Rozprawy doktorskie na temat „Female Refuges”

This thesis examines the Ballarat Female Refuge, the first such institution on the Australian goldfields, as a case study of the interrelationship between charity and power. Established in 1867 by a group of twenty-six Protestant women with the intention of reforming prostitutes, the Refuge became a shelter for single mothers. An analysis of its history over the period 1867 to 1921 highlights attitudes towards female sexuality, and demonstrates how moral authority was exercised through this highly-gendered institution. The thesis locates the Ballarat Female Refuge within both an international history of female refuges and the network of voluntary charities which developed in nineteenth-century Ballarat. It argues that such charities were influential in the consolidation of class barriers in the goldfields city. While they were founded as a result of both evangelical religious fervour and humanitarian concern, they sought to impose middleclass moral values on their inmates, simultaneously conferring status and prestige on their committee members The thesis analyses the Protestant Ballarat Female Refuge through an examination of its committee, staff and residents in order to identify aspects of both power and mutuality in the charity relationship. It also looks at the symbolic systems operating at the Refuge, in particular the meanings of the wall and the laundry in the processes of exclusion and reformation. Drawing on narrative, biographical, statistical and genealogical sources, it details the ways in which moral authority was exercised through the Ballarat Female Refuge.

Despite their prevalence in the global refugee system, the unique struggles faced by transgender female refugees in countries of refuge has remained silent. Although existing as places of refuge, host states have remained particularly hostile to these refugees. The term ‘transgender’ is still relatively new and this thesis aims to outline the plight of transgender female refugees through the various forms of violence directed against them. Thus, an extended definition of violence must be taken to be able to contemplate the ways in which the transgender woman is assaulted, whether that takes the form of physical, sexual, economic, or medical violence. Moreover, despite an international and regional legal system existing, which delineates the human rights of refugees across the globe, there still appears to be a disconnect between the law and the lived realities of the transgender female refugee. The law itself is no ally to the transgender women due to its inherent patriarchal nature; the transgender women is perceived as a threat to the existing patriarchal and heteronormative structures in place in society. Moreover, the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was drafted at a time when the needs of transgender female refugees were not known and thus most of the existing international human rights instruments all pre-date the emergence of transgender rights. This disconnect is further fueled by the lack of hate crime in the international arena as a tool to enforce and protect transgender female refugees. Lastly, it was further seen that South Africa, as a country of refuge for African transgender refugees, provides a good example of ways in which the transgender woman can be assisted, such as through the development of Ubuntu and hate crime legislation.

Refugees, a novel in progress, begins in the collective first-person with a group of people who live on the same residential street of middle-class homes in an east coast American city and are experiencing the most exquisitely vivid aurora borealis to appear in recorded history. But they quickly learn that this gorgeous wonder is a harbinger of civilization's demise and possibly the end of all life on the planet, because the solar storms causing the sky's fantastic nightly coloring is also slowly stripping away the atmosphere and leeching oxygen into space. This "we" narrative switches to third person, moving between two characters—Julie and Amira—as the narrative moves forward. The first chapter covers the first few months of this apocalyptic crisis, and Julie and Amira are central as they are forced decide if they still have the strength and the will to even attempt survival in these new and brutal circumstances. The second chapter, also told in third person, picks up seventeen years in the future with Aya, Amira's daughter who was six during the initial atmospheric disaster. A small group survived in an underwater refuge, recently discovered the atmosphere above had healed over time, and sent an excursion group, including Aya, to evaluate the changing environment. This chapter reveals the history and particular struggles of these characters living in this complex society, both residual and nascent. The third chapter returns to the group of neighbors—including Julie and Amira—seventeen years prior, immediately following the catastrophic event as their story continues to unfold. This chapter opens, like the first chapter, in the "we" voice, tracing the movement of the group south in a search for help and a desperate, though orderly, effort toward survival. This next phase of their journey introduces fresh conflicts and new characters and points to approaching challenges and the persistent hope for survival. Two short stories, unrelated to the novel and each other and entitled "Awake" and "Her," are also included.

This treatise represents an investigation into the coping strategies of female Zimbabwean refugees at the Central Methodist Church (CMC) in Johannesburg. The CMC in Johannesburg includes a non-profit organisation called Ray of Hope that has functioned as a provider of accommodation and emergency refuge at the church since 1997. A vast number of Zimbabweans are moving to adjacent countries as a consequence of the conflict in Zimbabwe and approximately 85 percent of the people that have sought refuge in the CMC in Johannesburg are Zimbabweans that have fled the economic and political conflict in Zimbabwe. Using an interviewing strategy of a sample of 20 female Zimbabwean refugees, conducted at the CMC, the researcher gathered data, indicating that they face various conflicts on a daily basis inside as well as outside the refugee community in the CMC in Johannesburg. An extensive literature review and researcher‟s own observations during hours spent in the refugee community have also contributed to the collection of data. The findings suggest that coping mechanisms have been adopted by the female refugees to deal with the conflicts. Analysis of data was guided by grounded theory approach which allowed key findings about coping mechanisms to surface which encouraged recommendations presented in the conclusion of the treatise.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. School of Social Work, 2008.
"This study used a mixed methods research design that employed both qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore the impacts of social and demographic characteristics on acculturative stress and psychological distress in 27 adult female Liberian refugees living in Lansing, Michigan." Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Aug. 19, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-179). Also issued in print.

This study explored female refugees’ perceptions and life experiences at the Za’atari Camp in Jordan. While the study explored challenges and difficulties refugee women have endured while living in the camp, emphasis was placed on how they faced these challenges, coping mechanisms used for overcoming and enduring such circumstances, and what new life roles they had to assume. Utilizing Schweitzer, Greenslade, and Kagee’s (2007) model, this study explored, through qualitative phenomenological methods, the tenacity, resilience, and strength that empowered refugee women throughout their experiences in the camp. In-depth interviews were the main method of data collection. Forty-three face-to-face interviews were conducted on camp premises during the summer of 2015. The data was analyzed according to the Interpretive Phenomenological Analytic (IPA) guidelines.

