By Amanda Klassen
March 8th, 2020 marks the 55th听year that International Women鈥檚 Day (IWD) has been celebrated around the world.听This year the IWD theme is听#EachforEqual, an equal world is an enabled world which highlights the difference that individuals can make. IWD is an opportunity to celebrate the many amazing accomplishments of women around the world but is also a time to reflect on the continued challenges that women face in their day to day lives due to prevailing听gender听inequality.听Achieving gender equality across all sectors and issue areas is crucial for improving economies and communities around the world. [1]听听
While the themes听of IWD听tend to be applied to reaching 鈥済ender parity鈥� in an economic sense, they also highlight the need for achieving equality as a mechanism for improving circumstances for women living in specific vulnerable contexts.听In many societies around the world women face discrimination and violence in their听every day听lives, this becomes even more pronounced in times of displacement.听At present, there are over 70 million people who have been forcibly displaced around the world, and this number continues to grow.听Women make up fifty percent of refugee, stateless and internally displaced populations, but are largely the most vulnerable in these situations. [2]听听One of the most prevalent issues in any displacement setting is the high levels of sexual and gender-based violence听that听are听often linked to cultural听barriers,听lack of access to safe reporting and legal mechanisms,听and to situational factors such as听over-crowding, lack of privacy, unsafe shelters and inadequate WASH facilities. [3]听Achieving women鈥檚 equality would help to mitigate some of these challenges and ensure that better protection mechanisms can be put into place听by giving women access to decision making forums.听
One听of the many ways that听humanitarian organizations such as the seeks to address gender inequality and protection is听through the use of听gender mainstreaming policies and approaches.听The argues that gender equality programming in humanitarian situations has been proven to increase access to services for women, increase participation and agency in decision making, and to decrease incidences of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). [4]听Yet, in many cases, these kinds of policies are difficult to implement properly in humanitarian settings.听
Some critics of gender mainstreaming policies argue that Western conceptualizations of gender equality and gender mainstreaming often operate under assumptions of the third world 鈥渙ther鈥�. In emergency and humanitarian contexts power and structural inequalities are reinforced as Western aid agencies bestow equality upon the oppressed other. [5] To support this argument, evidence from humanitarian contexts such as Cambodia have demonstrated that听Western approaches to gender mainstreaming are not effective. The most听successful initiatives will take cultural context and norms into听consideration, and engage with local religious leaders and community organizations to find appropriate solutions.[6] 听Michau听et al. (2015) argue that programs which attempt to reach only one group of people, or that do not include community-based groups will likely run into challenges, and that it is necessary to tackle issues broadly. This can be done using programming that is holistic in its approach听so as to听both offer support for those who have been victims of SGBV, but also to address the structural inequalities that perpetuate SGBV. [7]听Thus, while it is imperative to incorporate gender-sensitive policies and programming into humanitarian and refugee contexts, it is also necessary to ensure that they are culturally and contextually responsive to ensure success. While the most important goals are to eliminate SGBV and to lead to gender equality; the mechanisms for achieving this goal involve ensuring that women are empowered, and equally able to express their agency and participate in decision making processes.听
The theme of IWD 2020 asks us to consider how an equal world will be an enabled world; how women鈥檚 equality听can听lead to empowerment, protection, and a better future for all; and how individuals have the power to make the most difference.听In the case of humanitarian emergencies, ensuring the input of refugee women is crucial for achieving equality and empowerment. The distinct way that refugee women interact with the multitude of power structures in urban, camp and other displacement settings make them uniquely qualified to understand what appropriate solutions are, and how success is measured. [8]听Giving the voices of refugee women equal time in decision making forums will lead to better success of humanitarian programming, and to finding long-lasting and durable solutions for their plight.听
Bartolomei, Linda, and Eileen Pittaway. 鈥淩efugee Women and Girls: Key to The Global Compact on Refugees; Notes on Project Methodology: Reciprocal Research through Community Consultation,鈥� 2018.听
DFID. 鈥淏angladesh Sexual and Gender Based Violence Assessment,鈥� no. November (2017): 3鈥�6. https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/09/28/myanmar-global-appeal-un-action.听
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Michau, Lori, Jessica Horn, Amy Bank, Mallika Dutt, and Cathy Zimmerman. 鈥淧revention of Violence against Women and Girls: Lessons from Practice.鈥澨�The Lancet听385, no. 9978 (2015): 1672鈥�84. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61797-9.听
Olivius, Elisabeth. 鈥淐onstructing Humanitarian Selves and Refugee Others.鈥澨�International Feminist Journal of Politics听18, no. 2 (2016): 270鈥�90. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2015.1094245.听
鈥淪ites of Repression and Resistance: Political Space in Refugee Camps in Thailand.鈥� Critical Asian Studies听49, no. 3 (2017): 289鈥�307. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2017.1333268.听
Strategic Executive Group. 鈥�2019 Joint Response Plan for Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis,鈥� 2019.听
Thackeray, David. 鈥淭he Theme of International Women鈥檚 Day 2020, Explained.鈥� World Economic Forum, 2020. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/international-womens-day-2020-theme-each-for-equal/.听
UNHCR. 鈥淔igures at a Glance.鈥� Statistical Yearbooks, 2020. http://www.unhcr.org/figures-at-a-glance.html.听
Women鈥檚 Refugee Commission. 鈥�”We Need to Write Our Own Names鈥�: Gender Equality and Women鈥檚 Empowerment in the Rohingya Humanitarian Response in Cox鈥檚 Bazar,鈥� 2019.听