A dialogue with Julie Mertus: Sovereignty, Gender, Displacement

The importance of sovereignty addressed in this article does not seem to apply to the refugee and internally displaced situation in Darfur. Mertus talks about the empowerment of state sovereignty by allocating the state the authority to govern and address displacement issues in what way they want. The main point addressed concerning state sovereignty is the decline it it however, and the ever present growth of United Nations and NGO personnel playing a large role in the situation affecting displaced people. She makes some good points and is careful to describe cultural and relational feminists perspective on this issue compared to radical feminists. The reason I feel that it does not relate to this issue well is because the state in Sudan is obviously inadequate in providing a safe environment for their refugees due to the nature of their involvement in the crisis situation. However, the situation would definitely support the cultural feminists side of the argument that stresses how states are usually governed by patriarchal ideologies such as military honor for example, and contribute to subjugation, silencing, and suppressing of woman. They encourage international involvement because this is the most effective route in their perspective of implementing a feminist agenda for woman by acknowledging feminized traits, such as caregiving, as important and therefore respectable and dignified. The radical feminist perspective is that dismantling states are harmful for woman because simply transferring power from an oppressive state to oppressive international forces that woman play no subjective role in is a bad idea.

There are many gender specific experiences that women deal with as refugees. Because women are generally the caretakers, this role often and almost always becomes a heavier burden to bear because of the elderly people in camps who need assistance. Displacement dramatically changes economic roles. Women often are required to fill the man of the household's position because so many men are killed in war. Although women take on more economic roles they are worse off in respect of their social and economic rights. Women and girls often eat less and receive less food, and households led by women usually receive less food allocation than male headed households. Woman do not receive the needed gynalogical care, and reproductive services for pregnant woman are scarce, non existent, or completely inadequate.

Women who delineate from the traditional role of women often experience discrimination. This is illustrated in Halima Bashir's story where she experienced violence because she was a doctor and was active in her community in a way that was nontraditional. Mertus also addresses the difficulty when the host country is not accepting of the refugees. This is seen in Chad in recent years because of the newer crisis between Sudan and Chad. One camp called Kalma camp, the largest refugee camp that holds 90,000 displaced, moved thousands of refugees due to issues with Chad and internal conflict where women were experiencing sexual violence from refugees within the camp from other tribes.

When it comes to the type of abuse woman experience compared to men, this is obviously gendered in that women experience nearly all of the sexual abuse from the enemy. This is largely due to the fact that historically women have been considered weak and easily exploitable, and unable to find the resources they need to get retribution for the atrocities committed against them. Mertus outlines 5 reasons for why women are systematically raped in war times: part of the 'rules of war', triumph over men who could not protect 'their' women, soldiers are naturally abusive because of their masculine nature, destroying of victim's culture, and culturally ingrained hatred of woman. To add insult to injury when woman apply for asylum sexual violence and rape victims have hard time proving that what they experienced was direct human rights violation and not random attacks. Often times their experiences are labeled 'not severe enough' to be labeled as persecution.

Fortunately, many international programs are incorporating a gender analytic to their agendas. Gender strategies are meant to give specific attention to issues affecting women and eventually set out to elevate their level in society. The most important aspects of the gender strategy implementations are encouraging and allowing refugee woman to play a part in bettering their position and opportunities, and allowing their stories and unique experiences to circulate in dominant discourse when refugee situations are discussed. This sounds like a great strategy but unfortunately it gets a lot more lip service than actual field play. Aid agencies still look at the people who are affected by these conflicts as victims who need rescuing, not survivors who can help shape their own identities. They need to tap into the skills of the people affected and utilize them so they can feel a sense of empowerment for themselves and contribute to the solution because ultimately it is in the people's hands to do so. Mertus also discusses the cultural insensitivity of male UN workers towards women in camps and therefore this contributes to the lack of protection they receive from perpetrators and the consequent increase in sexual violence. This is also due to the male hegemonic notion and ideology that those with the most masculine traits should assume roles of leadership and that women therefore are not suited for it.

Regarding asylum, most industrialized countries consider you for asylum once you reach the port of entry which most poverty stricken women inside camps do not have the economic assistance to get to this point. The best way to see situations better in Kalma camp and the other refugee camps in Chad as well as the internally displaced in Darfur is for international organizations to see the people they are helping as potentially holding the knowledge to transform their own realities, and also to understand the increased need for protection of women against sexual violence and increased sensitivity to woman's particular reproductive needs.