The Gender Dimensions of Forced Displacement: A Synthesis of New Research

Jeni Klugman

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

While there have been welcome advances in global evidence on and understanding of forced displacement, research and analysis of the gendered dimensions of displacement have been limited. The Gender Dimensions of Forced Displacement (GDFD) research program has sought to fill this important gap. A series of papers were commissioned from leading experts to address several key questions, namely:

• How does gender inequality affect the extent and patterns of different dimensions of poverty in forcibly displaced populations?

• How do conflict and displacement affect gender norms and the prevalence of IPV and child marriage for women and girls?

• What are the implications of these findings for the design and implementation of policies and programs?

The GDFD research program produced nine detailed country investigations and three multi-country papers covering 17 countries using a portfolio of research approaches with analysis at individual and household levels to uncover gender-poverty links. The overall findings of multi-country studies of multidimensional poverty covering Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Sudan, and monetary poverty analysis in Somalia and Jordan, is that displaced households are generally poorer than non-displaced households.

A tailored Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) reveals that displacement status is associated with deprivation status at the household level, and gender has important impacts on individual deprivations within households. In fact, within households, gender emerges as an important predictive factor in indicators of chronic deprivation, such as school completion. Among the multidimensionally poor, girls are less likely than boys to complete school—reflecting accumulated disadvantage over time. We also find that the gender of the household head is an indicator of deprivation in most, but not all, countries.

For monetary poverty, many of the differences in income poverty risk between internally displaced persons (IDPs) and non-IDPs are associated with differences in household demographic characteristics and the gender and number of earners in the household. These, in turn, are often associated with displacement-related changes in household composition and gender roles.

One important implication of both the multidimensional and monetary poverty analysis is the need to go beyond the gender of the household head to comprehensively assess deprivation and poverty. For example, male-headed households are income poorer than female-headed households in both Somalia and Jordan. But gender influences poverty risk. For example, in Somalia, single female caregivers, and IDP widows living outside IDP settlements are all high poverty risk categories. Having more income earners of either sex reduces poverty risk for IDP and non-IDP households alike. Interestingly, for IDP households, the largest decrease in poverty risk is associated with having more female earners, while having more male earners is associated with the lowest poverty risk for non-IDPs.

The research findings on livelihoods relate to a diversity of forced displacement settings: refugees in Ethiopia and protracted displacement of IDPs in Darfur, Sudan. Evidence from all the countries investigated demonstrates that substantial barriers constrain the economic opportunities of displaced women, most notably in the form of limited education and care responsibilities. For example, among Ethiopian refugees, the livelihoods of men and women are impacted differently by displacement, in part because adverse gender norms result in women having fewer opportunities for economic advancement and bearing more care responsibilities at home.

The drivers of these constraints vary across settings. Endowments, specifically lack of access to land, emerge as important in Ethiopia while lack of education is critical in both Ethiopia and Darfur. Gender norms as well as factors like access to land shape participation in paid work and self-employment versus agricultural work in Darfur, with women working predominantly in family farms and businesses. Some barriers are similar for displaced and non-displaced women. For example, female household headship increases the likelihood of women’s employment for refugees and hosts in Ethiopia. Nonetheless, some differences emerge across different contexts. Interestingly, in Darfur, displaced women are more likely to work than women in the host community. Women’s participation in paid work can reduce their poverty risk (as found in Somalia), but there is also evidence that displaced women in paid work have low earnings relative to men.

The findings of the program’s research on intimate partner violence (IPV) in Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Liberia, and Mali, underline that IPV rates are significantly higher for women living in households in proximity to conflict, measured by conflict-related deaths, compared to those living in peaceful areas of the country. In Mali, wartime conflict increases the risk of all forms of IPV—physical, emotional, and sexual. Women also have less decision-making autonomy over their earnings in conflict-affected districts.

The risks faced by displaced women along their displacement journey and impacts of gender-based violence (GBV) are often lifelong. The Program’s findings buttress existing literature – that is, experiencing sexual violence increases risk of future violence, as does witnessing violence, alcohol abuse and tolerance of violence against women (VAW). In various conflict-affected settings, women have been found to be more likely to experience abuse at the hands of acquaintances, intimate partners, family members and people in their community than at the hand of armed actors.

Two studies in the series focus on gender norms—Colombia and Jordan. Gender norms can be defined as the acceptable and appropriate actions for men and women that are reproduced through social and economic interactions. Norms are typically embedded within both formal and informal institutions. Gender attitudes can be defined as expressed views about appropriate roles, responsibilities and behaviors. The two studies suggest that gender attitudes and gender norms do not always shift together, and do not always progress toward gender equality during forced displacement. Moreover, attitudes and norms can shift without corresponding changes in behavior, at least within the time frames of the studies. For example, among women in Colombia, displacement corresponded with less rigid patriarchal norms around gender roles and GBV, but reduced the ability of women to make decisions about contraception and earnings.

A broad implication of the research is that tracking gender attitudes and behaviors among all members of a community is important, but existing data often miss opportunities to collect information on gender norms held by men and boys. Accounting for and changing community and familial gender norms, not just those of girls themselves, is important. Additionally, adolescent refugee girls are a distinct group who face unique challenges. Among the implications for policy and programming are the importance of contraception in basic health packages and the engagement of men to promote more gender-equitable relationships.

Humanitarian and development policies and programs should seek to understand and address intersectionality of gender and displacement, to close gender gaps in education and paid work, development outcomes such as income and other dimensions of poverty, as well as the risk of GBV.

It is critical that host governments take concrete steps to review and, where necessary, revise national laws and policies to achieve gender equality and enhance economic inclusion for displaced populations, including measures to increase displaced people’s free movement and access to labor markets and financial services, expand inclusive social protection to people affected by crisis and displacement, and provide safe, affordable, and accessible care services, notably quality childcare.

Public and private donors and multilateral stakeholders need to work with governments to ensure greater policy coherence across humanitarian and development programs, and direct more multi-year, flexible funding to frontline responders in fragile and conflict-affected contexts including via local, national, and international NGOs and women’s rights organisations.

A series of recommendations emerge for agencies collecting survey data, including the World Bank, UN agencies and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), starting with including displaced populations in population-wide and household-based data collection, especially in countries where there are significant numbers of displaced people. Within households, sex-disaggregated individual-level data is needed to enable a better understanding of the situation of different household members, dependency ratios and more. Our studies underline the important role of gender norms in shaping constraints and opportunities for women, men, girls, and boys. Data on gender norms should be collected, including from men and boys. Learning from qualitative information from displaced groups, and including the voices of displaced women is key, especially those facing multiple disadvantages.