The Challenges Women Refugees Face
The special plight of women refugees
UNHCR figures estimate that half of the world’s displaced persons are women. In many cases, like men, they are fleeing war and persecution. But unlike many men, some are also fleeing rape and misogyny, and they often carry the extra burden of having children who need to be cared for. They are frequently at the bottom of the pecking order in refugee camps and unable to get enough for them and their families to live on. They are more likely to be exploited physically and sexually, trafficked into sexual slavery and forced into dangerous informal jobs just to survive.
The focus of this page is to relate the experiences of women around the world, particularly those who are seeking asylum away from their home countries, women whose rights are often abrogated, whose education is denied and who suffer inordinately because of national policies and global chaos. For many, to remain at home is a far worse prospect than to risk seeking refuge elsewhere. Even those safe havens present unique challenges because they are women.
BMRSG’s Involvement
Over the years, BMRSG members have witnessed the difficulties faced by women who have come to Australia as refugees and asylum seekers.
These women have fled their homeland to find safety. For many of them their journey to Australia has been long and dangerous. Often they have spent time in refugee camps, in off shore detention, in detention in Australia. These are dangerous environments for women where they are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.
BMRSG volunteers have often provided emotional and financial support to women who are victims of domestic violence. Shame, distrust of authorities and cultural attitudes prevent refugee women from seeking help. They are trapped in a cycle of violence. Similarly, single mothers are often viewed with suspicion and are ostracised from their community.
We know of many women who come to Australia with little or no education. Many are illiterate in their own language. Attending English classes is not as simple as we think – a controlling husband, caring for children, navigating public transport, fear of failure and humiliation – the barriers seem overwhelming.
Unfortunately, a number of the refugee women who have become our friends have experienced severe mental health problems. We have found professional support for them after self harm and suicide attempts. It is difficult for us to fathom the years of trauma they have experienced as refugees.
However, there are many positive stories to tell. There are women who have thrived since coming to Australia. They have learnt English, completed study, gained employment, raised families and made valuable contributions to society.
Recent reports, articles and commentary
A Bosnian refugee writes of her experience arriving in Australia in 2000
July 10: Senada Suljagic, in Women’s Agenda: “I am proud to be just one of a million stories in Australia, and one of thousands that have been supported by the ASRC over the years. I hope my story helps others understand that practical, ongoing support, delivered with dignity in one’s own community, can not only rebuild lives but also build the foundations for a more resilient and empathetic society.”
My mother led our family to safety. 26 years on, we are part of the Australian story.
At least one million women and girls lose access to critical support as women’s organisations working in crisis areas have support cut
July 10: As armed conflicts reach the highest levels in 80 years, organisations providing life-saving services to women and girls are running out of money.
Women’s aid organisations working in critical areas lose funding
Who gets to tell refugee and migrant women’s stories?
June 22: Ana Asanovic, writing on the Women’s Agenda website, shares her experience of displacement, arguing that too often the stories of refugee women are spoken over, misunderstood or reduced to stereotypes.
Refugee and migrant women know their stories best. It’s time we paid attention
Migrant women who are being abused don’t call the police
June 15: This report, in The Conversation, investigates why many abused migrant women don’t involve police.
How women survive Kenya’s Dadaab refugee camp
June 12: Under the threat of sexual violence, women – and especially “minority” women – have learnt to become invisible. The New Humanitarian reports:
Protests against female dress codes in Afghanistan
June 10: SBS reports that the Taliban has enforced a female dress code forcing women to cover their faces when in public. Protests have erupted in western Afghanistan.
SBS: Female dress code results in protests in Afghanistan (video)
The solution to desertification may well rest with women; it is men who do most of the destroying
June 5: Deserts around the world are spreading at an alarming rate, caused mostly by the actions of men and forcing refugees to seek more secure places to live. This piece from Australian scientist Julian Cribb, writing in Pearls & Irritations, argues that giving more authority to women is one way of reversing the trend.