The findings of this study revealed the female refugees of the Za’atari Camp were not passive in dealing with their adversities. They showed resilience, tenacity, and resourcefulness when coping with life in the settlement. Their resilience is seen through their determination to provide for their families and normalize their lives inside the camp. Additionally, female refugees employed different coping mechanisms for maintaining their psychological well-being such as religiosity, seeking social support and networking, and self-empowerment.

The findings also indicated children’s education in the camp continues to be an area of concern for a majority of refugees despite their understanding of the importance of education for their children’s survival. Due to the widespread notion the camp’s education was not accredited in Syria, and their beliefs of the temporariness of their encampment, children were left to their own accord in deciding whether to attend school or not.

The results of this study challenged the “Dependency Syndrome” myth which postulate refugees tend to become dependent on humanitarian aid and unable to fend for themselves. On the contrary, many become strong, independent and assertive. In the end, they came to see themselves differently which brought a new level of understanding of themselves and their abilities.

It may take several years for a refugee in Sweden to establish on the labor market. The slow establishment is particularly problematic for female refugees. Compared to men, low-skilled women and women with young children experience major disadvantages. In Sweden, refugees were offered a voluntary program with measures to ease the integration into the labor market. On December 1, 2010, the enacting of the so-called Establishment reform, which was carried out in order to speed up the refugees’ labor market entry, changed that program. Newly arrived refugees were then offered participation in an Establishment program at the Public Employment service instead of an Introduction program offered by the municipalities. This thesis provides an evaluation of the Establishment reform. The aim is to analyze the employment rates two and three years after enrollment in the program. The applied approach is to compare the outcome for the refugees participating in the Introduction program with the outcome for the refugees participating in the Establishment program, while controlling for important observables. This is possible by using Swedish register data on all immigrants given residence permit in Sweden 2009-2011. The findings from the evaluation provide evidence that the Establishment reform has had a small but significant effect on the probability of being employed. Those participating in the Establishment program showed higher employment rates compared to participants in the previous Introduction program. This association was evident for both women and men. Among low-skilled women, co-resident mothers, and women with young children, no significant increase in the probability of being employed was observed. It thereby seems like the reform at large has had a positive effect but that more effort is needed for those with the initially largest disadvantages.

As the immigration and refugee intake rates continue to rise in Canada, English Language Learning (ELL) schools, centres and programs strive to keep pace with the demand. ELL educators are being propelled to think and teach in new ways that meet the needs of learners living in a digital age. Some learners arrive with competency in English language literacies and/or digital literacies, while others do not. For learners who possess minimal traditional print based and/or digital literacies, integrating into modern Canadian society can prove extremely challenging. This case study explores one such learner’s engagement with ELL and other literacies in a multicultural, modern urban centre on the West Coast of Canada. Semi-structured interviews, informal observations and conversations were the methods used to provide a holistic overview of the participant’s language learning process. The findings of this research demonstrate how identity is linked to investment in ELL as a means to increase economic, cultural and/or social capital. When the dominant ideology positioned the participant as an outsider because of her low level of proficiency in spoken English, she was prevented access to meaningful employment and denied a sense of independence, leading her to be creative in constructing an “imagined identity” that would better her life chances. Similarly, she was silenced and excluded from online spaces and membership in a discourse community because of a lack of digital literacy. The participant also struggled to “read” the sociocultural literacy of her new environment and felt positioned as an outsider, unable to judge situations and people accurately. While her English language literacy development was limited, relative to her classmates, over the course of her two-year study, she did eventually develop the sociocultural literacy necessary to evaluate her life prospects and construct a new identity, which led to an increase in her symbolic capital and overall well-being.
Education, Faculty of
Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of
Graduate

The United States is becoming more diverse; numerous immigrants and refugees enter every year. Among the newer groups are those practicing the Muslim religion. This qualitative research focused on the identity formation process of six adolescent female Muslim refugees from Afghanistan. Based on Erikson's paradigm of psycho-social development and Marcia's modifications to that theory, I used semi-structured interviews to understand how the participants negotiated their identities in the context of their families, the public school, and the community. This cohort appeared to exist within a circumscribed Afghan community, retaining significant parts of their culture, traditions, and roles. The exception to that retention occurred in the Educational/Vocational Domain. Economic necessity impelled them to assume new roles and to plan for post-secondary education and vocations, for which they were inadequately prepared, and for which their parents could provide little guidance. These young women needed assistance in educational and career planning and counseling programs to facilitate their entry into post-secondary education and to develop their job skills. It seems fair to generalize that this deficit exists for most foreign-born and limited-English students. Addressing this deficit is a daunting, but important, task for the educational system and for resettlement programs.

Feminist scholarship contributes to our understanding of the day-to-day experiences of female refugees especially as they relate to social and economic security. Traditional gender roles, the gender division of labour, systems of patriarchy, and sexual and gender based violence are contributing factors to the daily violence and insecurity that female refugees experience. This thesis employed unstructured interviews with 15 refugee women and 9 institutional representatives based in Malawi’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp as well as participant observation to examine perceptions of security within refugee camps as articulated by female refugees and by the institutional representatives working in Dzaleka camp. My findings underscore diverging perceptions between these two groups particularly along the themes of access to heating resources, prostitution and survival sex, boreholes, corruption, livelihoods, early and forced marriage, and reporting insecurity. Analysis of these themes indicates a gendered duality regarding the visibility of women refugees and their access to basic necessities, particularly heating resources. As such, refugee women have limited options to achieve their basic necessities and therefore may engage in negative survival strategies such as sex work. Furthermore, inadequate trust between refugees and refugee-based organizations as well as limited accountability mechanisms contributes to the insecurity that refugee women experience.

