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Key issues list

Key issues for 1: SGBV

1.1 Key issues identified: Rape and sexual abuse by: Stepfathers, drug-affected community members, bus drivers. Vulnerable because of lack of childcare when parents work, and because of shared accommodation.

1.2 Key issues identified: As 1.1 plus forced and early marriage due to structural issues as culture. Pregnancy sometimes resulting in death. “Sexualisation” of children, shaming of raped girls, and children bearing babies of rape.

1.3 Key issues identified: Family and all forms of GBV exacerbated by mainly male drug-taking. No access to justice. High rates of rape and harassment in illegal workplaces. Forced to sell sex to feed themselves and their families.

1.4 Key issues identified: As in 1.3 plus: this age group reported very high levels of SGBV & little access to SGBV services. Low levels of education making them even more vulnerable to workplace rape and exploitation. Poor quality shelter without locks.

1.5 Key issues identified: Older women also suffer from rape, especially when isolated in camps and slum areas.
They are victims of domestic and family violence as they are seen as burdens by their members.

1.6 Key issues identified: As in 1.1 to 1.5 plus: They are targeted for rape and harassment and find it even more difficult to access services or justice once this has happened. They are also very likely to be forced into marriage by their families.

1.7 Key issues identified: Women and girls with a disability are extremely vulnerable to rape and sexual abuse because they are often isolated unable to travel, or sometimes to reveal what has happened. They sometimes bear children of rape and this places additional weight on their families.

Key issues for 2: Education

2.1 Key issues identified: Families stopping girls from going to school because of sexual harassment travelling to and from school.
Rape and sexual harassment from teachers. Forced to exchange sexual favours for good grades and scholastic materials.
Lack of money for school fees and materials. Family preference to use scarce resources for boys education.

2.2 Key issues identified: As in 2.1 plus: Forced and early marriage and pregnancy. Shame and marginalisation because of rape and bearing a child of rape. Lack of childcare to continue education for young mothers. Forced to work to assist the family. Forced to care for other family members while parents work.

2.3 Key issues identified: Lack of access to education when children contribute to early marriage and a cycle of disadvantage and violence for young wives and their children. Poverty, lack of childcare and other structural issues often prevent this group from pursuing adult education and training opportunities.

2.4 Key issues identified: Lack of access to education and training opportunities increases their vulnerability to SGBV. Often they are forced to sell sex to survive, and this marginalises them even further and makes access to education even harder.

2.5 Key issues identified: Women who are preliterate and who have been unable to access training are not able to access written information. This increases marginalisation and isolation from the wider community.

2.6 Key issues identified: As in 1.1 and 2.2 plus: LBTI girls are stigmatised and shamed, which often leads to them dropping out of school. This continues in adult life, and they are excluded from training opportunities because of community attitudes. This leads to depression which further hinders educational opportunities.

2.7 Key issues identified: Lack of specialist services deny girls and women with physical and intellectual disabilities access to schools and other training opportunities. Lack of infrastructures such as poor roads, lack of ramps and specialist equipment present major barriers. Community and service provider attitudes are sometimes negative and do not even consider the needs of people with a disability.

Key issues for 3: Participation

3.1 Key issues identified: In many refugee sites girls are valued less than boys and are excluded from participation. Girl children should be seen and not heard. As it is expected that their fathers and brothers will make decisions on their behalf.

3.2 Key issues identified: As in 3.1 plus: If girls are denied education, they will lack the skills and confidence to participate in meetings and decision-making activities. Early marriage is a major barrier, and parents fears for the safety of girls outside in camps or slum areas leads to parents preventing girls from going out to meetings.

3.3 Key issues identified: As in 3.2 plus: In this age group, once a girl is married, fathers pass the responsibility of decision making over her life on to her husband. It is difficult for women, especially single women to stand up for their rights. If they have been denied an education and have care of children further hinders their participation. Lack of childcare is a major barrier.

