On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
Indholdsfortegnelse
1.
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 2
1.1.
2.
Background and Problem .................................................................................................................. 2
Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 6
2.1. Specifications and Limitations ................................................................................................................ 6
3.
Concepts & Theory: Exploring Gender, Internally Displaced & Gendered Migration Experiences ..... 9
3.1.
Gender and Internally Displaced conceptualized .............................................................................. 9
3.1.1. Gender ........................................................................................................................................... 10
3.1.2. Normative Theoretical Policy Framework – IDPs & the Guiding Principles .................................. 10
3.2.
4.
5.
Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................... 14
Colombia: a History of Violence..................................................................................................... 19
4.1.
Phase one – ‘La Violencia’ ............................................................................................................... 19
4.2.
Phase two - The Consolidation of armed groups ............................................................................ 20
4.3.
Phase three – ‘The Triple Alliance’ .................................................................................................. 21
Analysis - Gendered Experience of Migration................................................................................. 24
5.1.
The Before Scenario ........................................................................................................................ 25
5.2.
Pre-Displacement: Fleeing from the Conflict – Gendered Impact of the Conflict.......................... 26
5.3.
Post-Displacement: The Resettlement Process ............................................................................... 29
6.
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 37
7.
Appendix 1. .................................................................................................................................. 39
8. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 40
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1. Introduction
1.1.
Background and Problem
Conflict and political violence have for long been considered endemic features of
Colombia’s contemporary history.
The ongoing struggle in Colombia has developed into a multi-polar conflict, where the
exercise of violence as a strategy to resolve social and political clashes, has resulted in a
staggering number of internally displaced persons (IDPs). In 1993 Robin Kirk1 predicted: 'If
current trends continue, there may be as many as 1.5 million desplazados [displaced] in
Peru and Colombia by the year 2000' (Kirk, 1993:3).
Looking at the latest figures (Box 1), we can see that the estimate is far from exaggerated.
Box 1: IDPs
Global Index 2011
In fact, the current numbers from the
government show that 3.9 million people
are displaced, while non-governmental
observers estimate the figure to be
closer
to
5.3
million.
Rather
than
decreasing, the number has continued
to increase during the years.
The amount places Colombia as the
country, which inhabits the most IDPs in
Source: iDMC & Norwegian Refugee Council, (2012)
the world, surpassing even Iraq and
Sudan (iDMC & Norwegian Refugee
Council, 2012:8,14). In percentage, the figure amounts from 8.6 to 11.2 per cent of the
total population in Colombia. IDPs are an urgent matter, as the reconstruction of conflictridden societies depends partly on the reintegration of them (Cohen and Deng, 1998: 5).
Neither forced displacement nor its effects on civilians are gender neutral (Box 2). In the
midst of the conflict, both men and women are being displaced. Consequently the impact
of armed conflict on gender relations becomes a key issue.
1
Consultant to the U.S. Committee for Refugees
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
Gender and armed conflicts are gaining prominence globally as part of a broader United
Nations (UN) agenda, as manifested for example by the eight UN Millennium Goals, the
UNs' Resolution 1325 and the Beijing Platform for Action.
Premised on the understanding that neither forced displacement nor its impacts are
Box 2. Gender Terms
gender neutral, the rationale for integrating gender in IDPs
research rests on two pillars:
Gender-Blindness:
Refers to ignoring the different roles, capabilities and
responsibilities of males and
females as shaped by social
process. Moreover, it refers
to the use of male-centric
experiences as norm for
polices, studies, strategies
etc., and thus, assumes that
everyone, no matter which
sex, have the same needs
and preferences.
● An increased attention to the specific needs of gender and
the impact of conflicts and post-conflict situations on the two
sexes as an official UN Agenda.
● A need for a gender sensitive approach as a condition for a
successful reintegration of IDPs, and for the reconstruction of
societies.
Since the UN women’s conference and the adoption of the
(Otzelberger, 2011: 1).
Platform for Action in Beijing 1995, gender policies are main-
Gender-Neutral:
The assumption that some
policies, conditions, specifications, factors, strategies
etc. are presumed to influence both sexes equally,
(Otzelberger, 2011:1) and
have ‘no differential positive
or negative impact for
gender relations or equality
between women and men’
(European Commission &
EuropeAid, 2004: 3).
streamed (Box 2) into a variety of policy areas and are no
Gender-Mainstreaming:
Planning, organisation, improvement and evaluation of
policy processes to include a
gender equality perspective
in all development policies,
strategies and interventions,
at all levels and at all stages.
(European Commission &
EuropeAid, 2004:3).
longer regarded as a separate policy area. The Beijing Platform
for Action gives an insight to how forced migration influences
men and women:
‘These massive movements of people have profound
consequences for family structures and wellbeing and have unequal
consequences for women and men, including in many cases the
sexual exploitation of women’(UNESCO, 1995: 13 (36))
And:
‘Migration and consequent changes in family structures
have placed additional burdens on women, especially those who
provide for several dependents.’ (UNESCO, 1995:16 (A.47))
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These text excerpts illustrate the concerns of the UN regarding the uneven impact of
migration on men and women, in addition to acknowledging the increased burden and
vulnerable position of women.
The UN Resolution 1325, adopted in 2000, goes a step further than the Platform for
Action. It is the first of its kind - from a UN front - to require all signing parties in a conflict
situation to respect the human rights of women. Furthermore, the resolution encourages
the participation of women in peace negotiations and in post-conflict situations; as well as
insisting on the important role of women in conflict prevention and resolution (OSAGI,
2012). Finally, the resolution reaffirms the stand of the Beijing Platform for Action on
women’s increased vulnerability in a conflict context:
‘The special needs of women and girls during repatriation and resettlement and for
rehabilitation, reintegration and post-conflict reconstruction’ (UN, 2000:3(8.a)).
The two documents, both signed by Colombia (NRC, 2009: 13), call for an increased focus
on protecting women and girls not only during but also after a conflict. Furthermore, the
role of women as a resource in a post-conflict society is emphasized. Thus, the UN
recognizes that both the creation of a stable post-conflict society as well as the
reintegration of victims into society, requires the participation of men and women, as the
impacts of the conflict are not gender neutral.
Despite an increased global attention, gender blindness on communities, and
humanitarian programming, seems to persist (Leach cited in Otzelberger,2011:4;
iDMC,2012:67). Understanding the uneven consequences of conflict on men and women,
and identifying and challenge the channels that transmit them are crucial, for the
development of gender-responsive policies, strategies and studies, which takes into
consideration the socially determined roles, responsibilities and capabilities of women and
men, as opposed to gender-blindness (Box 2).
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
The situation of internal displacement in Colombia can be approached and analysed from
a number of different perspectives. I have, however, decided to explore the impact of
forced migration on men and women in Colombia, specifically the effects of it on gender
roles. The main research question that I ask is:
How and why - by the virtue of their gender – are men and women
experiencing internal displacement differently in Colombia, and how is this reflected in the
initial period of violence and resettlement process?
This paper is organized as follows:
Section one outlines the methodological foundation on which the paper is resting.
Section two is split into two sub-sections. Sub-section one, advances a number of
definitions of key concepts and formulates a normative framework. Sub-section two
formulates a theoretical framework for the analysis, by among other things mapping
relevant case studies.
Section three presents an analysis of the gendered experience of migration in Colombia utilizing qualitative as well as quantitative data.
Finally, a conclusion - based on the findings from the analysis - will be provided.
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2. Methodology
The paper sets out to add to existing literature on the topic of IDPs and the link to gender,
as in my perspective, much academic writing has presumed effects of forced internal
migration to be gender neutral. The somewhat narrow focus of this paper means that only
a small fraction of this issue is explored. Before moving on to an explanation of the utilized
data and it limitations, an explanation of the choice of focus is presented, followed by
some remarks on the selected theoretical framework.
2.1. Specifications and Limitations
My research represents a case study, chosen due to its particularity and not because it
necessarily represents other cases or can illustrate a specific trait or problem. It will be
attempted to identify the particular characteristic of the case study, as well as undertake a
comparative analysis, where similarities and differences it might share with other studies
within the same field will be considered.
To undertake this task, a qualitative stocktaking and evidence-gathering process,
which included a desk-based review of academic literature was undertaken, on which
the empirical base of this paper rests. Needless to say, the presented secondary data,
- as this type of empirical data constitute - is a more indirect approach for exploring the
chosen problem, as opposed to conducting interviews or undertaking a direct personal
observation for the purpose of collecting primary data. The paper makes use of
secondary qualitative - and quantitative data, the latter to a lesser degree. The
combination of the two allows me to some extent to gain a more in depth
understanding of the issue at hand as well as establish some more general
tendencies.