This work addresses the experiences of female asylum seekers from Central and Mexico currently living in Dallas, TX. The main purpose is to analyze how these women engage in the gendered processes of both migrating to and accessing legal resources and protection within the United States. As the women move through male-dominated spaces in their home country, the borderlands, and the asylum court they must challenge the patriarchal institutions that attempt to silence their narratives and criminalize their bodies. Their physical wounds become evidence in the courtroom, while outside of the courtroom their movements are monitored and tracked through multiple mechanisms of state control: ankle monitors, detention centers, ICE check-ins. They face intersectional discrimination as they are targeted as both women and immigrants. However, these female asylum seekers are not victims. They constantly display agency as they represent themselves in court, find solace in their faith, and form community with each other.

There appear to be specific issues that psychologists need to consider when working with female refugees and asylum seekers that have experienced sexual violence. These include ethical, theoretical and practical concerns regarding psychological models and approaches, dilemmas regarding professional, personal and political stances, as well as challenges encountered when working with refugees and/or survivors of sexual violence in general. Research regarding applied psychologists‟ experience of working with this client group is limited, but it is important in order for them, and the services they work in, to meet the needs of this vulnerable group. Hence, eight applied psychologists were interviewed and transcripts analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The analysis resulted in the formation of four super-ordinate themes: 1) Impact of the work, 2) Personal and professional identity, 3) Struggles with the tools of the trade and 4) Holding on to a „both/and‟ view. Implications of the findings concerned four areas: 1). politics and ideology of the profession, 2). psychological models and approaches, 3). support and supervision for professionals, and 4). increasing service user involvement in clinical practice, service development and research.

Using a phenomenological approach, this thesis examines the experience of a Syrian refugee in Sweden from a gender perspective. The thesis examines how being a refugee as well as being labelled as one influences everyday lives of Syrian refugees in Sweden. It further describes how gender influences this experience and if the experience is different for male and female refugees. The research is based on qualitative methods of research and is supported with semi-structured interviews with three Syrian women and four Syrian men living in Sweden. Through the research participants’ narratives, I analyse the changes that appeared in their lives. This is done in order to allow deeper understanding of the phenomenon of a refugee experience of a Syrian refugee relocated to Sweden.

The aim of this study is to examine how female refugees in Sweden experience that their escape and arrival to Sweden have formed their lives and wellbeing. The study seeks to understand how several women live their lives in relation to equality, discrimination and justice within the Swedish territorial borders. This is done with the Capability Approach by Martha C Nussbaum where she uses a list of universal values that should be central to women in every country, as a method of comparing how fair women live. I chose to interview six women who have fled to Sweden as refugees during the past 10 years, in order to see if the Capability Approach applies to them. I have also used Nancy Frasers theory of the scales of justice in my thesis. Fraser mentions three-dimensional politics where the inclusion of redistribution, recognition and representation should be achieved to create justice for women. The result showed that the women lack central capabilities such as the right to not being discriminated based on their ethnicity or religion, and the right to experience emotional development that is not bothered by traumatic experiences or unhealthy relationships. Furthermore, these women do not have the right to participate in political decisions that affect and shape their lives. The result in relation to Fraser’s theory indicates that these women have a limited freedom in Sweden. According to Fraser, there has to be an integration of a redistribution of resources, recognition, and a representation in Swedish politics, which benefit female refugees.

Community Health Workers (CHWs) have been advocated as a means of providing primary health care to under-served populations in developing countries since the late 1960's. These community based workers are usually volunteers who receive basic training in health education, antenatal/delivery/postnatal care, and treatment of simple common illnesses. They represent a referral link between the community and professional health services. Female CHWs (FCHWs) are able to access vulnerable populations such as women and children and are often also are involved in midwifery.
This thesis evaluates the Community Health Worker (CHW) program using both quantitative and qualitative methods. An initial literature review attempts to ascertain the current quality of evidence provided by published studies of CHW effectiveness to date (Medline 1983-1994). A quantitative study, undertaken by this author in 1990 in Afghan refugee villages in Pakistan, evaluates CHW effectiveness in health promotion using two knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) questionnaires (N = 600). The results of this study are then discussed and interpreted with additional qualitative and secondary data collected in the same study area in 1994. Determinants of female community health worker (FCHW) effectiveness are examined by looking more closely at the relationship between the female CHW and both the community and the local health system.

