Gender and Displaced Migration Governance in Scotland

Displacement – the condition experienced by people seeking asylum and refuge from persecution – is a gendered phenomenon. This means that gender norms and gendered systems play a role in determining who is vulnerable to displacement and how they are vulnerable. To treat displacement as a gendered phenomenon is to consider how gender norms impact the experiences of displaced people of all genders. However, it is recognised that people in categories outwith the gender norm, including women, trans, queer and non-binary people are especially vulnerable to conditions of displacement. Integration – the process through which asylum seekers and refugees are supported by public and third sector providers to access services and opportunities related to social citizenship – is also a gendered condition. The gendering of integration begins at the stage at which a claim for asylum or refuge is lodged, determines access to services and support, and influences opportunities for education, employment and citizenship. Despite gender informed approaches to policy and practice in Scotland, there is evidence that gender inequalities are insufficiently addressed across categories associated with the successful ‘integration’ of asylum seekers and refugees, including accommodation, language provision and labour market access. GLIMER findings are as follows: Housing and Accommodation a. The no-choice basis through which Dispersal housing is allocated leaves women and girls experiencing domestic sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) vulnerable to further abuse, or at risk of homelessness and exploitation should they leave. b. The category of No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) compounds the risk of homelessness and exploitation for displaced women as it restricts their access to women’s refuges. c. Gendered perceptions of vulnerability impact the extent to which resources are available to support displaced men experiencing homelessness or destitution. d. Housing administrators were sympathetic to but unfamiliar with the specific housing needs of displaced trans migrants. e. ‘Clustering’ accommodation practices, used by housing practitioners to ensure that Dispersed, asylum seeking women are not isolated from others in their communities, inadvertently place women at risk of exploitation by organised groups who identify and target ‘clustered’ areas. ESOL Provision a. Gendered classroom dynamics may adversely impact refugee women’s opportunity to learn English. Refugee women’s groups reported that women were more likely to access, progress and feel safe in language classes if they had access to gender-segregated provision. b. ESOL classes which covered issues related to women’s health, maternity and domestic lives were infrequent and under-resourced c. The benefits of gender-segregated ESOL courses were disputed by ESOL providers, who cited capacity and resourcing barriers to gender-based ESOL. Some providers also argued against gender-segregated ESOL on ideological grounds. d. Displaced women often face a ‘double’ childcare barrier to ESOL access e. Interpreting situations create potential for gendered exploitation and violence to which women are particularly vulnerable. Labour Market a) Refugee women in employment are frequently under-employed, or placed in positions unlikely to lead to career progression b) Women-specific employment services for displaced migrants in Scotland are almost non-existent and chronically under-resourced c) Displaced women from cultures with conservative gender norms were likely to face double gendered barriers to the labour market: (1) from domestic environments and (2) from discriminatory employer attitudes d) Despite stakeholders reporting a track record of refugee women setting up their own businesses, enterprise and entrepreneurship services are gender blind. Gendered approaches to integration services in Scotland exist on a spectrum: ‘gender blind’, gender-specialist and gender-mainstreamed. The extent to which gender is actively considered as part of service provision correlates to access, representation and safety. a. Gender-specialist and gender-mainstreamed approaches had a demonstrable track record of improving access to services, support and opportunities for displaced women b. Calls for gender-mainstreamed approaches to housing, ESOL and employment were often too quickly dismissed by service providers and failed to consider the merits or reasons under-pinning the requests. c. Under-resourcing for public and third sector organisations which provide services for displaced migrants is a barrier to gender-mainstreamed approaches. d. Gender-mainstreamed approaches were only successful if they also considered the intersections of race and the legal status to displaced women’s experiences in Scotland. Though the Scottish Government has used the opportunities of devolution to develop a markedly more progressive policy approach to gender dynamics than that of the UK Government, (a) restrictions in the devolved/reserved architecture and (b) an absence of intersectional thinking on matters relating to displacement, race and gender has left gendered inequalities experienced by displaced migrants in Scotland under-addressed. In the current political context, there is opportunity in Scotland to build on New Scots and create a distinctive gender-mainstreamed approach to ‘integration’ policy for asylum seekers and refugees