The analysis is mainly based on qualitative data. The resources consist of reports from
international organizations, particularly the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
(iDMC), journals, working papers, books, and published interviews which serve as
main material for the analysis. A small remark is needed on the use of published
interviews with IDPs in Colombia. The interviews were conducted by iDMC and Oxfam
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
in Colombia. Employing other’s interviews clearly presents some methodological
concerns, as I cannot be sure how the questions were asked, understood, and
interpreted from Spanish into English. Simply said, findings from the interviews similar
to all other applied qualitative data are bound to be influenced by the biases of the
sources. Nonetheless, they were deemed apt for the purpose. I have deliberately
chosen to utilize interviews from more than one region, as it facilitates a realization of
the scale of the conflict and furthermore, aid the identification of general trends.
Moreover, the rendering of these is to make feelings, voices, and actions of IDPs
present in the paper, thus it will enable both the writer and the reader to capture the
nature of their experiences, in a more holistic way, than by leaving them out.
Quantitative data is utilized for the elaboration of certain points suggested by qualitative
data, and for establishing trends.
There are some methodological limitations to the quantitative data. An obvious limitation of
this paper is the available data. Databases worldwide suffer from a lack of gender
disaggregation. The diverse data is often gender-blind, as social and economic indicators
only to a limited extent are gender disaggregated e.g. life expectancy and school
enrollment.
Next, official Colombian government produced data - particular of a newer date – on IDPs
do exist, but is of a rather limited scope. There are three main reasons for this.
First, data on forced displacement under the current phase of armed struggle is scare, and
is mainly limited to the capture of rural urban migration across and not within municipalities
(Flórez, 2003:19).
Second, the Colombian government only started to recognize IDPs as a category in 1993
(iDMC & Norwegian Refugee Council, 2011:24).
Third, not all persons entitled to the status of internally displaced are registered as such for
a variety of reasons. As noted in the introduction, data from various non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) such as Consultoría para los Derechos y el Desplazamiento
(CODHES) in Colombia shows a large numerical disparity with those of the government,
with the NGOs presenting much higher numbers. This may be explained by a divergence
of interests between these actors, or merely the fact that while CODHES has 1985 as its
baseline, the government agency’s baseline is 2000 (iDMC & Norwegian Refugee Council,
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2011:24). And again the numerical disparity may in fact be an indicator of their different
comprehension of the issue, as reflected in terms of starting points in time.
The notion of reliable data is a rather complex matter, and the above methodology
consideration will be respected throughout the project, when treating the data and
concluding on the base of it.
The theories put forward in section 3 provide the framework for conceptualizing gender
experiences with displacement, and is the ‘tool’ used to explain the described
phenomenon. The construction of a theoretical framework will be in accordance with
the author’s perspective, that the boundary between theory and practice is blurred,
and at times overlapping. Arguably, theory cannot exist on its own but is resting on
some observations from real life, which makes a division of the two artificial. Thus, any
theoretical endeavors are inherently normative and conditional of nature.
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
3. Concepts & Theory:
Exploring Gender, Internally Displaced &
Gendered Migration Experiences
In part one of this section a short working definition of gender will be presented,
followed by an overview of the development of IDPs as a category of concern. This is
undertaken for the dual purpose of reaching a definition and a normative theoretical
framework. For this end the international migration framework in the form of the UNs’
1998 ‘Guiding Principles’, is utilized.
The second part - the theoretical framework - will first consider the general migration
theory, before it moves on to the task of linking migration and gender. Next it turns to a
mapping of case studies deemed relevant for the paper; firstly a Canadian case study,
and secondly, Latin American case studies. This will offer an introduction into the
incorporation of gender in migration studies, and furthermore provide an option to get
familiar with some of the complex characteristics, which may impact gender roles and
relations on a household level in a migration context. The reason for including a
Canadian case study, which, not only does not include any sort of Latin American
relation but also focuses on an international instead of internal level of migration, is
that it offers some valuable insight into the dynamics of the gendered migration
experience.
Finally, a theoretical framework, based on the above is constructed.
3.1.
Gender and Internally Displaced conceptualized
To fully understand the usage of the ‘concepts’ utilized in this paper, one must firstly
define what they are. Their explanation and possible implications are an obvious
condition for their usage as variables in an analyzing context, and are thus provided
prior to the actual analysis.
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As stated in the beginning, this paper seeks to discover: How and why - by the
virtue of their gender – are men and women experiencing internal displacement differently
in Colombia, and how is this reflected in the initial period of violence and resettlement
process? This question begs for a definition of two key terms – gender and internally
displaced.
3.1.1. Gender
The application of ‘gender’ rather than ‘sex’ in this paper is a deliberate choice. Despite at
first sight appearing as a rather neutral term, gender calls for a definition. Unlike ‘sex’,
gender rejects biology as the explanation for power hierarchies that privilege men over
women (Boyd, 1999:8).
For the purposes of this paper, the following definition of gender will be employed:
Gender is the ‘[…]roles, attitudes, values and relationships regarding women and
men […] constructed by societies’ (UNHCRH,1995:Paragraph 13), combined with the
'opportunities associated with being a man or a woman’ (UNDP cited in Otzelberger,2011:16),
which ‘[…]have been learned, are changeable over time and have wide variations both within and
between cultures’ (European Commission in European Commission & EuropeAid,2004:2).
This constructed definition stresses the idea that gender similar to identity is a social and
symbolic construct. On one hand it refers to a likeness – other women - and on the other
hand, it refers to a divergence –‘the other’, in this case men. Moreover, it emphasizes the
need to include the focus of both women and men.
Having established the meaning of gender for this paper, I now move on to IDPs as a
category.
3.1.2. Normative Theoretical Policy Framework – IDPs & the Guiding Principles
Although scholars have not managed to reach a consensus about the definition of internal
displacement, they agree that the boundaries between the labels 'displacement', 'forced
displacement' and 'refugees' are fluid and overlapping (Mooney, 2005:9). These three
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
terms, can all be incorporated into one broad heading 'forced migration'. According to the
International Organization for Migration (IOM) forced migration is a:
‘General term used to describe a migratory movement in which an element of
coercion exists, including threats to life and livelihood, whether arising from natural or man-made
causes’ (IOM, 2004:25).
The difference between refugees and IDPs is a matter of geography and the implications
thereof. The geographical difference lies in that a refugee ‘is outside the country of his
nationality’ (IOM, 2004:53), whereas an IDP has ‘not crossed an internationally recognized
State border’ (OCHA & UNHCR, 2004:1).
In 1992 the UN attempted to frame internally displaced as a separate category, by
advancing a working definition that defined IDPs as:
‘Persons or groups who have been forced to flee their homes suddenly or
unexpectedly in large numbers, as a result of armed conflict, internal strife, systematic violation of
human rights or natural or man-made disaster, and who are within the territory of their own country’
(UN cited in Mooney, 2005: 10).
This definition mirrors a set of circumstances in which the main characteristics of internal
displacement, the involuntary movement within a state border, could emerge. On one
hand, the above definition is in some aspects broadly wide-ranging, as it includes several
causes for displacement, on the other hand it is too narrow. The 1992 definition is too
narrow in its temporal criteria, as it limits IDPs to those who had to ‘flee their homes
suddenly or unexpectedly’. Thus, it ignores a number of situations, e.g. Iraq, and Burma,
where the displacement of a population was less of a spontaneous than an organized
government policy act (Mooney,2005:11). Moreover, applying ‘forced’ as a criterion
overlooks the instances where a population did not take flight but were ‘obliged’ to leave
their place of residence (Mooney,2005:11). This was for example the case with the forced
eviction for construction related to the 2008 Beijing Olympics in China, where it was
estimated by the Center on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) that as many as 1.5
million Beijing residents were forced from their homes (Human Right Watch, 2008). Finally,
the 1992 definition is too limited in its numerical criteria, as it uses the idea of ‘Persons or
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groups’ […] ‘forced to flee’ […] ‘in large numbers’, hence excluding persons who flee in
small groups or on individual basis.
In the introduction to the 1998 ‘Guiding Principles’ important nuances were introduced.