En 1890, la municipalité de Liverpool ordonne la fermeture des maisons closes et « lieux de débauche », ce qui conduit des centaines de femmes à se retrouver sans abri. De nouvelles associations, fondées pour apporter des solutions à cette crise, s’ajoutent aux organisations, plus anciennes, qui dirigent des établissements de « réforme morale » pour femmes. Toutes affirment pouvoir « sauver » ces femmes en les enfermant dans leur foyer ou refuge unisexuel. Le Pénitencier, fondé en 1809, entend transformer ses pensionnaires en domestiques « respectables » grâce à un travail de « pénitence » de deux années. La Maison de refuge, association de femmes créée en 1890, privilégie un accueil d’une semaine. Le Saint Sauveur, fondé en 1891 et géré par la congrégation catholique des Pauvres Servantes de la Mère de Dieu, offre un repas et un hébergement aux femmes dans l’asile de nuit et forme des femmes catholiques au travail de blanchisserie pendant une année dans le refuge. Ce travail de recherche examine les différentes facettes de l’action de ces trois associations et compare leur capacité à appréhender les enjeux auxquels elles sont confrontées de 1890 à 1914. Ancrée dans le contexte politique, social, culturel et religieux de Liverpool, cette étude révèle la contribution essentielle des femmes à la définition du rôle des associations pour femmes. Elle montre comment ces organisatrices de l’aide, confrontées aux formes de discrimination propres à la société dans laquelle elles évoluent, ont adapté l’action des associations et amorcé la transition de la philanthropie vers le travail social dans la ville au début du XXe siècle
In 1890 in Liverpool the City Council ordered the shutting of brothels and “immoral” houses, which led hundreds of women to become homeless. Some new organisations were set up in addition to the existent charities managing reform institutions for women in order to find solutions to this critical situation. All of them maintained that they could “rescue” these women by locking them up in their women-only homes or refuges. Founded in 1809, the Female Penitentiary aimed to transform its inmates into “respectable” maid-servants through penitence for two years. The House of Help, a women’s organisation created in 1890, accommodated women for a week. In the Saint Saviour’s Refuge and Night Shelter, established in 1891 and run by the Catholic congregation of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God, Catholic women were either fed and lodged for the night in the Night Shelter or trained to become laundresses for a year in the Refuge. The present work examines the various facets of the work performed by these three charities and compares their capacity to understand the stakes with which they were confronted from 1890 to 1914. Set in the political, social, cultural and religious context of Liverpool, this study reveals the essential contribution of women to the definition of the mission of organisations for women. It shows how female organisers, facing the forms of discrimination which characterised the society in which they lived, adapted the work of charities and initiated the transition from philanthropy to social work in the city at the beginning of the twentieth century

Dissertação de Mestrado em Estudos Africanos
O leste da República Democrática do Congo é uma região, extremamente, conflituosa, por esta razão, inúmeros habitantes são forçados a deixar suas casas, buscando refúgio, muitas vezes, em locais distantes como o Brasil. As mulheres, que têm chegado em maioria, são, frequentemente, acompanhadas apenas de seus filhos. Elas experimentam de forma distinta a guerra e o refúgio. Esta dissertação tem como objetivo compreender a experiência das congolesas durante o deslocamento (saída, trânsito, chegada e instalação). Assim, é analisado as identidades de gênero, vivências, escolhas e estratégias utilizadas por elas ao longo do percurso. Ainda, é verificado se as mulheres apresentaram agência, se empoderaram e se houve transformação social nesta comunidade. A metodologia adotada foi qualitativa, havendo sido realizada uma revisão bibliográfica e uma pesquisa de recolha de dados, por meio, da observação, da observação participante e de entrevistas com congolesas nos espaços da Cáritas RJ e da Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro. As conclusões foram que todas as entrevistadas do leste da RDC apresentaram agência em algum momento de seus trajetos, a maioria revelou mudanças em suas identidades de gênero e algumas se empoderaram. Contudo, não foi verificado transformação social na comunidade congolesa no Rio de Janeiro.
The East of the Democratic Republic of Congo is an extremely conflictive region, for this reason, countless inhabitants are forced to leave their homes, often seeking refuge in distant places as Brazil. Women, who have arrived in the majority, are often accompanied only by their children. They experience war and displacement in different ways. This dissertation aims to understand Congolese’s experience during the displacement (exit, transit, arrival and installation). Thus, are analyzed the gender identities, stories related, choices and strategies used by them along the way. Also, it is verified if the women presented agency, if they were empowered and if there was social transformation in this community. The methodology adopted was qualitative, having been done a bibliographical review and a data collection research by observation, participant observation and interviews with Congolese at Cáritas RJ and at Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro. The conclusions were that all interviewees from the eastern DRC presented agency at some moment in their path, most of them revealed changes in their gender identities and some of them became empowered. However, there was not verified social transformation in the Congolese community in Rio de Janeiro.
N/A

Plus de soixante ans après son adoption, la Convention de Genève compte 145 États parties.Instrument juridique universel sur le statut des réfugiés, elle est la lex specialis du droit international desréfugiés. Qui est réfugié ? Quelle protection lui est accordée ? Ces deux questions se posent avec uneacuité certaine du fait de l’accroissement des flux migratoires, des crises multiples et de la lutte contre leterrorisme. Le contexte actuel de l’application de la Convention est différent de celui de son adoption.Rédigée par la voie de dispositions générales, elle doit être interprétée pour être appliquée. Cependant, iln’existe pas un interprète. Si les États, le Haut Commissariat des Nations Unies pour les réfugiés et laCour internationale de justice sont les interprètes officiels, ils ne sont pas les seuls. L’Office français deprotection des réfugiés et apatrides et la Cour nationale du droit d’asile jouent un rôle important et la Coureuropéenne des droits de l’homme et la Cour de justice de l’Union européenne jouent un rôle grandissant.Cette multiplicité d’interprètes peut causer une diversité d’interprétations. Or, les interprétationsdivergentes nuisent à la lisibilité et la visibilité de la Convention en tant qu’instrument de définition et deprotection des réfugiés. La présente étude est une analyse de la contribution des interprètes aux évolutionsde la Convention. Dans cette perspective, la prolifération des instruments du droit européen etinternational des droits de l’homme et la complexification des déplacements contraints de personnes sontdes paramètres incontournables, pris en compte par les interprètes, pour éclairer le sens et la portée de laConvention
More than sixty years after its adoption, the Geneva Convention counts 145 States ascontracting Parties. This universal legal instrument on refugee’s status represents the lex specialis ofinternational refugee Law. Who can be a refugee? What can be his level of protection? These questionsare particularly relevant under the influence of the increasing population flows, the multiples crises andthe fight against terrorism. The current context of the Convention’s application is different than the one ofits adoption. And due to its general provisions, this Convention needs to be interpreted in order to beapplied. However, there is no sole interpreter. The States, the United Nations High Commissioner forRefugees and the International Court of Justice are indeed the official interpreters, but not the only onesensuring this mission. Not only the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons andthe National Court of Asylum play an important role in this matter, but the European Court of HumanRights and the Court of Justice of the European Union also play an expanding role. This multiplicity ofinterpreters can induce a variety of interpretations. Nevertheless, a divergent interpretation can affect thereadability and the visibility of the Convention as a refugee defining and protective legal instrument. Thepresent study constitutes an analysis of the interpreters’ contribution to the Convention’s developments. Inthis perspective, the overgrowth of European and International Human Rights Law instrument and thecomplexity of forced migration are ineluctable feature, taken into account by the interpreters, to clarify themeaning and the scope of the Convention

