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Protect Women's Right to Food, Shelter, Security

The Miami Herald, by Mary Diaz

During the recent war in Sierra Leone, 19-year-old Gina was gang raped by 20 rebels when they attacked her village. The rebels held her captive for two months before she was able to escape. She walked for two weeks through the bush to reach the refugee camps in Guinea. When she arrived, she was not given food but told to wait until her case was verified. She was hungry and in pain and ended up exchanging sexual favors for a cup of bulgur and a cup of oil.

Some 40 million people around the world have fled persecution and armed conflict, 80 percent of them women and children. They are searching for peace, safety and security. They face myriad dangers, from disease and deprivation to armed forces and landmines.

FORCED TO GET MARRIED

Today, World Refugee Day, the focus is on women and girls who face additional dangers in refugee situations because of their unequal status in society. They may not have legal rights to property. Many do not read or write; many have never attended school. Like Gina, women and girls are at greater risk of rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, such as female genital mutilation and forced marriage.

In many places, women do not have direct access to humanitarian assistance because aid is provided only to men. Julia, a Burundian woman living with her husband and two children in a camp in Tanzania, suffered regular beatings from her husband over the food ration, which he would sell for beer and other supplies.

After several months, Julia was able to get a separate ration card and move out. But later on, during a registration exercise, aid workers saw that Julia and her husband had separate cards. They told her to return to her husband because they did not want to promote the break-up of families.

While policies to protect refugee women and girls exist, there is difficulty translating them into practical measures in the field. In some places, domestic laws do not meet international standards. Where stronger laws exist, governments may be unwilling or unable to provide protection: Rape victims may have no recourse or possibility to press charges, and women seeking to inherit land or property may be denied their claims.

The United Nations refugee agency introduced Guidelines on the Protection of Refugee Women more than a decade ago, with some success. There has been an increase in enrollment of girls in schools, more efforts to include refugee women in camp management and wider availability of reproductive health services, including family planning and HIV/AIDS counseling.

But this progress is not consistent. Problems of sexual and gender-based violence continue to plague refugee camps. In West Africa, the UNHCR and Save the Children-UK found that some aid workers were exploiting children and women, forcing them to exchange sex for food.

The UNHCR, international and local NGOs, and governments need to recruit, hire and retain more women. Refugee women are more likely to speak to other women about sensitive subjects such as domestic violence and rape. Refugees need more information about their rights as refugees, and women and girls need to know more about their human rights. Governments must promote and protect these rights.

Local women leaders are working in every crisis zone worldwide, but too often they are not sought out. Dr. Sima Samar is one who has been identified: An Afghan physician living in Pakistan as a refugee, she created schools and hospitals for women and girls. When the Taliban were ousted, she became part of the new government, serving as the minister for women.

She spoke for many women leaders when she accepted an award from the Women's Commission last year: ``I work for the hope that, in the future, girls in Afghanistan will not be punished because of having pens and books in their hands, and [that] the women will be able to work outside their homes with full confidence and dignity. I work to see women's rights counted as human rights.''