3.4 Key issues identified: As in 3.1 & 3.2 women who have had limited access to education can struggle to participate in decision making. Family and gender-based violence are major barriers for women in this age group, who often also bear the additional responsibility of supporting extended families.  

3.5 Key issues identified: Older women are often not given the respect that they might have expected in their country of origin. Their wisdom and knowledge are not seen as relevant in the refugee context, and their contributions are often disregarded. Lack of technical literacy or access to basic equipment further impedes their ability to participate.   

3.6 Key issues identified: As in 3.2-3.5 plus: The extreme stigma and marginalisation members of the LBTI communities experience blocks them from being included in participatory and decision-making forums unless they consciously hide their LBTI identity. Pushing to be included can lead to further marginalisation and violence.

3.7 Key issues identified: Over and above the barriers faced by other women, the additional barriers faced by women and girls with a disability include lack of understanding of their ability to participate, exclusion on grounds of their difference, lack of equipment to assist them to manage their disabilities, including lack of safe ways to travel to meetings on good pathways or accessible meeting halls.

Key issues for 4: Infrastructure

4.1 Key issues identified: Young girls face the danger of SGBV travelling to unsegregated wash facilities. They often live in insecure overcrowded shelters, sometimes with unsafe energy supplies. They are left unprotected when their parents seek work. Food is often insufficient, and water is scarce.  

4.2 Key issues identified: As for 4.1 plus: Girls of this age are often forced into marriage as the family cannot feed all members. They are most at risk of rape and assault when accessing WASH facilities, and if they have to forage for fuel, water and food in the forest. The unsafe and overcrowded shelter is a constant health and safety issue.  

4.3 Key issues identified: As for 4.2 plus: This group also suffers from a lack of sexual and reproductive health care, which has a profound impact on their lives. They usually take prime responsibility for providing the basic needs for their families and are in danger of SGBV when collecting food or working illegally to feed their families.

4.4 Key issues identified: As for 4.3 plus: If a woman is single or a single mother she can find it difficult to obtain secure shelter. If she is provided with building materials in camps, she has to pay men, to construct her shelter, often with sex.

4.5 Key issues identified: Older women have a range of health issues that are not addressed. If they have mobility problems, they find it difficult to access water, collect rations, or go to WASH facilities or travel to health centres. If they are pre-literate, they have difficulty accessing information, such as about the COVID-19 pandemic.

4.6 Key issues identified: Members of LBTI communities face additional barriers when attempting to access WASH facilities and shelter. There are very few health or support services for these communities, and the severe depression and suicide rates are high. Because of the stigma applied to their status, they have few avenues of a complaint or to access justice.

4.7 Key issues identified: Women with a disability face major structural barriers accessing any of the basic needs addressed in this thematic area. The attitudes of the community and service providers exacerbate this. There are few specialist disability services, and their additional needs are seldom recognised or articulated.

Key issues for 5: Protection Capacity

5.1 Key issues identified: Lack of adequate and targeted SGBV prevention and response services. Lack of access to Birth Registration a major problem in many sites, which prevents children from obtaining everything from food rations to schools. This is a key aspect of Statelessness.

5.2 Key issues identified: As in 5.1 plus lack of individual registration as refugees ties adolescent girls to abusive fathers and husbands. Lack of age, gender and diversity disaggregated data means that the specific protection needs of this group and women and girls across all Thematic areas are not recorded and responded to.

5.3 Key issues identified: As in 5.1 and 5.2 plus stateless women are not able to register and provide citizenship for their children. Lack of individual access to refugee cards means that women who are victims of SGBV are tied to perpetrators to meet their basic needs. There are inadequate shelters to house them and their children if they need to escape.

5.4 Key issues identified: As in 5.1 -5.3 plus women in this age group, who are most likely to be victims of family and gender-based violence, are unable to escape because of lack of access to goods and services in their own right. There is little access to justice and thus perpetrators function with impunity. This makes all women more vulnerable.