This paper describes a Master of Art and Design research project developing a social entrepreneurial design process in fashion. This is a multi method approach focussed upon a Participatory Action Research methodology, to develop creative practice and a relational business model for female refugee outworkers and myself a fashion designer resulting in long term rewarding employment. The project has two primary strands for discussion. Firstly, visual documentation and analysis of textile and garment development incorporating the refugees’ cultural references. Using drawing, embroidery, dyeing and construction skills of the participants in a collaborative design and production process with the researcher, has resulted in the development of a womenswear collection of T shirts. Secondly; the process findings and outcomes of the pilot study which often cross the boundaries of aesthetics, technology, craft, and ethics; drawing together western and developing world cultures in a creative dialogue will be presented. In conclusion, the aims, objectives, outcomes of and potential of this socially sustainable design model, which could be applicable to refugee agencies and New Zealand fashion designers, will be gauged and discussed.

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive analysis was to increase the knowledge base on an under-researched topic and population. The study population was comprised of first- and second-generation Canadian, visible-minority, immigrant/refugee women. Nine women of different visible-minority, ethno-racial backgrounds participated in the study. The interviews were in-depth and conducted one on one. The women reflected on how they created their sexuality as youth into adulthood, based on their experiences of Canadian culture as well as their particular culture of origin. The ingenuity they demonstrated in their successful integration into Canadian society as well as in their current status as adult women and mothers will be explored in the study findings. The recommendations these women offered the next generation, with a hope for a better future for all Canadians, will also be discussed.

Recently Pittsburgh has experienced a noticeable increase in the number of incoming refugees, which has put added pressure on local service providers to develop more efficient resettlement practices. While female refugee's experiences have been largely ignored, this study attempts to better understand the gender-specific needs of female refugees who resettle and integrate into Pittsburgh. I used Ager and Strang's (2004) Indicators of Integration framework, with a focus on the indicators of "employment," "social bridges," "language and culture," and "rights and citizenship," and adapted it to a gendered perspective to analyze data from two focus group sessions with 11 refugee women from Liberia, Bhutan, Burma, Iraq, and Morocco. I used an exploratory, inductive methodology to identify common themes, including women's changing roles within families and the importance of social connections. A better understanding of women's needs will help inform the local refugee-serving agencies create more gender-inclusive services.
McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts;
Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy
MA;
Thesis;

abstract: As a form of bodily modification, female circumcision has generated unprecedented debates across the medical community, social sciences disciplines, governmental/non-governmental agencies and activists and others. The various terminologies used to refer to it attest to differences in knowledge systems, perceptions, and lived experiences emerging from divergent cultures and ideologies. In the last two decades, these debates have evolved from a local matter to a global health concern and human rights issue, coinciding with the largest influx of African refugees to the Western nations. Various forms of female circumcision are reported in 28 countries in the African Continent; Somalia has one of the highest prevalence of female circumcision and the most severe type. The practice is antithetical to Western values and poses an ideological challenge to the construction of the normal body, its bodily processes and its existential being-in-the-world. From the global health perspectives, female circumcision is deemed to be a health hazard--especially during childbirth--though the scientific evidence is inconclusive from studies conducted in post-migration. Yet, Somali refugee women have higher childbearing disparities in host nations, including the U.S. They are also perceived as difficult patients and resistant to obstetrics interventions. Although their FGC status and "cultural" differences are often cited, there is a lack of adequate explanations as to why and how these factors shape patient-provider interactions and affect outcomes. The objectives of this dissertation study are to quantitatively and qualitatively explore these questions within and between Somali refugee women and their healthcare providers in Arizona. Two theoretical frameworks and methods--culture consensus and embodiment-- are applied to identify variations in childbearing knowledge and to explore how the cultural phenomenon of circumcision is subjectively and intersubjectively embodied in the context of childbearing. Culture consensus questionnaire (N=174) and ethnographic interviews (N=40) using phenomenology approach were conducted. Analyses suggest cross-cultural disagreement hinged on: faith in science versus God, pregnancy/childbirth interventions, language challenges, and control-resistance issues; intra-cultural disagreement underscores that Somalis are not culturally homogenous group. Preconceptions of female circumcision body as a cultural phenomenon has different and conflicting meanings that may adversely impact patient-provider interactions and outcomes.
Dissertation/Thesis
Ph.D. Anthropology 2014

Master's Thesis Kristýna Čermáková Abstract This master's thesis explores the topic of the securitization of migration in the Czech Republic and the gender dimension of the discourse on migration. After a theoretical exploration of the migratory process and the specificities of its female face, a discourse analysis of the Czech media will present the main epistemological core of the work. The primary research question attempts to identify the ways in which the Czech media contributes to the shifting perception of migration as belonging to the sphere of politics, even presenting migration as a threat to security. The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter provides a theoretical insight into migration studies, the motives to migrate and the phenomenon of forced migration. Despite the general assumption of mainstream academics that migrants are mainly men, the second chapter shows that women's experiences with migration differ greatly from those of men. Based on the Copenhagen stream of thought, the discourse analysis of the Czech media carried out in the third chapter points to the construction of perceptions about migration within Czech society. The absence of gender in the public discourse on migration is further analyzed in the last chapter. The missing gender dimension proved to be...