They were first presented by Francis M. Deng, Representative of the UN Secretary
General on IDPs in 1998 (OCHA & UNHCR, 2004: Introductory Note, F. Deng). The
Guiding Principles defines IDPs as:
‘Persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave
their home or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects
of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or
human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border. ’
(OCHA & UNHCR, 2004:1)
The definition highlights that IDPs remain legally under the protection of national
authorities of their country of habitual residence, as they have not ‘crossed an
internationally recognized State border’, thus they are entitled to the same rights as the
rest of the population. In comparison, refugees are deprived of the protection of their state
of origin, and are thus, protected by international law (Carr, 2009: 35). Said differently, the
Guiding Principles stress the fact that the state has the moral burden of protecting IDPs,
but it cannot hold them accountable. The Guidelines are important because they fill out
this gap in the international protection system for IDPs, by providing a guiding list to rights
and setting up obligations for governments on what they ought to supply their displaced
population with at every phase ((OCHA & UNHCR, 2004: Introductory Note, F. Deng).
Unlike the binding conventions 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol, the
Guiding Principles is a non-binding resolution. It is a normative law, since they establish
and promote/recommend guidelines and not actual laws for a social action (Carr,2009:35).
In just one document the Guiding Principles explicitly lay down the international human
rights obligations and establish how these are applicable to situations of internal
displacement. All in all the Guiding Principles are a pragmatic tool for the formulation of
national policies and laws on internal displacement. Despite being of little legal value, they
are considered the single most important source of benchmarks for governments to
implement at the domestic level (Carr, 2009:35).
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By terming the Guiding Principles as ‘a normative framework‘(Mooney, 2005:9.), a
reference is made to the idea of shared moral commitment of individuals, states and
groups, and moreover, their adherence to international law; and historical and social
structures of the international system (Roach in Roach, 2008:227). Moreover, norm implies
legitimacy, consent, prescriptions and in the case of deviation from the norm, sanctions
(Abercrombie et al., 2000:243). When setting up guidelines for how a state ought to
behave, one becomes engaged in normative theory. Normative theory is the complex task
of 'explaining the meaning of, setting out the relationship which hold between, and seeking
to evaluate different comprehensive patterns of core normative concepts' (Frost in Roach,
2008:260) such as, equality, justice, human rights to mention some. Norms facilitate the
identification of problems to be explored, and furthermore what needs to be done (Frost in
Roach, 2008:260). Said differently, normative theories seek to explore how things ought to
be, and not what will be or what is.
In contrast to this stands behaviorism, on which the next part of the theoretical framework
for this paper draws its inspiration. Behaviorism, as a theoretical paradigm concentrates on
observable behavior and disregards the subjective aspects of human activity e.g.
consciousness, intention and/or the meaning of life of the involved persons, on which
normative thinking is based. Behaviorism engages in observation, for the purpose of
establishing general trends, which then are transmitted to relationships in the social
sphere. The aim is to understand the doing of persons today and tomorrow, through
scientifically produced data (Andersen in Andersen, 2005a: 156,162; Abercrombie et al.,
2000: 25-26). Thus, behaviorism seeks to explore, what is and predict what will be through
observations.
Despite appearing so, behaviorist thinking is not disconnected from normative thinking.
Through observations, behaviorism clarifies and sheds light to the basis of public debate
and how the different ideas of morality are shaped within in. Despite claiming to be
objective, behaviorism can hardly be considered so, as claiming objectivity is inherently
subjective (Andersen in Andersen, 2005b: 287-288). By acknowledging that nothing exists
on its own but rests on some sort of values/ideas/thoughts, it is made clear that the
observations gathered in connection with this paper inherently are resting on a subjective
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foundation on what ought to be (either willing or unwilling), in this case the normative
framework of the Guiding Principles.
3.2.
Theoretical Framework
A quick overview of migration research reveals that it is supported by a broad literature,
which includes numerous theoretical perspectives, each of which have contributed to a
greater understanding of migration.
The first academic contribution to studies of migration consisted of two papers by
Ravenstein (1885 &1889) in the nineteenth century, in which the ‘laws of migration’ were
established. Ravenstein argued that migration is an inseparable part of social
development, and that economy is the main motivation for an individual to migrate. Ever
since the formulation of ‘laws of migration’, economic explanations have tended to
dominate popular and scholarly thinking on migration (Vignoli, 2008:138).
Based on neoclassical economist thinking the theory emphasizes the influence of income
gaps and employment, and argues that individuals will go where they can be the most
productive, and are able to earn wages deemed sufficient to compensate for the cost of
migration (Lawson, 1998:41; Vignoli, 2008:139). While this theory is useful for explaining
European rural to urban migration in the nineteenth and twentieth century, it lacks
explanatory power within a contemporary migration context. By focusing on the economy
as the main driver of migration, it ends up overemphasizing the 'pull factors'. Thus, it
reduces the scope of other causes of migration within a sending area, also known as the
'push-factors'. To clarify, pull factors are those things and circumstances that attract
individuals to another area, whereas push factors are things and circumstances
unfavorable about the area that one lives in and drives a person to leave their place of
resident (IOM, 2004:49).
This type of theory has a number of shortcomings. First, gender differences are not
addressed, as it assumes economic motivation to be equally important for both genders.
Second, intra-household dynamics, which may shape individual decisions, are not
considered (Lawson, 1998:41). Third, causes for migration distinct from a desire to
maximize one’s income are overlooked (Vignoli, 2008:139). Researchers of contemporary
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
migration argue for an expansion of factors of causes of migration. These factors are many
and can be voluntary as well as forced. Contemporary reasons for migrating may be out of
desire for better living conditions, escape poverty, political persecution, social or family
pressures, safer surroundings etc. (Jolly & Reeves, 2005:1; Vignoli, 2008: 139). In this
connection, it is worth to keep in mind the above definition of internal displacement as
defined by the Guiding Principles, which specifically emphasizes an element of coercion
when dealing with IDPs. Thus, IDPs ‘migrate’ to save their lives, not to improve their
economic situations.
While many studies of migrant populations have noted imbalances in numbers of men and
women moving to different areas within or beyond national boundaries, a theory which
links gender with migration - from a development point of view - is rare. Some
misconceptions have during the years blocked the exploration of the relationship between
migration and gender. The most prevailing of these are that men but not women migrate;
the male experience is a general one; women, if they migrate, do it as a part of a
household; and the impact of migration is experienced the same way by both genders
(Aysa-Lastra, 2011:278; Jolly & Reeves, 2005:2,6; Lawson, 1998:4). As a result, the
female migration experience has often been missing in the discussion, as they have been
assumed to be economic dependants of their male spouses and considered as merely
‘add-ons’ (Mahler & Pessar, 2006:27; Matsuoka and Sorenson, 1999:104). Despite the
growing recognition that women and girls indeed do migrate, and that neither the impact
nor the causes of migration are gender neutral, attempts to mainstream gender issues into
policy are inconsistent (Jolly & Reeves, 2005:2-3).
Examples of case studies carried out with regard to the effect of migration on gender
relations have emphasized the positive impact of migration on gender equality. The case
studies help to identify different cultural contexts and complexities impacting gender roles
and relations in a displaced context. It is therefore vital to explore a number of studies, to
enable a mapping of the specificity of the different cases.
Studies of Dominican, Mexican, Portuguese, Eritrean and Vietnamese immigrant
communities in the U.S. and Canada, imply that migration leads to a renegotiation of the
gender roles, which may have a profound impact on gender equality. These studies found
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that an increase in women’s economic contribution to the household, connected with a
decline in men’s income, resulted in a reduction of male dominance in migrating
households (Matsuko & Sorenseon, 1999; Hondagneu-Sotelo,1994:101). The increase in
female income led to an enhancing of their self-esteem and provided ‘them with a
heightened leverage to participate equally with men in household decision-making’
(Pessar cited in Hondagneu-Sotelo, 1994:101). Hence, the research indicates that many of
the migrant families exhibit more equal gender relations in household division of labour,
and family decision-process as a result of migration.
One of the more useful studies for this paper, not in terms of geographical specification,
but in terms of how it was conducted, what it considered and included, is Matsuoka and
Sorenson’s study ‘Eritrean Women in Canada’.
