I read this excerpt on why gender needs to be a key dimension of refugees. The excerpt was written in 1987 but can still be applicable today. This is a big part of acculturation because before some of these immigrants even had a chance to there is a reason they had to. The paper breaks down what people see as a refugee. They see them as this big mob of people. And not the gender differences that may arise from the refugees as individuals. The fact that the world sees refugees as just one big conglomerate can be very detrimental to women refugees. “The Geneva Refugee Convention does not point out the fact that women can be oppressed in a country.” (Indra 1987) This can be seen as an oversight by the convection because it says oppression by the government but not oppression that a woman might face because of the same government. “The example she gives is a woman stepping out of her gender role in Iran.”(Indra 1987) In some countries, a woman’s voice is only heard in the private sector. This gives into her voice being silenced because she is not seen or heard as much.
This silenced that happens in gender can be expanded upon in flight and in refugee camps. “The scarce recourse that makes flight possible is allocated to men” (Indra 1987) Flight is when a refugee leaves their home country. This can cause harm to the women in that country because their problems can be seen as less important. It can also cause families where there is no father present to be overlooked when it comes to getting resources. As she states most organizations look for a family structure when it comes to resettling. This could be because in their opinion the family will have a better chance of succeeding. That means single mothers with kids can be at a big disadvantage compared to their counterparts. This goes beyond just organizations but also researchers who are studying this topic.
The process of acculturation is to bring one culture into contact with another culture (Foster 1962). So, this process starts long before they even step foot into their new country. So, if there a various gender differences happening while the person is in refugee status. It can carry over while they are going through the acculturation process. Because as long as that immigrant lives in that county they truly never stop acculturating. And if they already feel as if their gender has affected the way they were treated by the organization and the people in the organization. It could significantly affect how they acculturate for their lifetime. This brings up the question about how organizations may see the gender difference of refuses today. Is it still the same as it was in 1987? Or has the mindset changed? How does this all together affect the acculturation process when it comes to gender differences?