The following study, The Integration of Female Refugees in Germany: Perspectives of Women and an Analysis of Federal and Selected State and City Integration Policies from 1998-2019, is focused on the qualitative analysis of integration policy in Germany regarding female refugees. The states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria, and Saxony-Anhalt have been selected for this dissertation as well as the cities of Cologne, Wuerzburg, and Magdeburg. Through an analysis and comparison of integration policies and programs on the federal and selected state and city levels the question will be answered how recognized female refugees are taken into account with the development and formulation of integration policy in Germany. The analysis is then complemented through interviews with recognized female refugees in each of the states and cities. Through analyzing the results of the interviews the question will be answered how the women view their situation and integration. Through a comparison of the findings from the policy analysis and the interviews it will then be able to decipher if integration policies and programs are truly reaching their target group, if they are effective, or what hurdles they may be producing. The goal of the study is to provide initial findings on the overall integration of recognized female refugees in Germany in connection to integration policies in order to discover potential deficits or ineffective programs and policies which can then be further researched in order to produce concrete policy suggestions
Die vorliegende Arbeit – Die Integration geflüchteter Frauen in Deutschland: Sichtweisen der Betroffenen und eine Analyse der Integrationspolitik des Bundes und ausgewählter Bundesländer und Städte zwischen 1998 und 2019 – analysiert qualitativ die Integrationspolitik Deutschlands bezüglich geflüchteter Frauen. Neben der Bundesebene wurden für eine Analyse auf Landesebene Nordrhein-Westfalen, Bayern und Sachsen-Anhalt sowie auf kommunaler Ebene Köln, Würzburg und Magdeburg beispielhaft untersucht. Durch diesen Vergleich von Gesetzen, Richtlinien und Programmen wird die Frage beantwortet, wie anerkannte geflüchtete Frauen und deren Perspektive bei der Ausgestaltung von Integrationsstrategien berücksichtigt werden. Die Analyse wird vervollständigt durch die Ergebnisse von Interviews mit anerkannten geflüchteten Frauen in den untersuchten Städten und Bundesländern. Dadurch wird die Frage beantwortet, wie die Betroffenen selbst ihren Integrationserfolg und ihre derzeitige Situation einschätzen. Durch einen Vergleich der Ergebnisse der Analyse der Integrationspolitik und der Ergebnisse der Interviews wird dann eine Einschätzung ermöglicht, inwiefern die Ansätze der Integrationspolitik tatsächlich den Bedürfnissen der Zielgruppe entsprechen, ob sie effektiv sind oder welche Schwierigkeiten sie den Betroffenen bereiten können. Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, erste Einblicke zu gewinnen darüber, wie ziel- oder irreführend die bisherigen Ansätze und Richtlinien für die Integration anerkannter geflüchteter Frauen sind. Darauf aufbauend könnten folgende Studien sich verstärkt mit dem Thema beschäftigen, um letztendlich konkrete Vorschläge für eine effektivere Integrationspolitik hervorbringen zu können