The study is a household study of the Eritrean diaspora in Canada, where both the
experiences of women and men are included instead of equating gender with solely the
female experiences (Matsuoka and Sorenson, 1999:104). It documents that life in exile
offered primarily the younger, well-educated and urbanized Eritrean women new
opportunities, great personal freedom and an increased bargaining strength within their
relationship. Perhaps more interesting the study also found that unskilled women had a
similar experience. Interesting when looking at the male experience, the study revealed
that the male diaspora experienced a loss of status, due to lack of appropriate jobs and the
fact that the women in some instances were earning either more or became the
‘breadwinner’ of the family (Matsuoka and Sorenson,1999:107). The study thereby
demonstrated that the forced migration of Eritreans led to a renegotiation of women’s role
and beliefs within the household (Matsuoka and Sorenson, 1999).
Not only does the above mentioned case study indicate a direct association between
migration and female equality, but it also highlights a differentiated migration impact on
women and men and therefore clearly illustrates the importance of not treating migrants as
one homogeneous group.
This direct association between migration and positive effects for females has been
questioned by - among others - Parrado and Flippen, who argue that social
specifications/constructions such as power relations, class, race and ethnicity supersede
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
gender in determining the well-being of migrants, and these may, as illustrated by their
study, mitigate or reinforce gender inequality (Flippen & Parado, 2005:608).
Another study, which similar to Flippen and Parado, disputes the positive correlation
between migration and gender equality is Bever’s paper ‘Migration And The
Transformation Of Gender Roles And Hierarchies In Yucatán’. Bever conducts a
comparative analysis between migrant and non-migrant households, to examine how
gender relations and gender roles have been modified as a result of temporary male
migration in a Yucatec Maya community. She reaches the conclusion that while women's
gender roles are being redefined, traditional gender-based ideology beliefs persist and are
defended by men as well as women. Moreover, despite a change in women's participation
in economic activities, men continue being the head of the household, regardless of the
migration status of the household, and the bargaining power of the women remains the
same. The only factor influencing a woman's placement in the social hierarchy is whether
she is a young or an older wife (Bever, 2002).
Bever’s findings are supported by Lawson, who in a case study on women’s garment work
in Ecuador, found that the role of women, despite providing the main family income, is
determined by cultural constructions, such as motherhood, wife and sister and sister-in-law
in an Ecuadorian context. Lawson argues that the experiences of the women in a postmigration situation to a large degree is determined by a gender relation, and emphasizes
the influence of a patriarchal society on gender roles in a migration context
(Lawson,1998:48-49).
The presented case studies point towards a highly patriarchal society, with an apparent
strong leverage on the gender roles in a migration situation, within Latin America.
A patriarchal constructed system, is a system that claims a male superiority over females
and organizes this inequality in a hierarchical social order. Throughout history, different
forms of patriarchy have dominated in most human society, reinforced by cultural values
descended from a system of male dominance. Its common use and continued practice has
made it appear as an almost natural construct rather than a man-made constructed social
order (People’s movement for Human Rights Learning cited in Jenkins & Reardon in
Webel & Johansen, 2012:398-399).
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In line with the above case studies of migration in a Latin American context, women
appear as passive victims of the social constructions, whereas the Canadian study
emphasizes women as actors who can benefit from migration. This leads us to a common
dilemma in feminist theory, namely to which extent ‘women’s actions are seen to be
constrained by social, in particular, patriarchal structures’ (Walby, 1996:2). On one hand,
conceptualizing gender relations in terms of social structures deny women agency. On the
other hand, considering women as agents of their own destiny can lead to the view that
‘women are choosing or collaborating with their oppressor’ (Walby, 1996:2).
It is clear from the above, that one does not exclude the other, but rather should be
considered as a two-way relationship between gender and social constructs. It would
seem irrational to claim that gender - as manifested by the two sexes - does not have a
scope for action even within these social constructions. As the ‘role’ of a person within any
given social construction, such as class, to a large extend is determined by their sex.
Nonetheless, the importance of these types of social constructions should not be ignored,
as one may risk missing important nuances within these constructions. The following
analysis of gender and migration will therefore, see structures and agency as co-existing
and complementary instead of incompatible, as the theoretical framework should allow for
both the abstraction of social structures, beyond the actions of the individual, as well as
acknowledging the reflexivity of human actors.
The mapping of case studies uncovers a list of diverse qualifiers related to the processes
of gender roles and relations. Among the factors considered to have an impact on gender
roles and relationships among migrants, the following can be summarized from above and
are often mentioned in the literature: historically constructed power relations, possibilities
of employment, females as breadwinners, male’s loss of status, and tensions resulting
from
flexible
division
of
domestic labor.
These factors leave
space for the
acknowledgement that ‘women actively make choices, but many of the circumstances
under which they act are not of their own making’ (Walby, 1996:16).
The impact of the above factors on the renegotiation of gender roles in relation to IDPs in
Colombia will be considered in the following parts and provides the theoretical framework
for this paper.
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
4. Colombia: a History of Violence
Colombia is used as my case study to discover the nexus of forced migration and
gendered experience. Before embarking on the analysis, Colombia’s historical background
will be sketched in order to achieve an in-depth understanding of the topic analyzed in this
project. For this reason, attention is given to the development of the internal conflict and
displacement, focusing on the period from 1948 up to the present date. Both
consequences and effects of the conflict in Colombia are numerous, and accordingly,
providing a chronological order of the conflict in Colombia is a herculean task. With risks of
missing important nuances, the following will be a simplified version of the conflict.
Nonetheless, this task needs to be undertaken to fully comprehend forced displacement in
Colombia and its effects on civilians.
To identify the causes of displacement one cannot simply replicate the models and
categories formerly applied to other contemporary conflicts, such as the conflict situations
in the Balkans, East Timor, Central Africa and Chechnya. The Colombian scenario has
specific characteristics. Unlike many other internal armed conflicts, it is not based on
religious, ethnic or national grievance. Its many facetted characteristics rest on economic
and power driven issues, related to political ideology, social standing and control of land
and sources of wealth. These have developed over, as indicated by the heading, a long
historical process, which has consisted of multi-polar conflicts and the exercise of violence
as a social and political conflict resolution (Meertens, 2002:1; Chernick, 2005:7).
Displacement due to political violence, is not a recent phenomenon in Colombia and as
Robin Kirk (1993:5) states, Colombia has developed into 'a country of displaced'.
The second half of the 20th century can roughly be divided into three phases of
displacement: ‘La Violencia’, the consolidation of armed groups, and ‘the triple alliance’
(Kirk, 1993:1).
4.1.
Phase one – ‘La Violencia’
The first phase, ‘La Violencia’, was a political war between the Liberal and the
Conservative parties, fought by the peasants on behalf of the parties, in the period
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between 1948 and 1966. The conflict erupted vigorously in 1948 after the assassination of
the political leader of the Liberal Party. It is estimated that 200.000 – 300.000 people were
killed and approximately two million were forced to flee as a result of La Violencia. These
coerced movements shaped a large migration wave from rural to urban areas in that
period (Kirk, 1993:1; Ibáñez & Moya, 2010:649). During La Violencia the murdering of
peasant families, as a mean to expel/remove them from the best land, became common
practice. Traditionally, seizure of private land tenancies has been generated by changes in
foreign markets, such as the commerce in products like quinine, indigo, tobacco, livestock,
coffee, ivory palm, rubber, oil, and other illicit crops. As the government, seized large
areas of land to sell it off to the highest bidder, groups of people who had already settled in
the border areas, were violently displaced to land perceived unsuitable for production by
the large estate owners (Kirk, 1999: 5). In 1958 the partners reached a power-sharing
agreement which paved the way for a peace deal and temporarily ended the armed
confrontations. Despite moderate violence in the following two decades, the conflict has
never completely subsided (Ibáñez & Moya, 2010:649).
4.2.
Phase two - The Consolidation of armed groups
The second phase, which started in the 1970s and continues into present time, is the
development
of
counter-‘government’
armed
insurgency
forces
(guerrillas)
and
government endorsed right-winged armed civilian groups. Both the guerrillas and the rightwing armed groups, which emerged in the 1960s, consolidated during the 1970s (Ibáñez &
Moya, 2010:649; Molano in iDMC, 2007:215). Furthermore, the 1970s also marked a
closer alliance between Colombia and the United States, which meant that the social
character of the conflict was masked by the Cold War (Molano in iDMC, 2007:229).
