Women make up at least half of the world’s refugees, but only a minority of asylum seekers who reach the West are female. International conventions as well as national laws and policies on asylum have frequently overlooked or ignored the gendered nature of asylum issues. Indeed, despite policies to counter gender-based violence, women in refugee camps are often victims of rape and sexual violence.
This book redresses the lack of gender-specific analyses of asylum and refugee issues by providing a comprehensive account of women in global forced migration, and explaining the ways in which women’s experiences are shaped by gendered relations and structures. The book provides a wide-ranging examination of all sides of the debate looking at causes of refugee flows, international laws and conventions and their application, responses to refugees and asylum seekers and the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers themselves. Drawing on interviews with refugees, asylum seekers, members of NGOs, voluntary organizations and policy makers, this book will be a valuable resource for students, academics and practitioners alike.