Le conflit israélo-palestinien dure depuis plus de 60 ans. Non seulement perdure-t-il, il gagne aussi en complexité. Cette thèse s’intéresse à l’expérience d’exil des Palestiniens et plus particulièrement à celle de femmes palestiniennes vivant en camp de réfugiés au Liban. La mémoire palestinienne a longtemps été, dans son ensemble, occultée dans la littérature, et qui plus est l’expérience des femmes; la façon dont leurs récits sont construits nous le démontre bien. La présente étude s’inscrit donc dans la lignée de travaux qui font une place aux « voix silencieuses » que sont souvent celles des femmes réfugiées palestiniennes des camps. Cette thèse s’appuie sur une approche qualitative – récits de vie et observation participante – et fait suite à une recherche qui a été menée entre 2009 et 2011 dans le camp palestinien de Bourj El Barajneh au Liban. Les résultats dégagés confirment que, dans l’exil, une partie de l’expérience de la nakba palestinienne telle que vécue par les femmes s’est perdue. Ceci dit, si la quasi-absence des femmes caractérise l’exode, on voit ces dernières s’affirmer au fil de l’exil qui devient une réalité durable. Au cours des deux premières décennies, les femmes apparaissent comme des « résistantes du quotidien ». Puis, la montée du sentiment national palestinien et l’éclatement de la guerre civile libanaise amènent les femmes à investir de plus en plus l’espace public. En temps de guerre, toutes les femmes participent à la survie de la communauté, et cela, par l’extension de leurs tâches domestiques et sociales. Plus le conflit prend de l’ampleur, plus leurs activités se diversifient : elles intègrent d’autres tâches à celles qui leur sont traditionnellement assignées. À l’issue du conflit, une grande partie des femmes palestiniennes commencent à prendre leurs distances de la lutte nationale partisane. Pour plusieurs d’entre elles, la fin de la guerre est aussi la fin des illusions : elles ont le sentiment d’avoir été abandonnées par la classe politique. Ainsi, le mouvement nationaliste palestinien a certes bousculé les rôles de genre, mais il n’a pas permis d’induire des changements durables. Dans les récits des femmes, on voit qu’à travers l’exil s’est créé un lien avec ce milieu que l’on croyait temporaire, le camp de Bourj El Barajneh : un lien qui se situe au cœur d’une tension entre un pôle réel et un pôle symbolique. Le camp « réel » est décrit comme insalubre, instable et non sécuritaire, et la vie dans ce camp est à ce point précaire et difficile que les femmes s’accrochent à cet autre camp qui, lui, est porteur de mémoire, de souvenirs, de relations et de rêves. C’est d’ailleurs parce que ce second pôle existe que la vie dans le camp peut être tolérée. Si la lutte nationale a été pour une certaine génération de Palestiniennes la préoccupation première, la fin de la guerre signe la perte de vitesse de cette lutte qui s’est longtemps avérée structurante. Ceci dit, le modèle de résistance, lui, persiste. Les femmes continuent de lutter et apparaissent comme des « actrices de la transmission ». L’un de ces projets qu’elles font leur, la transmission de l’identité religieuse, prend rapidement de l’ampleur alors que la communauté palestinienne peine à se relever des affres de la guerre. Nombreuses sont les femmes qui cherchent un sens à la vie dans ce cumul de catastrophes, et la religion les soutient dans cette quête, mais en plus c’est à travers elle que le projet du retour en Palestine est porté. D’ailleurs, la mémoire de la Palestine est une autre valeur que les femmes cherchent à transmettre d’une génération à l’autre. Maintenir la mémoire de la Palestine est un rôle traditionnel de la femme palestinienne. Ceci dit, les femmes ne remplissent pas ce rôle « aveuglément » : elles transmettent une mémoire, un message qu’elles ont cherché, reconstruit, évalué et parfois critiqué. Enfin, un autre projet se manifeste rapidement dans l’exil : la transmission des connaissances, une valeur phare pour les Palestiniennes puisque à la fois stratégie de survie, de développement et d’ascension sociale. Mais pour quelques-unes, l’éducation est une lutte parce que confrontée à des contraintes contextuelles et au poids des traditions. Ainsi, c’est par des valeurs traditionnellement portées et transmises par les femmes – l’identité religieuse, la mémoire et l’éducation – que l’oppression et la colonisation des Palestiniens se combattent au quotidien.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lasted more than 60 years and persists not only in time but also in complexity. This thesis focuses on the Palestinian exile and particularly, the experience of exile of Palestinian women living in refugee camps in Lebanon. Palestinian memory has for a long time been occulted in the literature and specifically, the experience of women and how their stories are constructed by gender. The present study is therefore in a line of work that gives a place to these “silent voices” that are often those of the Palestinian women of the camps. This research is based on a qualitative methodology – life stories and participant observation –, research that took place between 2009 and 2011 in the refugee camp of Bourj El Barajneh in Lebanon. The results show that, in exile, a part of the Palestinian nakba experienced by women, has been lost. That said, if a virtual absence of women characterizes the exodus, over exile, women become more assertive. During the first two decades in exile in Lebanon, women appear as “everyday resistant”. Then, the rise of a national sentiment which was rapidly followed by the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war, made women more and more present in the public space. Indeed, in wartime, all the women were involved in the community’s survival, and that, by an extension of their domestic and social roles. The longer the conflict lasts, the more diverse are their activities: it includes other tasks than those traditionally assigned to them. At the end of the conflict, a large part of Palestinian women are beginning to distance themselves from the national struggle. For many, the end of the war also means the end of illusions: they feel they have been abandoned by the political class. Thus, if the Palestinian nationalist movement has certainly brought changes in gender roles, it has failed to bring about lasting changes. Also, in the women's narratives, we see that in time, a bond is created with the space “Bourj El Barajneh camp”, a, bond that is located in a tension between two poles. First, there is a “real pole” where the camp appears as unsafe and unstable. Second, life in the camp is so precarious and difficult that women cling to another pole, a “symbolic pole” which represents the camp as a bearer of memories, relationships and dreams. And it’s because this last pole exists that life in the camp can be tolerated. If the Palestinian national struggle – for a certain generation of Palestinian women – was the main struggle, the end of the war signed “the end of illusions” and the slowing of the national struggle which has long proven structuring. That said, the pattern of resistance persists while women continue to resist and appear as “actresses of transmission”. The transmission of religious identity quickly gained in importance as the Palestinian community struggled to recover from the horrors of war. Through religion, many women found meaning in a life and it is also through religion that the return to Palestine is now carried. Moreover, the memory of Palestine is another value that women seek to pass on from a generation to another. Even though, passing on the memory of Palestine is a role traditionally carried by women, they do not fulfill it “blindly” but they convey a message that has been sought, rebuilt and sometimes criticized. Finally, another project arrives rapidly in exile: the transmission of knowledge, a core value for Palestinian women as it is a strategy for survival, development and social mobility. But for some, because faced with contextual constraints and the weight of tradition, education is still a struggle. Thus, it is because women carry and transmit traditional values – religious identity, memory and education – that the oppression and colonization of Palestinians can be fought everyday.

Ce mémoire s’intéresse au changement de la notion d’asile à travers l’incorporation du concept de genre et son impact sur les processus de demande d’asile et l’octroi du statut de réfugié pour les personnes victimes de violences liées au genre au Canada. À partir d’une perspective diachronique sur les transmutations de l’asile et des transformations sociales et culturelles de ce phénomène social, nous enregistrons des tensions et des contradictions qui émanent de son application et des discours qui lui sont reliés. L’observation des dynamiques contradictoires qui s’enchevêtrent dans ce champ indique une tension dialectique entre les droits humains et la citoyenneté, une symbiose dans le développement des droits de la femme et les lois sur les réfugiés et des contradictions comme celles entre le relativisme et l’essentialisme. L’examen du processus de demande d’asile pour les femmes en particulier victimes de violences liées au genre à travers l’analyse des transformations sociales et culturelles signale le caractère éminemment politique de ce phénomène qui situe l’asile au carrefour du procès d’émancipation du sujet politique.
This thesis focuses on the change of the concept of asylum through the incorporation of the gender concept and its impact on the application process of asylum and the granting of status refugee for victims of gender violence in Canada. From a diachronic perspective on the transmutations of asylum and of social and cultural transformations of this social phenomenon, we record the tensions and contradictions be issued by its application and its related discourse. The observation that conflicting dynamics tied in this field displays a dialectical tension between human rights and citizenship, a symbiosis in the development of women’s rights and laws on refugees and contradictions as those between the relativism and essentialism. The review of asylum process especially for women in particular victims of gender violence through an analysis of social and cultural change signals the highly political nature of this phenomenon and lies asylum at the crossroads in the process of emancipation of the political subject.

