This week's guest blogger Alexander Heneage explores

Why Camp Initiatives to Combat Domestic Violence Need Revising

 

The situation of the stateless refugee is certainly among the most heart-wrenching realities of contemporary times. The UNHCR estimates there are currently an astounding 68.5 million persons across the globe who have been forcibly displaced from their homes and forced into make-shift camps. The experience of this in itself, combined with the violence many have fled from, has added new levels of trauma to already deeply troubled individuals who find their presence in society increasingly rejected. Poor living conditions of the camps, where families are often crammed into small tents, along with a scarcity of basic resources, lack of economic opportunity and uncertainty about the future, can lead to further deterioration in mental health that can be expressed in a number of ways, many, all too often, violent.

  

The prevalence of domestic violence in camps has led to a number of schemes by various organizations to protect women and children from abuse. Whilst this article acknowledges the unequivocal importance of such schemes, it argues that there should be greater attention paid to why men are being violent in the camps, looking beyond explanations of the effects of warfare (although these are significantly important). With a more sophisticated understanding of this, ways to deter future violence may be easier to find.

  

One obvious cause must be the lack of economic opportunities within refugee camps. Many refugees originate from patriarchal backgrounds where there are clear-cut gender roles and responsibilities. When men feel they are not able to adequately provide for their families, feelings of shame and uselessness can emerge. Violence is then used as a means to express anger and restore masculinity, often exacerbated by the consumption of alcohol.

  

With regards to organizations running the camps, the minimal jobs on offer to refugees are done so under principles of gender equality, where ‘men, women, boys and girls be provided with equal opportunities and responsibilities’, in the words of UNHCR itself. Whilst this may be an important practise, it is also completely new to many refugees from patriarchal backgrounds. Sharon Carlson, writing about ‘gender training’ sessions in Szaleka refugee camp in 2005, sponsored by UNHCR, notes that ‘a training that tries to put a uniform approach to gender into place, while noble in its intentions, has a difficult task.’ In other words, it’s always going to be hard to teach western liberal values, such as equality of opportunity and individual freedom, to those whose cultural backgrounds are based on more traditional family values and whose societies are structured on rigid gender roles. For liberals, offering equal gender opportunity is a progressive step for any social community, but it can cause feelings of worthlessness for the male refugee whose role as family provider has been usurped by his wife.

  

Indeed, a man’s authority over his family may be challenged if his wife takes over his role as breadwinner. Whilst there may be an ideological shift in the wife’s psyche to the effect that she is equal to her husband, it is rarely shared by him. A study by Judy El-Bushra of refugee camps in Acholiland, Uganda, highlighted the tensions that arise from husbands accepting their new dependence on their wives but not granting them greater autonomy over how the income is spent. Similarly, Rebecca Horn noted in her study inside Kakuma refugee camp where?, in many cultures a man can lose the respect of his neighborhood when he is unable to control his wife. Thus the man will beat his wife in order to restore his position as head of the family and avoid losing this respect. This perhaps becomes more prominent in a camp setting where clear gender roles become blurred and it is easier for men to feel that their status has been diminished. Moreover, this may be happening within a context where social status has already been degraded by loss of land in the country of origin.

  

Women in the camps may challenge this authority even more so by being unfaithful or even leaving their husbands for men better able to care for them. Lina Payne’s Oxfam study of a refugee camp in Uganda noted this, while Horn’s study of Kakuma speaks of attempts by women to deliberately anger their husbands in the hope that they will be sent away.

  

So what might constitute initiatives that tackle domestic violence at the source by focusing on men? Just as Lara Chlela, manager of the International Medical Corps’ gender-based violence program in Lebanon, expressed; ‘Working on gender-based violence without involving the whole community will not work’. In other words, men need to be engaged in plausible deterrence initiatives. This is exactly what has emerged in Lebanon, in response to increased levels of violence by Syrian refugees. Abaad and Basmeh & Zeitooneh represent two of a number of initiatives that have been set up in Beirut that offer advice to men on how stress and frustration might be better managed. Some even arrange sessions in which couples can discuss issues, such as finances, guided by a counselor.

  

Another key solution to combatting domestic violence is of course the introduction of greater economic opportunities inside or outside the camps. This has been the ambition of ‘Better Days’, an aid organization working in Moria Camp in Lesbos. It has provided courses for various trades and skills, and has helped to set up local businesses which give male refugees useful work. An example is ‘Nan’ restaurant in Mytilene where refugees work alongside locals as cooks and waiters. Although these are promising examples, in reality they help a very small proportion of refugees. Therefore a key solution in combatting domestic violence in the camps requires aid organizations such as UNHCR to increase their budgets, however this is only achievable by greater donations from states and other actors. This is perhaps the toughest challenge as the number of refugees around the world continues to increase, whilst states adopt increasingly harsh policies against them.