Sociocultural barriers to information and integration of women refugees

PurposeThis study focuses on specifically women refugees' experiences of accessing information and how sociocultural barriers impact these experiences aiming to broaden the LIS literature of women refugees' information problems from sociocultural aspects. The socioculturally formed roles of a woman can impact the information practices of women refugees or cause certain information problems during the integration process. Hence, the research questions that drive this study are: What kind of information problems might women refugees face in a new host country? What kind of sociocultural barriers influence their information problems? How do they react toward these information problems?Design/methodology/approachThe study is designed based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with eighteen refugee women living in Sweden. The study is a part of a larger study in which authors intend to explore the information practices and integration challenges of almost 20 or more refugee women living in Sweden.FindingsWomen refugees face information overload, difficulties in understanding new communication culture and lack of appropriate sources and networks in a new country. These information problems are influenced by sociocultural barriers such as the role of women, national culture of “collectivism”, small-world and lack of information literacy. Women react in certain ways such as, stressing, panicking, quitting the tasks, wasting time and making wrong decisions which negatively impact the integration process.Research limitations/implicationsThe research has its limitations as it is conducted with a small group of women refugees, belong to specific Middle Eastern culture and cannot be generalized. Another limitation is that the interviews are conducted in English language (with sufficient language skill). However, conducting interviews in their mother language would have been an advantage.Practical implicationsPractically, the study provides awareness for official and private organizations, volunteers and policymakers dealing with refugees. The stakeholders involved in the societal integration process of refugees, must consider that women refugees are more prone to information problems due to certain sociocultural influences (i.e. “being a woman” and national culture) and need a separate plan than the male refugees. For instance, by increasing and offering intercultural opportunities at workplaces or schools can encourage the wider social networking for women refugees. The programs aiming to reduce the sociocultural differences among women refugees and the Swedes are needed to be included in the integration policy.Social implicationsThe study intends to help the refugees society and the Swedish society overall by improving the integration plan.Originality/valueThe findings related to the information experiences of women refugees have potential implications for research where the value of information in the integration process is explored. The study meets the gap in previous literature by presenting the gender specific views on information problems from sociocultural aspects. The study also provides future directions to understand how women refugees deal with potential sociocultural barriers to information in a new country.

Identity Displacement: Architecture, Migration & the Islamic Woman

<p>Architecture can be regarded as both a product of culture and a medium that can influence change in contemporary society. Within the context of the Islamic woman refugee, architecture becomes intrinsically associated with the concept of socio-cultural sustainability because her cultural identity is challenged through the process of migration. Socio-cultural sustainability within the migrant context is concerned with maintaining cultural identity while allowing for transformation associated with the migration process. Furthermore, it aims to limit negative conflicts between ethnic groups that are often associated with misperceptions based on a lack of understanding. This thesis aims to further understand the role that architecture could play in the socio-cultural sustainability of Islamic women refugees living in Wellington. These women are often forced to make significant cultural changes through their migration process, and are faced with the question of which parts of their identity they maintain and which parts they adapt to the local culture. Traditional Islamic gender roles are challenged through the process of migration; where the Islamic woman, who was traditionally found within the home, is now becoming part of the professional workforce. The contrasting Western and Islamic perceptions of the veil identify that there are large gaps in the understanding of the other. Both the house and the mosque are two architectural typologies that play a significant part in the lives of Islamic women refugees, and therefore the design case study is divided into 2 parts. Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC), who is responsible for housing recently-arrived refugees, commonly place refugee migrants in state properties. These are unresponsive to the socio-cultural needs of most refugee migrants as they are generally designed for the New Zealand culture. Due to the limitations imposed on and by HNZC and the refugee housing process, the most feasible solution to this problem for the Islamic woman refugee is to provide Housing Design Guidelines for Islamic Women. They focus specifically on their socio-cultural needs and could be used in housing renovations and redevelopments by HNZC. The second and larger part of the design case studies concentrates on the redevelopment of the Kilbirnie Mosque in Wellington, which acts as an architectural symbol of Islamic identity. Unlike the house, it supports the wider concept of socio-cultural sustainability, which includes challenging the frequently negative perceptions towards the Islamic community. This is essential in fostering positive relationships between the migrant and the host community, which can significantly influence the re-settlement process of refugees. Traditional Islamic architecture is therefore critiqued in the design, through the concept of the veil and the contemporary position of the Islamic woman, in order to re-negotiate traditional perceptions.</p>

