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Changing Gender Roles Among Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

31 October 2013

The Syrian conflict has resulted in approximately a million people fleeing to Lebanon – equivalent to nearly 25 per cent of the Lebanese population of 4.2 million.  Despite the efforts of the Lebanese authorities, generous Lebanese citizens, UN agencies, and international and national aid organizations, the situation is still creating intense levels of stress for refugees, as in many cases they are forced to take on new roles and responsibilities that are often at odds with their traditional gendered social roles.

In order to understand these changing gender roles, MENA Agenda 1325’s partner organization in Lebanon, ABAAD – Resource Center for Gender Equality and Oxfam International have carried out a gender situation and vulnerability assessment among Syrian refugees and Palestinian refugees from Syria now living in Lebanon.

The study showed that both men and women refugees are experiencing severe stress and feelings of powerlessness because they are unable to fulfil their traditional gender roles. According to a health worker in Tripoli many “men here are unemployed and they sit all day at home, they feel a bit depressed, mad, and they release their anger towards their family and children.”

Moreover, Syrian men feel guilty that they are not in Syria fighting for their people, which adds to their sense of low-self-worth, stress and powerlessness. The man who used to be provider and protector of the family and the nation now finds himself unemployed and unable to fulfil his traditional role. Sadly, in some cases, this frustration results in domestic violence “When my wife asks me for vegetables or meat to prepare food, I hit her. She does not know why she was hit, neither do I.”

A father in his 60s cannot find a job in Lebanon and therefore the young men in the family (14-18) go out to find work in order to pay the food, bills and the rent. This is a huge change in the traditional family structure where the father is the head of the family and this cause tension in the family. In addition, this hinders young men to continue their education.

Women feel their gender identity is on Shaky Ground

Likewise, women and girls feel they have lost their gendered identity since they no longer have access to the resources and services they used to have in Syria before the conflict begun. They are now obliged to work outside the home, they cannot cook proper food anymore or dress nicely. One woman explained how “the first thing is that our womanhood has disappeared,” and “Women are now both a woman and a man. There is no femininity anymore, it has gone!”.

Although many women feel that they have lost their female identity, others felt that taking on a different role also created a sense of empowerment. A number of women expressed a sense of empowerment due to their new role outside the home: “She told me that right after she started working, she feels stronger than her husband, in a way that she is a woman of her words, she can give her opinion and it matters, she makes decisions and they are always taken the way they are said, she can go out. On the other hand, back in Syria, she could not do anything of what’s already mentioned.”

Moreover, many girls continue to go to school, whereas, as aforementioned, the young men (14-18) have to work to provide for the family. However, some families, who are struggling financially, see child marriage as a coping strategy. In one focus group with girls, participants reported of a case where a 15-year-old girl had married an older man so that he would help support her family; this was described as common practice by a focus group of boys and girls in the Bekaa Valley.

Despite the fact that many families fled Syria because they feared for their lives, yet for many,  feel that their safety and security remain under threat while residing in Lebanon. Despite generous assistance from most Lebanese communities, many respondents reported experiencing xenophobia, discrimination and hostility. Especially women feel unsafe and afraid of being harassed by Lebanese men. Widows and single women are even more vulnerable and one participant from the Middle Bekaa described how she publicly faked calls from her husband — pretending to still be in touch with him to avoid being harassed.

What is next?

The assessment conducted by ABAAD and Oxfam concludes with detailed recommendations for development and humanitarian practitioners and donor agencies, to help them design and implement gender-sensitive programming that addresses these shifting gender roles and helps to minimize stress and tensions among refugee populations and between refugee and host communities.

You can download the full study pertaining to the recommendations here: Shifting Sands: Changing gender roles among refugees in Lebanon.

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Berit Aasen

Europe Alternate Regional Representative

Berit Aasen is a sociologist by training and has worked at the OsloMet Metropolitan University on Oslo. She has 40 years of experience in research and consultancy in development studies, including women, peace, and security, and in later years in asylum and refugee studies. Berit Aasen joined WILPF Norway five years ago. She is an alternate member of the National Board of WILPF Norway, and representing WILPF Norway in the UN Association of Norway, the Norwegian 1325 network and the Norwegian Women’s Lobby. Berit Aasen has been active in the WILPF European Liaison group and is committed to strengthening WILPF sections and membership both in Europe and relations across continents.

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

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Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

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WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.

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