The clash of the two fronts was a result of economic policies implemented by President
Misael Pastrana (1970-74) that returned all the guarantees to the big landowners, at the
expense of many small-scale farmers. This move resulted in an escalation of the conflict,
where peasant farmers invaded thousands of hectares on large estates, followed by a
repression conducted by the security forces (Molano in iDMC, 2007:216). During the
seventies, a new repressive strategy was initiated. By using the organized right-wing
armed civilian groups, the state sought to retain control of the most rebellious regions by
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
conducting a dirty war, which by law was prohibited if undertaken by the security forces.
This new strategy of repression divided communities and forced more people into
displacement (Molano in iDMC, 2007:229).
4.3.
Phase three – ‘The Triple Alliance’
Box 3: A Recipe for Displacement –
‘Sometimes I think it’s all because of this cursed coca,
Chocó
because if there wasn’t coca, if there wasn’t this stuff,
The Chocó department, situated on the NorthEast Pacific Coast, provides a substantial part
of the ‘ingredients’ used in the national food
industry. Moreover a wide diversity of raw
materials, such gold, silver, bauxite,
manganese, tin, chromium, nickel beds, and
last but not least oil, are found in the soil of
Chocó. Not surprisingly, it has been coined
‘the best corner in America’, due to its
richness in raw materials but also because of
all the projects commencing there, e.g. the
creation of hydro-electric - , port-building -,
and inter-oceanic projects, as well as the
construction of oil lines, roads and railways
(Molano,2005:208).
The richness of Chocó is also its curse. In the
beginning of the 1990s, guerrilla groups, particularly the FARC, adopted a strategy of territorial control, which called for increased
presence in key areas of the Pacific region,
such as Chocó. This was followed by the
arrival of the paramilitary in 1996, which lead
to an acceleration of the armed confrontation,
the unleashing of violence against the civilian
population and more displacement. In 2002
when the peace process between the
government and the FARC guerrillas
collapsed, the situation deteriorated further.
Today, both paramilitary and guerrilla groups
are pushing local agriculturalists in the
southern part of Chocó to grow coca, and are
struggling for the control of local territories to
this end (Escobar, 2003: 159), causing one
the highest mass displacements in recent
history (Escobar, 2000: 115).
there wouldn’t be so much war, so much violence’ (iDMC,
2007:154 (Leydi, 46 years, woman)).
The above statement from Leydi illustrates that it has
not escaped the attention of the displaced that drugs
is feeding the conflict. The current third phase of the
conflict was initiated in 1981 simultaneously with the
development of heroin and cocaine cartels, drugtrafficking (Meertens, 2010:151) and a concentration
of violence around areas of natural richness, such as
the Chocó region (See Box 3). The emergence of
illegal drug cultivation and trade during the 1980s
has added new fuel to the conflict as has it laid the
seeds for a new ‘partner’ - ‘the triple alliance’
(Kirk,1993:1). This alliance was a ‘cooperation’ of the
security forces, drug cartels and wealthy land
owners, who formed paramilitary death squads, and
is according to Kirk at the root of much of today's
displacement' (Kirk, 1993:1). It is estimated that the
paramilitaries control as much as one half of the
country’s illicit drug trade, bringing them an annually
income of $1-$2 billion (Selfa in Molano, 2005:25).
These groups have sought to restrain expansion of left-wing guerrilla groups as well as to
protect landowners and drug lords. Paired with drug funding, the presence of right-wing
paramilitary groups has intensified and expanded the conflict throughout the territory of
Colombia (Ibáñez & Moya, 2010:649).
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The escalation of the conflict in the 1980s resulted in a growing number of attacks against
the civil population and consequently a rise of IDPs due to the violence (Ibáñez & Moya,
2010:649). According to Ibáñea and Moya:
‘These aggressions were not a causal by-product of the war, but instead a deliberate
strategy of illegal armed groups to spread territorial control and diversify funding sources’ (Ibáñez
& Moya, 2010:649).
The illegal and armed left-wing guerrilla and right-wing paramilitary groups - rely on violent
aggressions to force the local population to migrate. These aggressions take the shape of
death threats, selective homicides, massacres, kidnapping, rape, and forced recruitment,
just to mention some (Ibáñez & Moya, 2010:649). Compared to the guerrillas, the rightwing paramilitaries account for the majority of the forced displacement. As of 2011,
paramilitary groups caused and were responsible, for the first time, the highest number of
mass displacements (iDMC & Norwegian Refugee Council, 2012: 56).
What differentiates the current third phase with the past ones is not only the increased
importance of drugs, but also the scale of the phenomenon. More regions and actors than
ever are involved now (Meertens & Stoller, 2001:134). Forced displacement is no longer
limited to isolated regions of Colombia. Today, more than 90 per cent of Colombia’s
departments have expelled or received displaced persons (Calderón et al., 2011:4). The
departments with the highest rates of expulsion of IDPs are: the Pacific Coast departments
of Chocó, Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño; Amazon departments of Meta, Caquetá,
Putumayo; the Caribbean departments of César, Magdalena, and Bolívar; and the Andean
departments of Antioquia, Tolima, Cundinamarca (iDMC, 2011) (See appendix 1).
The conflict has taken its clear toll on civilians as figures from the impact of the conflict
clearly demonstrate. The second half of the 1990s saw a raise in the flows of rural-urban
displacement (Flórez, 2003: 3) and during the last 20 years, 70.000 has died as a result of
the conflict. Every day in Colombia seven people are killed or disappear outside of combat,
with 70 per cent of those cases attributable to the Army and paramilitaries and 30 per cent
of cases blamed on the guerrillas. Despite the fact that massacres have become less
frequent since the beginning of President Uribe's administration (2002-2010), selective
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
killings continues to rise and since 2002 more than 4,000 died in this manner (Oxfam,
2009:6-7). By August 2009, it was estimated, by COHRE, which forced displacement had
affected more than 4.5 million persons, corresponding to 10 per cent of the population of
Colombia, at that time the second highest figure of IDPs worldwide after Sudan (Ibáñez &
Moya, 2010:649). As it was mentioned earlier, the most recent figure from 2011 indicates
that the number has risen and Colombia now ‘houses’ the highest total number of IDPs
anywhere in the world.
The three phases are overlapping and the underlying similarity between the three periods
is the fight over land and individual or community perceived political loyalty, often referred
to as ‘political cleansing’. 'Like 'ethnic cleansing', its Bosnian sibling, 'political cleansing'
rests on the notion that some people are 'dirty' and must be killed or forced out to preserve
the nation's health' (Kirk, 1993:1). For the drug cartels ‘cleansing’ is an instrument to
maintain a permanent access to the raw material for cocaine, and often the only ‘crime’
committed by the victim, is to belong the ‘wrong’ political groups, monitor human rights, or
simply belong to the weakest group of the society, such as women and children (Kirk,
1993:1).
The long history of violence forms the backdrop on which the experiences of the displaced
men and women in Colombia are shaped.
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5. Analysis - Gendered Experience of Migration
In this section an analysis of the gendered experience of migration in Colombia will be
conducted. This will be done by exerting the generated qualitative and quantitative data,
and investigate for gender patters prior to the arrival of violence, during and after in the
resettlement process. This will be done to establish how and why – by the virtue of their
gender – men and women are experiencing displacement differently and how this is
reflected in the initial period of violence and resettlement process.
The issues considered in the analysis are based on the factors listed in the theoretical
framework, which were: historically constructed power relations, possibilities of
employment, female as breadwinners, male’s loss of status, and tensions resulting from
flexible division of domestic labor. Clearly there are more aspects to resettlement than the
ones mentioned here, such as reestablishing a network, but as this paper theoretical
framework rests on a number of case studies that do not consider this aspect, I too due to
comparativeness, will not include this.
The structure of the sections is as follows:
First, the question of gender roles and their job division/tasks prior to displacement will
briefly be considered. Second, the focal point will be on the arrival of violence and its
differentiated impact on the gender. Third, the resettlement process is explored to identify
how migration has affected men and women, in terms of job division and, furthermore, how
this impacts their gender roles and relationships. The comparative structure of this section
aims at enabling the identification of patterns of the experiences of internal displaced,
including both genders, and evaluate how and why by the virtue of gender, this experience
differs between men and women.
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
5.1.
