and aint i a woman: Refugees: A feminist issue
Figures from the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) indicate that 51% of refugees are female. The oppression and exploitation of the Third World forces millions of women to leave their homes in search of a safer life. Yet, if these women come to Australia, they do not find safety. Refugees are locked behind barbed wire under the brutal policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers.
Women are disproportionately affected by wars and civil conflicts. The US "war on terror" has subjected even more Third World countries to imperialist military aggression.
War is a major cause of refugees. Although only a few decades ago, just 5% of war casualties were civilians, now it is 90%. Eighty per cent of those killed by small arms are women or children.
Many women flee because they are sexually abused or raped. One in five women worldwide are victims of rape. Rape is also used as a weapon of war: 20,000 Muslim women in Bosnia were raped in 1992. More than 300,000 young people, many of them female refugees, are currently serving as child soldiers around the world; girls are often forced into sexual slavery. There are millions of cases of domestic violence, slavery, torture and stonings of women.
Feminists are struggling against the human rights abuses heaped upon women. We act in solidarity with women in the Third World facing oppression because of their sex. We also need to oppose the persecution of women once they become refugees.
The UNHCR has identified the major problems facing refugee women: they continue to be disproportionately affected by physical and sexual violence and abuse; they have unequal access to asylum procedures and humanitarian assistance; they often do not receive individual identity documents; and the trafficking of women and girls flourishes in areas of armed conflict.
This is why feminists should support, and be a part of, the refugees' rights movement. They should build the movement to end racist immigration policies and mandatory detention of asylum seekers because such a campaign contributes to the global movement for the liberation of women.
Because of sexism, women's issues far too often get lost among "more important things". It is vital that women's liberation is supported by refugees' rights campaigns, and the oppression that women face is exposed and condemned at refugees' rights events.
This means giving women the space to voice issues in organising meetings and having women speakers on platforms at rallies and marches. The same points apply to the movements that oppose war, racism and neo-liberal globalisation.
Having feminists fighters in the refugee campaign will help build and win people to other feminist campaigns. It will give feminist activists experience in political action that is critical to developing a strong feminist voice in Australia.
BY TERRICA STUDWICK
[The author is a member of the socialist youth organisation Resistance.]
From Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly, August 14, 2002.
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