Women Refugees and Their Unrecognised Plights in International Refugee Law Regime: A Critical Analysis

Abstract

Despite being a considerable figure among the worldwide recorded refugees, women refugees appear to be the most neglected and unrecognized groups. The ‘refugee’ definition enumerated in the 1951 Refugee Convention does not explicitly recognise ‘gender’ as a basis for conferring of refugee status. Consequently, ‘persecution’ on the ground of one’s gender is still considered ineligible for refugee status determination. The Regional Refugee Conventions, even though expansive and wide-ranging in nature, also do not seem to be gender conscious. While all refugees face violence during the course of their flights and as a result of their exile, refugee women are additionally susceptible to gender-based violence in addition to the general trauma and torment. Rape, sexual atrocities, female genital surgery, domestic violence, forced impregnation, forced abortion, forced sterilization, unjustified demand of sexual favours and many more have become the intrinsic part of their lives. That apart, discrimination and disparity surround them in every aspect of their life as refugee. It is true that international community and Refugee Status Determination authority (RSD authority) have started adopting some lenient approach towards women victim of persecution. But instead of recognising their rights regime, sympathy and leniency have very little role to play and would not serve the fruitful purpose in the long run. Time has come to introduce gender centric asylum jurisprudence by specifically recognising gender based violence within the ambit of ‘persecution’. Thus, it has become the need of the hour that in addition to the enumerated five grounds of persecution, the ground of ‘sex’ should be explicitly and specifically included in the definition of 1951 Refugee Convention. Beside this, the area of education of women refugees and girl child, the health needs of refugee women, their financial dependence and associated exploitation in the employment sector cause burning sensation that require special emphasis. Through this research paper, attention is also drawn to specify the need for their inclusion in the overall design, implementation of global refugee policy, the national legislation and policy frameworks in this regard and other allied issues.