The Before Scenario
NGO assessments reveal that 80 per cent - the majority- of IDPs originate from the rural
areas of the country where they worked as peasants. Moreover, 70 per cent of them
owned a plot of land (NRC, 2009: 9), sufficient for their own daily sustenance (Meertens &
Stoller, 2001:137). Gathered iDMC testimonies from displaced indicates a quiet, simple
and self-sufficient life prior to displacement, as Carlos - displaced from the Chocó
department in 2001, describes:
‘My life before being displaced was very peaceful. I lived on a farm, grew subsistence
crops, and had my own cow, pigs and a normal life’(iDMC, 2007:181(Carlos, 26 years, man)) and
‘No one there had to buy an egg, milk, water, or meat, because we produced it. We had everything
you needed to live.’ (iDMC, 2007:183 (Carlos,26 years, man))
This is reaffirmed by Blanca – displaced from the Atlantic Coast –who also broadens the
description of life prior to the arrival of violence:
‘I lived on the banks of a river. My mum would give each of us a different chore. She
would say to me: “Rank the gardens, gather up all the garbage and burn it.” We did our work, put
the house in order, and always kept everything clean, with the plants in the garden well-watered’
(iDMC, 2007:74 (Blanca, 64 years old, woman))
The latter testimony gives us an idea of the work of the women and supports the findings
of others, who have documented that the majority of displaced women were raised in a
patriarchal culture, subject to male authority (Aysa-Lastra, 2010:285; Giraldo: 2012,1-2).
Men are the main provider of the family, and this provider-role is, according to Escobar2,
the direct source of their authority and the crux of their male identity (Escobar, 2000:117).
Different studies suggest, that the life of women in the rural areas is centred around
domestic and small agricultural activities close to home (Meertens, 2003 :8; Meertens &
Stoller, 2001:137-138), as exemplified by Blanca’s statement. Femininity, in Colombia, is
often associated with vulnerability and emphasizes females’ role as housewives, and
mothers (Giraldo, 2012:3,6). An emphasis that appears to continue in the violent
2
Nora Segura Escobar is a sociologist, formerly Professor at the Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia.
She currently teaches sociology at the Universidad Externado de Colombia-Bogota´ and was for many
years, involved in women’s studies and an active in the social movement of women(International Journal of
Politics, Culture and Society, 2000: 260).
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processes leading up to displacement, as will be explained below. In contrast, men work in
agriculture and livestock breeding (Calederón et al., 2011:23; Meertens, 2003 :8; Meertens
& Stoller, 2001:137-138), and merely 12 per cent are reported to participate in domestic
work (Meertens, 2001:143). Moreover, men have a higher participation rate in open
networks of civic or communal organisations that offers them a considerable larger
geographical, social and political space as compared to that of women, who mostly live a
more isolated life in closed networks of neighbours and family (Meertens & Stoller, 2001:
138,140; Meertens, 2001:140). It has been assessed that nearly 82 per cent women had
lived in the same place or only moved once prior to displacement, in comparative this
number for men was around 65 per cent (Meertens, 2001:140). Arguably, the mobility of
women, when compared to that of men, is somewhat more restricted.
In summary, the empirical data above indicate a tranquil, relative isolated life, prior to the
arrival of violence, where traditional gender roles predominate, with the men being the
heads of the household and providing the main income, and women as housewives
attending all the domestic tasks.
5.2.
Pre-Displacement: Fleeing from the Conflict – Gendered
Impact of the Conflict
When the conflict reaches their area - often to the shock of the women - they are the first
to put pressure on their man to leave (Meertens & Stoller, 2001:138). In 1999, the
paramilitary entered Socuavo, Norte de Santander, killing 130 persons and causing a
massive displacement of peasant famer families (iDMC, 2007:38). The following account is
from one of the displaced from this episode, and it demonstrates the wrenching impacts of
the displacement on families and how they are forced to flee without their belongings:
‘My husband didn’t want to leave. He said that we hadn’t done anything wrong, that
nothing was going to happen to us’ […]‘My husband stayed behind' [...]'I got my daughters out. But
everything was left behind, everything, everything’ (iDMC, 2007:38 (Ana Dilia, 35 years, woman))
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
This testimony points to two losses, firstly, the separation from her husband and secondly,
the loss of subsistence goods. This is not a unique situation and as Meertens argues,
women are triple victims. First, the murder, disappearance or separation from their
spouses produces a personal trauma. Second, their material goods e.g. house, crops,
property and animals are taken/lost. Third, their displacement from the world of their
primary belonging brings about a feeling of social and emotional uprooting (Meertens &
Stoller, 2001:140; Meertens, 2010).
The reasons for fleeing are many, as pointed out in section 3.2. For women, sexual
violence is among the main causes of forced displacement. In 2007 a study conducted by
the Ombudsman Office in four cities in Colombia found that 18 per cent of displaced
women identified sexual violence as a direct cause of displacement, roughly
corresponding to two out of every ten displaced women (Refugees International, 2012;
Oxfam, 2009:3).
When the conflict hits an area, it is often accompanied with sexual violation and torture of
both women and girls. During ‘La Violencia’, as mentioned above in section 4.1, the
murdering of peasant families in the expropriation of land was common practice. While
men in the pre-displacement suffered the direct consequences; the use of rape, torture,
and mutilation of pregnant women (Meertens & Stoller, 2001:133; Escobar, 2000:116),
served as an symbolic act of ‘destroying the seed of the hated enemy’ (Meertens & Stoller,
2001:133). Women became the specific object of gender based violence in the virtue of
being actual or potential mothers, and thus the bearers of future enemies (Meertens &
Stoller, 2001:134).This it indicates a differentiated impact of forced displacement on men
and women, shaped by gender. Thus, gender in itself, came to determine how the process
leading up to displacement was experienced during ‘La Violencia’.
Today, as during La Violencia, rape and other types of sexual violation is used as an
instrument of family torture, to destabilize populations, humiliate, extract information and
intimidate (Meertens & Stoller, 2001:134: Oxfam, 2009:11; Ward & Marsh, 2006:4;
Birkeland, 2009:502). During the half century that the conflict has lasted, it has been
utilized by all armed groups – state military forces, paramilitaries and guerrilla groups – as
a tool to attack and demonstrate power (Oxfam, 2009:11). In virtue of their sex, women are
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used as a mean to cause harm and terrorize the civilian population (Oxfam, 2009:11) but
also to affirm male power over females (Escobar, 2000:116).
The following testimony from a displaced anonymous woman illustrates how the armed
groups used sexual violation as a strategy to create fear when they first entered Delicias,
in the Arauca department (box 4):
Box 4: Key Facts from a
‘In Delicias they killed a 10-year-old girl. They slit her throat and
Region of Displacement –
mutilated her. It was around the time that they killed my
Arauca
daughter. About that time they cut off the breasts of another
indigenous girl who was 16 years old. They wanted to make their
Located next to the border of
Venezuela, the Arauca department in Colombia has recently
experienced a significant increase in the number of internally
displaced. Since early 2008,
more than 4,000 people have
been displaced, taking the total
number to 28,000, ten per cent of
the overall population of the department. Moreover, another
80,000 persons are at risk of
displacement. Arauca is a region
rich in natural resources, i.e. oil,
and illegal armed groups have
been escalating conflict in order
to gain control of the area.
(Lari & Kurtzer, 2008)
presence known[...]’
(Oxfam, 2009:19 (anonymous woman from Valledupar, Cesar)).
Moreover, for a young woman, a weak suspicion – such as
a wink, an appealing look, an allegation of connection to
one of the armed groups, or merely the resemblance with
an image of an attractive guerrilla, is enough to be exposed
to sexual violation (Meertens, 2001:139).
‘[...] When I got to Dabeiba, the paramilitaries were there. They
said I was a guerrilla. The paramilitary commander raped me.
…You have to keep your mouth shut[...]’
(Oxfam, 2009:17(anonymous woman displaced from Neiva))
Men are more likely than women to pick up arms, as female
participation in armed conflicts is regarded as an infringement on traditional gender roles,
needless to say, men are more likely today to suffer the direct consequences of the conflict
(Giraldo, 2012:1).
As demonstrated, women, when compared to men, are in a higher risk of enduring sexual
violation, while men on the other hand, are more likely to be killed. A claim supported by
the fact that men make up nearly 90 per cent of all violent deaths in Colombia (Comisión
Colombiana de Juristas cited in Meertens & Stoller, 2001:133). These findings
demonstrate how gender differences are manifested and played out at the arrival of
violence. Studies by Meertens and Escobar are useful to shed some light on the findings,
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
and may facilitate a greater understanding of why - by the virtue of gender - men and
women are experiencing the impact of the conflict differently.
