scholarly journals Refugeeness, Sexuality, and Gender: Spatialized Lived Experiences of Intersectionality by Queer Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Paris

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florent Chossière
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Subjective Effects ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Gender Minorities ◽  
Determination Process ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

In the last few years, asylum claims based on sexual orientation and/or gender identity (SOGI) have received increased attention within migration and queer studies. Mostly focusing on the refugee status determination process, these works have emphasized how the expectations of asylum institutions about “genuine queer refugees” lead to the exclusion of many applicants from SOGI asylum. This paper aims at shifting the analysis perspective from the legal categorization process to the impacts of everyday experienced categories of “asylum seekers” or “refugees” on queer migrants in the Parisian area. Using a three-year long ethnographic fieldwork, completed through interviews with queer asylum seekers and refugees, this paper investigates how refugeeness, understood as the objective and subjective effects of migration and asylum policies on individuals, contributes to shaping lived experiences of sexual and gender minorities in France. By drawing attention to the ways that the multiple power relationships queer asylum seekers and refugees have to face are spatially grounded, this paper discusses how an intersectional understanding of sexuality, gender, and refugeeness allows us to emphasize the role played by migration status in the negotiation of hetero- and cisnormativity. This paper also argues that far from remaining passive toward the categorization process they are subjected to, queer asylum seekers and refugees strategically appropriate the administrative categories with which they are associated. Such an analysis of lived experiences of queer asylum seekers and refugees in the country of arrival thus highlights the complex reshaping of social location caused by migration.

Promoting the dignity and worth of all people: The privilege of social work

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 758-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Henrickson
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽  
Gender Minorities ◽  
Conference Theme ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
The World ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Successes And Challenges ◽  
International Social

The Dame Eileen Younghusband Lecture is presented every two years at the joint world conferences of international social work. In 2016 it was presented in Seoul and was based on the conference theme ‘promoting the dignity and worth of people’. The lecture includes a review of heroes, legal, political and social successes, and challenges for sexual and gender minorities around the world. It challenges the binary of gender and sexuality. The privilege of social work is to choose either to challenge or to reproduce oppression based on sexuality and gender, and protect the dignity and worth of all peoples.

scholarly journals THE POLITICS OF RECOGNIZABILITY: GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF IRANIANGAYMEN’S LIVES UNDER REPRESSIVE CONDITIONS OF SEXUALITY GOVERNANCE

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Martino ◽  
Jón Ingvar Kjaran
Keyword(s):  
Gay Men ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Male Subject ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽  
Islamic Republic ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Politics Of Recognition ◽  
Gender Minorities ◽  
And Gender

AbstractIn this article we examine accounts of self-identifying Iranian gay men. We draw on a range of evidentiary sources—interpretive, historical, online, and empirical—to generate critical and nuanced insights into the politics of recognition and representation that inform narrative accounts of the lived experiences of self-identifiedgayIranian men, and the constitution of same-sex desire for these men under specific conditions of Iranian modernity. In response to critiques of existinggayinternationalist and liberationist accounts of the Iraniangaymale subject as a persecuted victim of the Islamic Republic of Iran's barbarism, we address interpretive questions of sexuality governance in transnational contexts. Specifically, we attend to human rights frameworks in weighing social justice and political claims made by and on behalf of sexual and gender minorities in such Global South contexts. In this sense, our article represents a critical engagement with the relevant literature on sexuality governance and the politics of same-sex desire for Iraniangaymen that is informed by empirical analysis.

scholarly journals Assessing Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Asylum Claims: Towards a Transgender Studies Framework for Particular Social Group and Persecution

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariza Avgeri
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Transgender Studies ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Human Rights Norms

In this article, I focus on gender identity and gender expression as grounds for international protection. After clarifying issues of terminology and theoretical framework, namely Transgender Studies, I criticize the current framework for determining membership in a Particular Social Group (PSG) for the purposes of the Refugee Convention, drawing on Berg and Millbank's work on the concept of self-identification and gender non-conformity as a means to assess transgender asylum claims (2013). I problematize the issues arising in the assessment of well-founded fear of persecution and the form it may take in transgender and gender non-conforming asylum claims. Drawing connections between sexuality and gender identity/expression claims, I attempt to provide a humanizing and depathologized framework for assessing the credibility of transgender and gender non-conforming applicants. Finally, by critiquing the work of Hathaway and Pobjoy and drawing from current human rights norms, I reflect on how to make good law with transgender cases without reproducing medicalized notions of gender identity or placing all the burden of proof on the applicants. In so doing, this article attempts to achieve a balance between theoretical and practical challenges that arise in the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process involving transgender and gender non-conforming applicants. This article serves as an attempt to critically review the existing scholarship within the framework of transgender studies and offers insights for a refined framework of refugee status determination based on an inclusive reading of Particular Social Group and persecution drawing on the reading of crucial case law from anglophone countries.