Identity Displacement: Architecture, Migration & the Islamic Woman

<p>Architecture can be regarded as both a product of culture and a medium that can influence change in contemporary society. Within the context of the Islamic woman refugee, architecture becomes intrinsically associated with the concept of socio-cultural sustainability because her cultural identity is challenged through the process of migration. Socio-cultural sustainability within the migrant context is concerned with maintaining cultural identity while allowing for transformation associated with the migration process. Furthermore, it aims to limit negative conflicts between ethnic groups that are often associated with misperceptions based on a lack of understanding. This thesis aims to further understand the role that architecture could play in the socio-cultural sustainability of Islamic women refugees living in Wellington. These women are often forced to make significant cultural changes through their migration process, and are faced with the question of which parts of their identity they maintain and which parts they adapt to the local culture. Traditional Islamic gender roles are challenged through the process of migration; where the Islamic woman, who was traditionally found within the home, is now becoming part of the professional workforce. The contrasting Western and Islamic perceptions of the veil identify that there are large gaps in the understanding of the other. Both the house and the mosque are two architectural typologies that play a significant part in the lives of Islamic women refugees, and therefore the design case study is divided into 2 parts. Housing New Zealand Corporation (HNZC), who is responsible for housing recently-arrived refugees, commonly place refugee migrants in state properties. These are unresponsive to the socio-cultural needs of most refugee migrants as they are generally designed for the New Zealand culture. Due to the limitations imposed on and by HNZC and the refugee housing process, the most feasible solution to this problem for the Islamic woman refugee is to provide Housing Design Guidelines for Islamic Women. They focus specifically on their socio-cultural needs and could be used in housing renovations and redevelopments by HNZC. The second and larger part of the design case studies concentrates on the redevelopment of the Kilbirnie Mosque in Wellington, which acts as an architectural symbol of Islamic identity. Unlike the house, it supports the wider concept of socio-cultural sustainability, which includes challenging the frequently negative perceptions towards the Islamic community. This is essential in fostering positive relationships between the migrant and the host community, which can significantly influence the re-settlement process of refugees. Traditional Islamic architecture is therefore critiqued in the design, through the concept of the veil and the contemporary position of the Islamic woman, in order to re-negotiate traditional perceptions.</p>

Searching for the Best Way of Integration. Migrant Women in Europe

Nowadays, the significance of women in the international movement of migrants is important both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. Many migrant women move to other countries either on their own or to join their husbands or other family members. The number of migrant women is also increasing in Europe. For this reason, focusing on the phenomenon of gender-based migration has become an important research element and affects many areas. The mass migration of women from highly diverse cultural backgrounds to European countries draws particular attention to the problems of integrating these women in host countries. However, most European countries lack integration policies that take into account the real needs of migrant women. Given that women account for almost half of all migrants, data on migration should be gender-sensitive and state policies must take into account how gender actually shapes the different needs of migrants. Also, since migrant women/refugees who come to European countries constitute a heterogeneous group in many respects, this heterogeneity should be taken into account in integration processes. In this article, two issues have been taken into account as research questions: 1, are immigrant/refugee women treated the same as immigrant/refugee men? and 2, is gender taken into account in the integration policies of European countries? To study the issues presented in the article, a review of the available literature was used, as well as data available on the websites of the OECD and the European Commission.

Solidarity with Soufra: Dividuality and joint action with Palestinian women refugees

Based on an exploratory study of Soufra, a women’s catering social enterprise in the Bourj al Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, we analyze how solidarity across difference can be organized. We conceptualize “difference” not in terms of “whole” individuals, but in terms of dividuals, the multiple roles and social positions that individuals occupy; this enables similarities between individuals of different ethnicities, nationalities, and statuses to become apparent. We find that, despite their extreme and protracted marginalization, Soufra does not seek to organize solidarity relationships with co-resisters joining their struggle against oppressors. Rather, they initiate exchange relationships with different others via carefully managed impressions of similar dividualities (e.g. professional cooks and businesswomen) and different dividualities (e.g. having refugee status and lacking any citizenship). These encounters provide opportunities for solidarity relationships to be created and underlying cultural predispositions to be transformed. Whether these opportunities are taken up or rejected is dependent, at least to some extent, on the willingness of participants to allow such transformations to occur.

Part 3 Protection, 9 International Protection

This chapter assesses international protection. The lack or denial of protection is a principal feature of refugee character, and it is for international law, in turn, to substitute its own protection for that which the country of origin cannot or will not provide. Non-refoulement is the foundation stone of international protection. The first intergovernmental arrangements on behalf of refugees were contemporaneous with the establishment of various international institutions charged with their implementation. The chapter then looks at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and other organizations and agencies. It also considers the protection of groups of refugees who face particular vulnerabilities, including women refugees, child refugees, and refugees with disabilities. Each group is protected by one or more particular human rights treaties, which recognize their rights, and members of these groups are often subject to discrimination or otherwise marginalized.

Displacement-plurality (D-P) in women refugees, its influence on work engagement and implications for diversity practice: a critical and reflective review

PurposeMuch of the current research on women refugees and work focuses solely on settlement, neglecting the effects of displacement within this equation, despite its significant impact. Drawing from the wider literature of international development, migration, gender, work psychology and sociology, this paper provides a framework to guide informed research within this area.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a reflective and critical review of the intersection between gender, forced displacement and work. It addresses a blind spot in the current work literature, which fails to address the impact of displacement on refugee women and the consequences of displacement for vocational engagement during resettlement.FindingsThis paper contributes to the current literature in four ways. First, it adds forced displacement to the peripheral-intersections literature informing Acker's theory of “inequality regimes”. Secondly, it contributes to a deeper understanding of how pluralities and intersectionality develop during forced displacement, by introducing the theory of displacement-plurality (D-P). Thirdly, it contributes to human resource management (HRM) diversity practice by explaining the relationship between D-P and related constructs, such as work engagement (WE), economic empowerment (EE), work-related factors (WRFs) and psycho-social factors (PSFs) to help improve localised diversity practices in relation to refugee populations. Fourthly, it provides a detailed framework to guide research and practice in this area, supported by a critical evaluation of the current refugee work literature.Originality/valueWhen we understand displacement-related factors, we can move towards a more emancipatory approach to intersectionality, allowing us to develop more sophisticated approaches to diversity in organisations. In turn, this helps us to understand people's lived experiences and their responses to organisational interventions more effectively.