As mentioned above, women - when seen in the role as mothers - are accused of carrying
the seeds and raising new enemies. Men on the other hand, are accused of being
collaborators and are placed in the role as helper in a more practical sense (Meertens,
2001: 139; Escobar, 2000:116). Men can be applied a number of roles, such as, the role
as farmer, who provides food; the role as drivers, who facilitate transportation; the role as
shopkeepers, who sell the things needed for daily survival (Meertens, 2001:139) and as
exemplified by the testimony below, the role as security guard:
‘Collaborate with them, for example, by cooking their meals, alerting them if you see
another group in the area’ (iDMC, 2007: 85 (José, 23 years, man))
During the conflict/pre-displacement, the families migrate as according to established
causes of the Guiding Principles, which emphasize coercion over an improved economic
situation.
Clearly, men and women are experiencing the violence leading up to the internal
displacement differently. Arguably the reason for why it is so, may be sought in the
gender as a social and symbolic construct, as defined in section 3.1.1., which creates a
division whereby females, in the Colombian conflict context, are defined by who they are,
and males by what they do, arguably demonstrating the two-way relationship of gender
and social constructions. Women are used as a strategic tool to intimidate civilians, while
men if not killed, are used to facilitate the practical needs of the armed groups. It is
evident, that the experiences and roles of men and women, before displacement and in
the conflict leading up to displacement, give them different vulnerabilities and abilities in a
resettlement context
5.3.
Post-Displacement: The Resettlement Process
The path of the IDPs is often a very direct one. When forced away from the rural sites in
the different Colombia departments, such as Chocó and Arauca, they head for the urban
areas in Colombia, where they often end up in camps for displaced persons, other towns,
or as rural people living in the slums of major cities like Bogotá, Medellín, Cali or
Barranquilla (Selfa, 2005:26; Carrillo, 2009:530). They seek to the cities to find some level
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of safety and anonymity (iDMC & Norwegian Refugee Council, 2012:47). The conflict as
described in section 4, forces persons to flee from the aggression. The displacement
following these aggressions has some similar impacts on both genders, such as loss of
assets, capital and labour (Calderón et al., 2011:23; Carrillo, 2009:528). According to a
survey on loss of assets conducted by the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC) & the World Food Programme (WFP), when people flee, they abandon their house
(72 per cent), furniture (70 per cent) and livestock (58 per cent ) (ICRC & WFP, 2007:66).
Not only do these figures underline the state of emergency in which these persons are
when fleeing but also, that the loss of assets may be considered a general experience for
both genders.
Women make up the majority of the displaced. Figures from 2007, show that somewhere
between 49 and 58 per cent of those arriving in urban areas as internally displaced are
women (IDPVoices, 2012), by adding children, this group accounts for 80 per cent (NRC,
2009: 12). As mentioned in the methodology, section 2, the data/figures are incomplete as
they are not split up by age and gender. Estimates show that 40 per cent of the displaced
females arrive as widows fleeing with their children, and another 18 per cent of the nonwidows were, following the displacement,
left by their husband (Rojas cited in
Meertens
&
Stoller,
2001:135;
Oxfam,
Box 5: Registered and unregistered IDPs
according to head of household
2009:14). Furthermore, 61 per cent of
households are two-parent families, and out
of these 16 per cent have a female head of
household. Single-headed families account
for 39 per cent of the total, and 91 per cent
of these are headed by women (Box 5)
(Carrillo, 2009:531,535). The most common
trigger for a female headed household is the
murder or abduction of their husband during
Source: Carrillo, 2009:535
the conflict leading to displacement (Ibáñez
& Querubin, 2004).
Not only, are female-headed households uprooted from their place of origin, an experience
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
they share with male-headed households, but they also face the loss of their spouse, the
loss of all their belongings, faces the challenges of resettling in the urban area including
carry the economic responsibility of the family on their own (Ibáñez & Querubin, 2004;
Oxfam, 2009:17). NGO research have moreover found that the average working members
of female headed households earn less than other displaced, and that they are the
households where the largest relative poverty can be found (ICRC & WFP, 2007:65).
Displacement arguably, has a disproportionate more negative impact on female-vice versa
male-headed families, who are more likely to be part of a two-parent family. The reason for
this is the lower income level and not having a partner to help look after the children,
leaving the single-headed female-households more vulnerable in an urban environment.
One of the strongest contrasts with the male experiences of forced displacement as
compared with that of women are their opportunities to enter the labour market in urban
areas. In the urban environment, the probability of displaced women and men of being
employed in the subsistence informal sector3 is respectively, 36 and 26 per cent. With
regard to insertion into the formal sector, findings indicate that parallel with a female
decrease in probability of being employed in the informal sector, (from 36 per cent to 28
per cent) the probability of working in the formal sector increases as their time of residence
increase, unlike that of displaced men (Flórez, 2003:16; Aysa-Lastra:229). A comparative
study of labour participation within displaced and non-displaced has found that the overall
employment rate of married men drops with 8 per cent after displacement, and, if they
manage to get a job, the wages and the hours of work remain the same. In comparison,
women work eight hour more per week and earn about 1.8 times more than before.
Moreover where women prior to displacement made low contributions to household
earnings - due to time spent on domestic non-paid tasks - the displacement has lead to a
significant increase of female contribution, as 26 per cent of the displaced women
contribute to more than half of the expenditures, compared to 15 per cent for nondisplaced women (Calderón et a. 2011:15-17, 20).
One could argue that the higher income give women an advantage over men. On the other
hand, what the data illustrates may be an increase in income driven by longer working
3
Non-protected persons who are either self-employed, or working within the domestic service, and/or unpaid(Flórez, 2003:16).
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hours rather than a de facto increase of their salary (Calderón et al., 2011:17), thus the
advantage is dubious.
As pointed out, the employment of men falls in an urban context. The below testimony of
Carlos - displaced to the city Medellín from Chocó in 2001 – exemplify some of the
challenges men are facing in the town:
‘In the city, it’s more likely that they’ll give work to a woman than a man. As a man,
you don’t find work and if you do find it, you don’t know how to do it. A person whose lived [sic] all
his life in the countryside doesn’t know how to mix cement with sand. By comparison, women get
work cooking, washing clothes and ironing ‘[…] ‘The men end up spending more time with their
kids than the women. A man ends up practically changing from a man to a woman, because he
has to take care of the family and do the things a housewife does.’ (iDMC, 2007:184 (Carlos, 26
years, man))
Carlos’ testimony illustrates some important observations with regard to the male
experience. First, it reaffirms that women have a higher chance, than men, for finding job
in a resettlement situation. Second, a break in their occupational experience, meaning that
men do not feel equipped to take on a job. Third, an indication of a more flexible division of
domestic tasks and a change in gender roles within the household, where women work
outside the home and the men stay home to do the housework (Carrillo, 2009:542),
reaffirmed by figures suggesting a raise in male participation in domestic affairs from 12
per cent, as mentioned earlier, to 36 per cent following displacement (Meertens,
2001:143).
As described earlier, the families are fleeing from the rural parts in Colombia, where most
of the men worked as peasant farmers. The agricultural expertise and competences of
men do not provide them with an easy entrance to the urban labour market, as most of the
urban jobs offered either is in the construction or security industry, which required some
level of previous training. Whereas, experience of women and their rural domestic
expertise, provide them with a ready connection the urban-labour market, through sectors
such personal service and small food businesses (Meertens, 2003:8; Escobar, 2000:117;
Calderón et al. 2011:23). The apparent easier female assimilation process, is supported by
their higher level of insertion into the formal labour sector - over time - as presented
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
earlier. Thus, the changes in the labour conditions are gender heterogeneous, favoring
women whose skills are more akin to urban occupation, over men. The role of displaced
women as leading income earners together with a higher chance of finding a job, in a
resettlement situation, implies a shift from men as breadwinners to women, within the
internally displaced community. This specific impact of migration is similar to the findings in
the case studies presented in section 3.2., where it was found that migration on one hand,
led to an increase in the women’s economic contribution to the household, and on the
other hand, a decline in men’s income and increased unemployment. This agency of
women, demonstrates that women as subjects have taken all these situations in their
stride and continued their struggle for betterment of the livelihoods of their families with
greater success than men.
The observed impacts of displacement on men in a resettlement context are: higher level
of participation in domestic tasks, a negative economic situation, diminishing provider role,
resulting from a difficult urban assimilation reflected in increased unemployment, all factors
that in total may contribute to a feeling of loss of status and higher level of stress.