scholarly journals “The Graying Minority”: Lived Experiences and Psychosocial Challenges of Older Transgender Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic in India, A Qualitative Exploration

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debanjan Banerjee ◽  
T. S. Sathyanarayana Rao
Keyword(s):  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Gender Minorities ◽  
Psychosocial Challenges ◽  
Immunocompromised State ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Qualitative Exploration

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a global health threat. Certain factors like age, an immunocompromised state, and social impoverishment, etc. can add to health vulnerabilities during this pandemic. One such group is older transgender adults, who often bear a combination of these risks. As the world is aging fast, their numbers have also been increasing. With this in mind, this study explores the lived experiences and psychosocial challenges of older transgender adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.Methods: A qualitative approach was used. Ten individuals with “transgender” identity above the age of 60 were recruited with consent through purposive sampling. In-depth interviews were conducted on the telephone using a pre-designed interview schedule. They were recorded, translated, and transcribed verbatim. Hasse's adaptation of Colaizzi's phenomenological method was used for analysis. Independent coding and respondent validation were used to ensure the rigor of data.Results: The super-arching categories (with themes) were marginalization (“second” priority, stigma, social disconnection), the dual burden of “age” and “gender” (ageism, othering, and psychosexual difficulties), and multi-faceted survival threats (physical, emotional, financial) during the pandemic. Social rituals, spirituality, hope, and acceptance of “gender dissonance” emerged as the main coping factors, whereas their unmet needs were social inclusion, awareness related to COVID-19, mental health care, and audience to their distress.Conclusion: The elderly gender minorities are at increased emotional and social risks during the ongoing pandemic, and their voices are mostly unheard. The need for policy implementation and community awareness about their social welfare is vital to improving their health and well-being.

International Institutions and Individualized Decision-Making: An Example of UNHCR's Refugee Status Determination

2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1779-1804 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Smrkolj
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Health Conditions ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Sudanese Refugees ◽  
Individualized Decision ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

In autumn 2005 a group of Sudanese asylum seekers and refugees discontented with the unbearable conditions in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refuges (UNHCR) office in Cairo started a sit-in protest near the office. The protesters were, besides venting their anger at the suspension of Refugee Status Determination procedures for Sudanese refugees due to the ceasefire between the Sudanese government and Sudan's People Liberation Army, also making their frustrations heard regarding UNHCR's lengthy procedures, its failure to provide them with proper assistance, the high numbers of rejected applications, improper interviews and their general treatment by UNHCR's personnel as well as their difficult social and health conditions which had been aggravated by the lack of proper assistance. They were demanding that this situation be remedied and calling for transparent and fair procedures. Shortly thereafter they were joined by many more protesters so that in the following three months a group of between 1,800 and 2,500 people stayed around UNHCR's premises. However, meetings and negotiations with UNCHR eventually failed. The crisis ended in a tragedy. On December 30, 2005 the Egyptian security forces proceeded with the forcible removal of the protesters from the venue in an action in which 28 refugees were killed, more than half of which were children and women, with several protesters missing after the events. The Cairo incident illustrates what the cited report on the events has rightly called “a tragedy of failures and false expectations” regarding international humanitarian and human rights institutions.

scholarly journals The expected well-being of urban refugees and asylum-seekers in Johannesburg

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Talita Greyling
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Urban Refugees ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Forced Migrants ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

The influx of asylum-seekers and refugees from across Africa into democratic South Africa has increased significantly. The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that influences the expect well-being of this unique group. Expected well-being is an important determinant of both the decision to migrate and the choice of a country of destination. Knowledge about this determinant therefore informs refugee policies. The results show that only a few of the factors found in the literature explaining the expected well-being of voluntary migrants also explain the expected well-being of forced migrants. However, a number of factors found in the literature that explain the subjective well-being and well-being in general of refugees and asylum-seekers also went towards explaining the expected well-being of this group. These factors include: government assistance, culture, the time spent in South Africa, economic factors, crime, refugee status, reasons for leaving the home countries and the number of people staying in a house in the receiving country. The findings of this study emphasise the differences between forced and voluntary migrants and highlight the factors that influence the expected well-being of forced migrants. These in turn shed light on migration decisions and the choice of destination countries.

