Paper details

Paper authors	Megan Daigle
In panel on	Love, sex and crisis: challenges and paths forward for sexual and reproductive health and rights in humanitarian settings
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

More than 4.5 million people have been displaced from Venezuela since 2014, mostly across South and Central America and the southern Caribbean; nonetheless, the escalating crisis has received scant attention or funding with the Regional Response Plan for Refugees and Migrants launched only in December 2018. In Colombia, 5,000 people arrive daily, many by irregular routes and without refugee status, leaving them without basic services or protection. This has given rise to a number of known, if poorly understood, gender-based concerns. High rates of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, have been reported en route; refugees’ specific sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) needs are unmet; and there are reports of high rates of survival sex and trafficking amongst undocumented refugees. All of these gendered concerns are exacerbated by growing rates of anti-Venezuelan racism across the region, which is also highly gendered and dependent on a “hyper-sexualized” image of Venezuelan women.
There is a clear need, both within and well beyond the Venezuela response, for humanitarian action to better account for and address the SRHR needs of migrant populations. This study will illustrate these critical needs and gaps in understanding, across a range of intersectional populations including not only women but also people with diverse SOGIESC and Indigenous and Afro-descendent groups. Focusing on SRHR and related gendered norms, the study offers critical insights on the potential for truly gender-transformative action, starting from the experiences of people of all genders.

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