Rebuilding shattered lives of refugee women victims of organized violence: case of Pakistan

Reconstruyendo vidas devastadas de mujeres refugiadas víctimas de la violencia organizada: el caso de Pakistán

According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the status of refugees and its protocol, a refugee is defined as "any person who is outside his or her country, who has a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, and whom the state is unwilling or unable to protect".

The definition of a refugee does not mention gender and has traditionally tended to be interpreted in a way that does not take account of women's experiences of persecution. It is increasingly being recognized that the forms of persecution experienced by women are often different from those experienced by men, and that women are persecuted because of their gender. The evidence that women may be able to bring forward to support their refugee claim may also be different- and more difficult to provide - than that available to men. These differences need to be fully taken into account if women's human rights are to be respected. Pakistan has been one of the largest recipients of refugees. In spite of repatriation of two million Afghan refugees, it still had 1.2 million Afghans. (UNHCR 1997). The ruling Taliban's gender discrimination policies and practices have obstructed repatriation on the one hand and have led many to flee the Taliban controlled part of Afghanistan.

In Pakistan, the overall human rights situation is serious, yet it's more alarming for refugee women. They continue to live in fear, insecurity, humiliation and economic instability. Since 1993, Sach has been providing full service programs to refugee women. We work on rehabilitation and reintegration by offering a range of services, varying from medical and psychosocial assistance to education and the provision of shelter.

As a result of these services, refugee women, especially Afghans, have access to local resources and resettlement to another country where they have less fear and security risks and more opportunities to survive. Access to credit and training programs helps them to reintegrate in the local community. At Shelter Home our counselors train refugee women who are at risk and get the opportunity to resettle to another country. The impact of this program is very positive on women. It reduces their anxiety and stress and prepares them to start a new life in new country.