Migrant and Refugee Women: A Case for Community Leadership

Abstract

The current paper posits that forced migration, as seen as a movement through a liminal space, provides the opportunity for refugee women to build upon their resilience and create social capital to find new ways and spaces to engage in community leadership. Escalating conflict in different parts of the world has led millions of people to flee their homelands in search of safety and protection. Based on recent statistics shared by the World Bank, more than 100 million people were forcibly displaced by May 2022, and two-thirds of the world's poor population is expected to live in settings dominated by conflict and violence by 2030 (World Bank, 2022). The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (2023) estimated that women and girls comprise around 50% of any refugee population; the percentage grows even larger when all refugee children are included.

While political conflict negatively impacts all individuals, women encounter a disproportionate level of psychological and physical challenges during forced migration. These include changes to economic and employment status, opportunities, and expectations (Canefe, 2018); separation from family members (Asaf, 2017); lack of appropriate accommodations (Amnesty International, 2016); sexual exploitation and harassment (Charles & Denman, 2013); and domestic violence at the hands of their male partners who often lash out in anger and frustration (Andrabi, 2019; El-Masri et al., 2013). Women who are disabled, pregnant, heads of households, or elderly are especially vulnerable to violence and discrimination (UNHCR, 2023).

Therefore, the impacts of forced migration are far more significant for women than men as they transition from their homes to a new, and often quite different, situation. This period of liminality, or the space between, enables opportunities for the new realities in which migrant and refugee women find themselves to lean into the resilience they develop and the social networks they create to find new opportunities, both formal and informal, for leadership. This argument is presented in the following pages.

In many ways, refugee and migrant women face a time of liminality as they are forced to transition from the context that they once knew to an entirely new one. Liminality is the space between the past that is known and the future that is yet to be known (Turner, 1992). It is within this space, or the in-between, where change and transition take place, where unpredictability and uncertainty, including feelings of dread or exhilaration, tend to lead the way (Turner, 1992; Voegelin, 1990).

Classically, Lewin (1951) referred to a notion of change as being where things are unfrozen, changed, and then refrozen. In many ways, liminality is, indeed, the space between the unfrozen and the refrozen. It is a fluid boundary-crossing of sorts where norms are challenged, and beliefs, habits, and practices shift (McIntyre Miller & Harter, 2015). Liminality can be viewed as a transition through a crisis (McIntyre Miller & Harter, 2015), although one might argue that change is never truly over, and in fact, as we move from one reality to another, we are still engaged in the inherent whitewater in which we regularly exist (Vaill, 1989).

Despite this, liminality can be seen as the bridge between two known realities (Simmel, 1955) or a platform for societal change (Mälksoo, 2012). War, or other conflicts, is inherently liminal, resulting in the ending of the existing order and the unknown of what will emerge (Leed, 1981; Mälksoo, 2012; Neumann, 2012). There is no clear point at which liminality begins or ends, but rather it is the drive toward a new worldview and a new way of existing (Mälksoo, 2012; McIntyre Miller & Harter, 2015). Liminality is not an outright replacement of one reality with another, nor is it always for the better (McIntyre Miller & Harter, 2015). It is, ultimately, a time that allows for the scrutinization of former ways of being and the space for reflection and growth toward shifted and new ways of being.

Women who are forced to flee from their countries of origin experience a sense of liminality as they move from a former reality to a new one. Women in these situations are often viewed by the psychological and physical challenges that highlight their trauma, vulnerabilities, and suffering, such as those mentioned above. There is a shift afoot, however, where scholars and advocates (e.g., Chung et al., 2013; Ferris, 2020; Sherwood & Liebling-Kalifani, 2012) are calling, instead, for a focus on the endurance, attributes, and strengths of refugee and migrant women. This includes the formal and informal sources of support women seek as they learn to adapt to these new environments. These supports often include family members, members from their coethnic communities, and governmental and nongovernmental organizations. It is within and among these supports that migrant women build resilience, social capital, and leadership skills, as described below.

While increased scholarship in the area of migrant and refugee women and the role of resilience, social capital building, and community leadership is still necessary, it is possible to provide some implications for policy and practice for those within or who work with migrant communities. Research demonstrates that migrant and refugee women who create spaces and organizations with each other find opportunities to have a greater sense of belonging and agency for themselves and others. These spaces can be built from grassroots activism and self-empowerment (Bailey, 2012). In order to create these spaces, it is important to investigate not only what factors promote greater coping and resilience in refugee women but also how these factors help refugee women adapt (Shishehgar et al., 2017).

As women build their agency and take up roles that may not have been common in their home cultures, they may experience pushback from those who stand by the dominant and often patriarchal norms of their culture. In these cases, more attention should be focused on programming that increases empowerment among these women and enables them to participate to a greater extent in the societies that host them (Kihato, 2007; Williams & Labonte, 2007). It is of the utmost importance, however, to employ cultural sensitivity when developing programs and initiatives to promote the well-being of refugee women (Boswall & Akash, 2015; Darychuk & Jackson, 2015; Hynie et al., 2011).

While increasing social support and opportunities for empowerment is important in minimizing migrant women's feelings of rejection, “social capital cannot, on its own, substitute for more formal resources” (Chung et al., 2013, p. 72). As such, both formal and informal sources of support should be available to promote women's resilience (Chung et al., 2013), and efforts should be made to support refugee women in regaining lost resources (Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center, 2022). Therefore, finding organizational resources, such as community grants, to empower refugee women to engage in leadership roles is also of paramount importance (Denzongpa & Nichols, 2020). Leadership development and community advocacy programs may also help to add to the skillset of migrant and refugee women.

Despite the need for additional scholarship, what is currently clear is that refugee and migrant women are incredibly resilient and can build social capital in an unfamiliar environment. The journey through liminality, while often burdened with extreme hardship, provides the opportunity for women's strengths to emerge. With the assistance of their networks and the assistance of grassroots and other organizations, migrant and refugee women can find new ways to take up leadership roles and serve as models for others on ways to create supportive community spaces.

Migrant and refugee women are strong and fierce and find ways to move through and beyond trauma while creating spaces for each other and for their children to thrive. In many cases, host communities do not access the incredible wealth that these women bring into their neighborhoods and communities, forcing them to establish networks and collaboratives with limited support. Despite these challenges, migrant and refugee women adapt to these new environments, develop their own leadership capacities, and build a new home with a view to the future. Migrant and refugee women, therefore, can and should be seen as a source of inspiration and strength—as exemplars of transitioning through the liminal experience and emerging as resilient community leaders.