaced people—women and girls, in particular—from rape, abduction, forced sexual slavery, genital mutilation, forced marriages, exploitation , torture, and murder. The Fundamental Right to Basic Human Needs Conflict is the main reason people become refugees or internally displaced. Women and children comprise an estimated 80 percent of displaced populations. In situations of complex humanitarian emergencies, women assume primary responsibility for the survival of their families. Women keep the social fabric intact by maintaining cultural practices and traditions even during conflict and displacement. The basic human needs embody the fundamental rights of all people. Basic needs include food, water, shelter, nonfood items (blankets, clothes, cooking pots, etc.), health care sanitation, education, and opportunities for self-support, as well as freedom from persecution. Power, Gender-Based Violence, and Access to Food The entry point for preventing abuse and violence against women is the food distribution line. It is there that gender-power relationships are manifested in harmful ways. Food ranks as the most valuable commodity in a refugee camp. Food can be readily sold, traded, or bartered for cash and other items. Power rests with those who control access to food. Women do not enjoy equal access to food in nearly all Issues of Power and Gender in Complex Emergencies Judy A. Benjamin CH07_2012_016_FUP_Cahill_p084-096.indd 84 CH07_2012_016_FUP_Cahill_p084-096.indd 84 2/13/13 9:10 PM 2/13/13 9:10 PM ISSUES OF POWER AND GENDER IN COMPLEX EMERGENCIES 85 of the hundreds of refugee and IDP camps I have visited during the past ten years. Sex exploitation scandals1 in the camps in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia point to food as the main resource exchanged for sex. Food and other humanitarian relief items provided by the international community fall under the control of men. Poor monitoring by relief agencies permits the sexual exploitation of women and girls. Other men, including international peacekeepers, military forces, and UN and relief agency employees exploit the severe poverty conditions suffered by the refugees by offering to women and young girls small sums of money or “gifts” in exchange for sex. The majority of the victims of exploitation are females under the age of eighteen—the most vulnerable recipients of humanitarian assistance. Equal participation in relief programs and services will not guarantee that women will not be pressured into providing sexual services or that they will not be cheated on their rations as they pass through the distribution lines, but the chances of blatant abuse will be lessened with women in decision-making roles and actively engaged. Refugees versus Internally Displaced Persons Most conflicts today occur inside the boundaries of the affected country; therefore , the global number of IDPs exceeds that of refugees. In the writer’s experience, refugee and IDP camps are much the same. In general, IDPs receive less international assistance than refugees do for several reasons. IDPs fall under the jurisdiction and responsibility of their own government, although in many situations the government may be the cause of the displacement, or may not have the means to offer support to its displaced citizens. The UNHCR’s mandate does not normally include responsibility for IDPs, although in some cases they take on the task when requested to do so by the UN Secretary-General. International relief agencies may not be operational in IDP camps unless the conflict has high visibility or has gained international attention. Applying a Gender Analysis in Humanitarian Assistance What are the major issues of concern to refugee and displaced women and girls? What steps can the assistance community take to address and ensure the rights of women in emergency situations? How can the gap between policy and practices be closed? What can individual humanitarian workers do to ensure the protection of the rights of vulnerable refugees and displaced persons? CH07_2012_016_FUP_Cahill_p084-096.indd 85 CH07_2012_016_FUP_Cahill_p084-096.indd 85 2/13/13 9:10 PM 2/13/13 9:10 PM JUDY A. BENJAMIN 86 Gender analysis requires a basic understanding of the premise upon which gender theory rests. Gender refers to the...