Religious Conversion to Christianity in Muslim Refugees in Europe

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Szabolcs Kéri ◽  
Christina Sleiman
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Religious Conversion ◽  
Social Pressure ◽  
Demographic Parameters ◽  
Family Status ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Traumatic Life Events ◽  
Gender Education ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

An increasing number of Muslim asylum seekers and refugees convert to Christianity in Europe. The conversion motifs in these individuals are unknown. In this study, we applied biographical interviews in 124 converts. There were two dominant patterns: intellectual (42.7%)—intellectual plus experimental motifs (10.5%), and mystical (16.1%)—mystical plus affectional motifs (21.0%). Pure experimental and affectional motifs were rare, and there were no revivalist and coercive motifs. Demographic parameters (age, gender, education, family status, country of origin, traumatic life events, and refugee status) did not predict conversion motifs. We found no evidence for social pressure. These results indicate that finding meaning and consolation in Christian religious teachings and mystical experiences with a high emotional content are the two leading religious conversion motifs.

Korea’s Landmark Case for Improving the Legal Process for Asylum Seekers

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-188
Author(s):  
Il Lee
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Court Decision ◽  
District Court ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
High Court ◽  
Determination Process ◽  
Referral Decision ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right

The purpose of this article is to analyze the principle of non-refoulement as applied in four important recent Korea court decisions regarding the asylum-seeking process at ports of entry. Incheon District Court decision 2014 Gu-Hab 30385 and Seoul High Court decision 2014 Nu 52093 concern a non-referral decision; Inchon District Court decision 2014 In 39 concerns illegal airport detention; and Constitutional Court decision 2014 Heon-Ra 592 concerns the right to counsel. In these cases, the courts ordered changes to the previous detention and deportation system and recognized the right to counsel by asylum applicants at ports of entry. As the Korean refugee status determination process is biased towards denying entry to unwelcome foreigners and biased against recognizing refugees, it is important to recognize the duty of the government to develop a better system at ports of entry in order to prevent the unjustified deportation of asylum seekers back to their country of origin.

scholarly journals Canada - A Long Way To Go: The Designated Country of Origin Policy and Refugee Protection

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-16
Author(s):  
Rejean Ghanem
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Political Response ◽  
Determination Process ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada

The Designated Country of Origin (DCO) policy was a political response to unwanted migration in Canada. Adapted from Europe, Harper took a liking to the EU’s SCO policy after Canada received a large influx of Middle Eastern and Balkan refugees seeking asylum. He adapted it in Canada, renaming it Designated Country of Origin (DCO). Under the DCO, the government of Canada would decide if a refugee's country of origin was dangerous enough to be considered for asylum. If the asylum seekers country is determined as safe, that person would be disregarded and sent back to their country of origin. Many refugees who had already settled in Canada had their files reopened and were told to return to their country of origin. The DCO policy became an integral part of the refugee status determination process in Canada to which some regarded as faulty, inefficient, and unjust. In 2019, the SCO was deemed unconstitutional and violated The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, wanted to create an asylum system that was considered fair and efficient. While it is important for an asylum seeker to prove they are truthful about the facts of their case, the DCO policy represents a climate of hostility towards migrants in Canada. In this piece, it will be argued that the DCO policy is a discriminatory migration tool used to “weed out” what the government deems as fake migrants. This policy could deny international protection to those who are genuinely in need. The DCO proves that the nation has a misleading reputation of being welcoming to all who come. The DCO threatened the human rights of asylum seekers who sought refuge in Canada. 

scholarly journals Sexuality and Gender Identity in Transitional Societies: Peacebuilding and Counterhegemonic Politics

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-457
Author(s):  
Fidelma Ashe
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
International Law ◽  
Sexual And Gender Minorities ◽  
Transitional Societies ◽  
Peace Agreements ◽  
Gender Minorities ◽  
Sexuality And Gender ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Local Levels

Abstract∞ This article contributes to a developing field of scholarship that has been concerned with exploring the impacts of conflict and its transformation on sexual and gender minorities. Drawing on extant analysis, the article explores the marginalization of issues pertaining to sexuality and gender in international law and peace agreements. It then moves on to an assessment of the effects of the integration of sexual orientation and gender identity equality provisions into a limited number of peace agreements. The article contends that attempts to implement and extend sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) equality provisions in peace agreements in meaningful ways typically become cast as justifiable, residual or reprehensible by agonistic groups at local levels during transition. It claims that this fracturing of standpoints on SOGI equality can strengthen counterhegemonic articulations of sexual and gender minorities’ identities that provoke radical versions of peacebuilding.

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