5.5 Key issues identified: There is little acknowledgement of “Elder Violence”, and no specific services are provided to address this. There are many structural barriers that must be addressed to enable elder women to access protection services.  

5.6 Key issues identified: As in 5.1 – 5.5 plus despite an acknowledgement that LBTI refugees exist in all refugee sites, and that they face more discrimination, stigma and marginalisation than other refugees. They are not acknowledged in data collection and there are very few protection services available to them. In fact, stigma often prevents them from accessing mainstream protection services.  

5.7 Key issues identified: As in 5.1 -5.6 plus the multiple barriers faced by girls and women across a wide range of disabilities are seldom addressed and there are few specialist services provided for them. Lack of disaggregated data is a major problem.

Key issues for 6: Livelihoods

6.1 Key issues identified: Exploitative child labour exists across refugee sites. At times parents are forced to make their children work in order for the family to survive. Children forced to work cannot attend school, and lack of education leaves them vulnerable to exploitative jobs in the future. This also increases the risks of early and forced marriage of girls.  

6.2 Key issues identified: As in 6.1 plus young girls are at particular risk of rape and sexual abuse when forced into illegal and exploitative workplaces. If they are denied the education they cannot aspire to secure jobs and livelihoods. Early marriage, unsafe work and selling sex are often the only options for girls.

6.3 Key issues identified: As in 6.1 and 6.2 plus early marriage and pregnancy mean that many young women cannot attend skills training and job opportunities. Many of these are limited to girls who have managed to obtain reasonable levels of education. There is very little “whole of life” education, which is also a barrier to safe and sustainable employment.

6.4 Key issues identified: As in 6.1-6.3 plus pre-literate mature women are excluded from many jobs and training opportunities. Work and livelihoods offered to this group are ill-conceived and tend to focus on skills for which there is no demand and “handicrafts” for which there is no market.

6.5 Key issues identified: Elderly women are not considered in the majority of jobs and livelihoods projects. Despite previous experience and skills, they are invisible or treated as a “burden”.  

6.6 Key issues identified: The blanket marginalisation of LBTI communities means that unless they are willing to hide their sexual identity, they will not be included or accepted into jobs, and livelihoods training and programs.

6.7 Key issues identified: Added to poor community attitudes towards women and girls with a disability, the lack of infrastructure, equipment and specialist services exclude the majority of women with a disability from jobs and livelihood opportunities. If they are able to work they are condemned to the lowest status jobs.

Key issues for 7: Facilitating Solutions

7.1 Key issues identified: Durable solutions for this group are almost always in the hands of their parents. Young girls who are without family protection are extremely vulnerable and are often not included in the consideration of durable solutions.  

7.2 Key issues identified: Unaccompanied minors are an extremely vulnerable group, subject to exploitation including being forced to sell sex to survive. Their lack of educational opportunities and family support are seldom taken into account when considering durable appropriate solutions.  

7.3 Key issues identified: Women who have been denied education are often not considered for resettlement and skills-based alternative pathways are not available to them. Women dependent on their husbands often have no say when considering durable solutions for themselves and their families.

7.4 Key issues identified: As for 7.3 plus women and girls who are known to have been forced to sell sex in order to survive and support their families are often excluded from opportunities such as resettlement and are shamed in host communities.

7.5 Key issues identified: Older women have no say in decisions made by their families about potential durable solutions. Sole elderly women are rarely considered for resettlement, or other programs and are often left behind and excluded from opportunities offered to their younger family members.

7.6 Key issues identified: The stigma attached to LBTI status can also exclude these groups from accessing durable solutions, including programs designed to assist local integration. They are often faced with hiding their gender identity or taking the dangerous risk of seeking asylum in a third country that may be prepared to grant asylum on these grounds.

7.7 Key issues identified: Women and girls with a disability face all of the barriers faced by other women and additionally are targeted for exclusion on the grounds that their disability is a burden on the host or new communities which might provide a durable solution. They may not even physically be able to return to their country of origin even if it were safe to do so.