Similar for the women the observed impacts are: a reduction in domestic tasks, a ‘positive’
economic situation, resulting from an easier assimilation to an urban context, reflected by
higher participation in economic activities.
One should be careful to draw the conclusion that displaced women in Colombia, parallel
to their Eritrean counterparts, are experiencing an increased bargaining strength, on the
base of an increased economic contribution. Assigning the women the status as head of
the household based on income and an increased burden on their shoulders, is not a
straight forward case in a patriarchal society, as indicated by the presented case studies
from Latin America in section 3.2.
Defining who heads a household in the presence of two adult figures, depends largely on
cues such as traditional gender roles and the internal power relation in a relationship. As it
described in the first sub-section of this section, rural men in Colombia are traditionally the
head of household centered around a patriarchal culture. In the case of internally
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displaced women4, the case can be made that despite being the breadwinner, the status
as head of the household may be weakened by a general lack of recognition by the family
and society, enforced by historically constructed power relations (Osorio cited in AysaLastra, 2010:285).
Research seems to support this suggestion, as it shows no significant increase in
displaced Colombian women’s bargaining strength as compared to the one of her partner
(Calderón et al., 2011:17). Similar to the studies by Bever and Lawson, presented in
section 3.2, the findings in this paper imply that the experiences of the women in a postmigration situation are strongly influenced by cultural constructions, such as traditional
Colombian gender relations; hence, it reaffirms the leverage of a patriarchal society on
gender roles. Despite a increased labour activity and income, the power relationship within
the household appears unchanged.
Scholars have stated that a drop in male employment opportunities, adds to an erosion of
the male role as provider, but also adds an additional loss to that already suffered by the
displacement itself, the loss of status. These factors, may prompt frustration directed at
their partner, as it may be interpreted as an infringement on traditional gender roles
(Birkeland, 2009:502; Calderón et al., 2011:4; Carrillo, 2009:542; Escobar, 2000:117, 121).
To explore this statement, it is relevant to consider data on domestic violence within
displaced family to check whether displacement was followed by an increase in the level of
intra-violence.
A 2003 study by the Ministry for Social Protection in Colombia reported that displaced
women living in barrios in or near Cartagena had suffered higher levels of physical and
sexual violence since displacement than prior to flight (Ward & Marsh, 2006:7). The
phenomenon of violence within displaced is widespread. A 2006 government survey,
found that almost 50 per cent of all displaced women endured domestic violence at the
hands of their partners, after being displaced (UNHCR, 2006). As a comparison the total
numerical value of domestic violence, if including all women in Colombia, is 30 per cent
4
widowed, abandoned & none-widowed whose man is still around
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
(UN, 2005: 132)5. Arguably, the data point to and reaffirm a need of men to display male
dominance over female in a resettlement context, as reflected by a raise in domestic
violence.
Thus, the figures indicate that the occurrence of a shift from male to female provider, as a
typical consequence of displacement, is accompanied by an increase in domestic
violence. The scale of these figures lends itself to two interpretations. On the one hand, it
makes obvious the vulnerability of Colombian women and on the other hand it reinforces
the patriarchal system. The violence that caused the displacement and now continues
during resettlement, points toward a vicious cycle, wherein women work more hours per
week, and have less leisure time, and domestic violence escalates, leaving the women in
a highly vulnerable position.
An explanation to why the experiences are taking this shape for both genders, can be
sought in the dynamics of the Colombian patriarchal system. As explained above, the
provider role of men, is at the crux of their identity and their response to the erosion of this
identity due to displacement, reaffirms the importance of historically constructed power
relationships, as they resort to traditional means of conflict resolutions within a patriarchal
system, that of violence. Thus, Hondagneu-Sotelo, Matsuko, Sorenson (presented in
section 3.2.) suggestion - that women's empowerment is brought about by migration, may
hardly be a reality in a Colombian context, as the specific cultural traits of gender roles and
relationship - patriarchal system - in Colombia have a considerable leverage on the
experience of the genders and how it manifest itself prior, during and after the
displacement process.
The changes in gender roles seem to appear without any considerable shifts in the power
dynamics on the household relationship. Instead, the cultural social system deeply
enrooted in the society, to which the Colombian women are exposed throughout the entire
displacement process repeats itself, as they first suffer exploitation and abuse at the hands
of actors in the armed conflict, and secondly at the hands of their partner. This combined
5
This number may be polluted, as it includes all women aged 15 to 49 in Colombia, thus displaced as well
as non-displaced are included in the figure. However, it gives us a clear idea that violence among nondisplaced is considerable lower.
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points to unlimited negative experience of displacement, reflected by an immense level of
physical, psychological and social consequences for many of Colombia’s women and girls.
Rather than bringing gender equality, the migration process within a patriarchal system,
appears to reinforce gender inequality, and shape the internal displacement experience of
the gender.
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
6.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of forced migration, in particular the
changes in gender roles and relationships of IDPs in Colombia. The main research
question asked was: How and why - by the virtue of their gender – are men and women
experiencing internal displacement differently in Colombia, and how is this reflected in the
initial period of violence and resettlement process?
The literature discussed shows that migration involves an inescapable renegotiation of
gender roles that is reflected on the families in a variety of ways depending on the
circumstances of the movement. IDPs respond in many ways similar to migration.
The internal conflict in Colombia forces large numbers of persons to flee as they seek
protection from the aggressions of armed guerrilla and paramilitary groups. Violent
displacement is an extremely traumatic experience where both men and women share the
common lot of being victims of aggression, insecurity and fear; powerlessness in the face
of weapons; and the loss of assets.
However, as demonstrated, these experiences of displacement pass through a ‘gender
filter’, played out and reflected in the pre-displacement and resettlement phase. As noted
in the employed gender definition, gender is a social construct of roles and opportunities
associated with being a woman or a man, and as mentioned in the introduction, it is about
challenging the uneven impact of displacement, both as means to reduce the negative
impacts of displacement and create more effective responses, and as an end in itself.
To summarize, in the pre-displacement phase, the IDPs’ experiences are conditioned by
the nature of the gender violence to which they are exposed, which creates a dichotomy
whereby men are defined by their actions, and women by who they are.
In the post-displacement phase, the households of displaced populations display features
of an over representation of women, widows, one-parent families, and female-headed
households. Exploring the impact of the resettlement process on gender roles and
relationships the study revealed that displaced men and women take different resettlement
trajectories. It considered a number of factors such as: historically constructed power
relations; possibilities of employment; females as breadwinners, male’s loss of status; and
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tensions resulting from flexible division of domestic labor,. Because of their rural
background, the displaced men often experience a 'rejection' by the urban-labour market.
For the same reason displaced women are experiencing an easier assimilation process,
reflected by a higher level of employment - including in the formal sector- more hours of
work and increased economic contributions to the household. Men, on the contrary, are
experiencing a reduction in their economic household contribution, as well as an
unchanged level of wages and number of work hours, when compared to the prior
displacement level. Hence, while women experience new possibilities as a result of
resettlement, men lose their role as provider.
The distinct impact of migration on the genders is gaining prominence on the international
agenda, as exemplified by the Beijing Platform for Action, where the profound effects of
migration on family structures and disproportionate gender consequences are recognized.
However, despite the signing of Resolution 1325 in 2008 by the Constitutional Court of
Colombia, and the awareness of the extent of gender-based violence and the armed
groups' systematic abuse of women in Colombia, the effect of it in practice remains to be
discovered, as the described shift in gender roles is accompanied by an increase in
domestic violence exercised by men on their spouses.
The wielding of violence as a traditional tool within a patriarchal system, reaffirms the
importance of constructed power relationships, and its influence on gender roles. The
unequal impact of displacement on the genders is part of structural patterns of violence
and gender inside the Colombian society, which are intensified by the condition
displacement. The participation of women in the labour force does not appears to bring
about a positive experience of migration. On the contrary, it reproduces the violence
encountered during the conflict leading up to displacement. The displacement situation
has the potential to redefine the social construction of the genders, in a more femalefriendly way. Women as actors have taken the displacement situation in their stride and
struggle for betterment of the livelihoods of the families, with apparently great success
than men. Clearly there is a need to develop gender responsive policies and strategies
that can interrupt the cycle of gender violence in which they are absorbed, and
furthermore, attend to and stimulate the specific needs of the genders.
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On the Run in Colombia - Forced Displacement and the Gendered Experience
7. Appendix 1.
Locations of Displacement 2008 - Colombia
Source: iDMC (2011)
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