In this dissertation project, I examine the experiences of displaced Hurricane Katrina survivors in the context of post-disaster housing policies and practices. This research is based on two years of in-depth interviews with Katrina survivors who were displaced to Austin, Texas. I analyze these interviews to understand the raced, classed, and gendered implications of post-disaster housing policies and to consider what these implications reveal about the relationship between social policies, housing, and social inequality more broadly. This project is informed by an intersectional understanding of social stratification systems and inequalities and a critical analysis of neoliberal social policy. First, I outline the gender, family, and class ideologies embedded in government-run post-Katrina housing policies and practices, and show how they specifically disadvantaged people who did not conform to them. I identify temporal domination as a specific aspect of class oppression evident in respondents’ experiences with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) rental assistance programs. Next, I specifically examine respondents’ experiences settling into their new neighborhoods and searching for jobs. I found that many black survivors ended up in segregated remote areas of the city, far from jobs and public transportation. Their job searching experiences suggest that employers used racist stereotypes about Latino workers to coerce them to work for low wages. This reveals the complex and interrelated racial dynamics of low-wage urban housing and labor markets. Finally, I explore how survivors got by in the face of such difficult and in some cases dire circumstances. One primary way survivors coped with the uncertainty caused by their displacement was relying on their social networks. While women tended to depend on adult child - parent and other familial relationships, men tended to distance themselves from the potential support of their mothers and other relatives. Respondents also constructed fictive kin relationships to provide support to others, sometimes for the explicit purpose of ensuring one or both members of the relationship had access to stable housing. This reveals how both gender and family relationships can shape disaster recovery and everyday experiences of poverty. Overall, this project contributes to the study of race/class/gender inequality, social policy, housing, and disaster recovery.
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Ce mémoire de maîtrise porte sur la survivance des femmes en contexte de violence organisée. Notre recherche s’appuie sur le témoignage de deux femmes rwandaises réfugiées au Canada dont le récit sera exploré afin de comprendre leurs points de vue sur trois dimensions de la survivance : la victimisation et la revictimisation qu’elles ont subi, les actes qu’elles ont pu poser pour survivre et le sens qu’elles ont donné aux situations vécues. D’abord, ces femmes rapportent qu’au-delà du génocide de 1994, elles ont vécu dans un climat d’insécurité, d’incertitude et d’impunité durant la guerre au Rwanda (1990-1994) et en exil, durant la guerre qui a visé le renversement de Mobutu, le massacre des ressortissants rwandais et le pillage des ressources naturelles par l’AFDL. Leurs récits confirment donc la continuité de la violence organisée d’un régime politique à un autre. De plus, les femmes témoignent de la non-reconnaissance de leur statut de réfugié par les bureaux qui traitent outre-mer les demandes d’asile, du traitement déshumanisant et accusateur des administrateurs de l’aide humanitaire et, de manière plus importante, de la non-reconnaissance des crimes commis par les forces armées du gouvernement actuellement au pouvoir au Rwanda et de leur impunité. Ensuite, les témoignages recueillis montrent des actrices sociales engagées dans l’activisme politique, l’action collective, la protection, la sécurité, la survie et l’établissement de leurs proches, du début du conflit jusqu’à leur arrivée au Canada. En effet, pour surmonter les difficultés engendrées par la violence organisée, elles ont mobilisé et transformé de manière créative toutes les ressources de leur capital humain, social et économique pour subvenir aux besoins de leurs proches et de leur communauté, et ce, tout au long de leur parcours migratoire. Enfin, au sujet du sens, nous verrons d’une part comment les femmes conçoivent leurs expériences individuelles de souffrances comme une histoire de victimisation collective, ce qui semble les aider à normaliser leurs expériences. D’autre part, nous verrons comment une identité de femmes fortes, résilientes et capables de s’adapter dans un climat d’adversité se dégage de leur témoignage, ce qui semble favoriser chez elles un sentiment de cohérence, de continuité et nourrir une certaine fierté.
This Master’s Thesis is about the survival of women in contexts of organized violence. Our research is supported by the testimonials of two women living in Canada who are refugees from Rwanda. We seek to explore their perspectives on three dimensions of survival: the victimization and re-victimization to which they were subjected, the actions they were able to perform to survive, and the meanings they gave to these experiences. First, these women express that in addition to the genocide in 1994, they lived in a climate of insecurity, uncertainty and impunity during the war in Rwanda (1990-94); in exile, during the war to overthrow Mobutu; the massacre of Rwandan refugees; and the pillage of natural resources by the AFDL. They describe the continuity of organized violence from one political regime to another. From the beginning of the war to their arrival in Canada, they were victims and witnesses of human rights violations perpetrated by various armed groups. In addition, these women testify to the non-recognition of their refugee status by the officials that deal with overseas requests for asylum, of the dehumanizing treatment by administrators of humanitarian aid, and more importantly, of the non-recognition and impunity of crimes committed by the military and the government currently in power in Rwanda. In addition, these testimonies show social actors engaged in political activism, collective action and the protection, security, survival of their loved ones, from the beginning of the conflict to their arrival in Canada. In fact, to overcome the difficulties imposed by organized violence, they creatively mobilized and transformed all of the resources available to them in their human, social and economic capital to meet the needs of their loved ones and of their community, and this, throughout the entire migration process. Finally, in regards to meaning, we discuss how women perceive their individual experiences of suffering as a history of collective victimization, which seems to help them normalize their experiences. We also see emanating from their testimony, the identity of strong, resilient women capable of adapting in a climate of adversity, which seems to encourage coherence, continuity and a sense of pride.