Hard-won progress in women’s rights is dismantled — and it threatens global security
June 4: This podcast from the ABC’s Big Ideas program looks at whether rising authoritarianism, splintering alliances and an organised backlash against women’s rights, gender equality and international development are threatening progress towards justice and equality.
ABC Big Ideas: Gender, Peace and Security in a Precarious Geopolitics
Terrible, terrible reading
June 2: (How can I prepare you for this? It’s beyond anything that’s remotely comprehensible.) The Guardian reports
I will never forget the teacher who said rape me instead of my 14 year old daughter
The Digital Divide: how refugee girls lose out on digital access
May 29: This report, while focused on African refugees, has lessons across the world
Why Digital Access Matters for Refugee Girls in Conflict Settings
Women in Timor Leste
BUKAE: Survivors Walking Towards Justice: In this YouTube video, women survivors of Timor-Leste’s conflict share their stories of violence and hope, and their long journey towards recognition and justice. This film was released as part of activities marking the International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims (24 March 2025).
Global Refugee Policies fail women
May 7: The Yale Journal of International Affairs reports on the way refugee women continue to suffer even after the wars that caused them to flee are “over”.
Women Deliver conference
May 6: Michael West Media reports on the Women Deliver conference in Melbourne last week. There was a large focus on the disproportionate burden placed on women as a result of conflict, the use of sexual violence as a weapon, and the cuts in humanitarian aid under Trump.
Being a woman in the Ukraine war
May: ABC’s Compass program follows Ukrainian vet, Maria Mykytiuk, who led a fulfilling life in Bucha until Russia invaded in 2022. She survived beatings, sexual violence and her best friend’s death. Now safe in Australia, she is using her voice to help Ukraine.
Telling her story is critically important. At the same time, there are many women from countries with lower profiles who have also experienced atrocities and need to be acknowledged.
What the ongoing conflict in the Middle East means for women and girls
April: The military escalation in the Middle East has had a devastating and disproportionate impact on women and girls across the region, and far beyond.
Sudan: Three quarters of women feel unsafe as war rages on
April: Across war-torn Sudan, women and girls “are telling a consistent story of continued experience of danger, and risks for gender-based violence” whether when fleeing to safety or arriving at displacement camps, a senior official with the UN reproductive and sexual health agency UNFPA said on Friday.
Sudan: The heightened risks faced by displaced women and girls
Women are being retraumatised inside Villawood and nothing is changing
April: Women’s Agenda reports: Sisters Inside has spent years alongside women navigating immigration detention, including those held at Villawood. When the Australian Human Rights Commission undertook its inspection, Sisters Inside contributed as consultants and, more importantly, carried the voices of women into that process. What they described was not ambiguous.
As women’s rights are dismantled, so is democracy
April: Macarena Saez writes in Global Cause: Authoritarian regimes consistently restrict women’s and girls’ rights more severely than rights-respecting democracies. But today’s rising authoritarian governments differ from 20th-century dictatorships.
Important links
UN Women
UN Women is the UN’s arm for delivering programmes, policies and standards that uphold women’s human rights and ensure that every woman and girl lives up to her full potential.
Women’s Rights
Women’s Rights, a branch of Human Rights Watch, envisions a world in which systems of oppression and harm are dismantled, and women and girls regardless of race, ethnic origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and other forms of intersectional experience can live with equality, dignity, and safety.
OHCHR, women’s rights and gender equality
From the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: Gender equality is at the very heart of human rights and United Nations values. Equality and non-discrimination are fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter, adopted by world leaders in 1945.
Women for Change
Based in Melbourne, Women for Change is an organisation of people from Afghanistan that runs projects in Afghanistan focusing on education, empowerment and employment for women. It is a movement built on progressive ideas and purposeful initiatives, a community of advocates and change-makers turning passion into purpose.
Women’s Agenda
An independent Australian site focused on issues facing women, including refugees, in Australia.
Women for Women International
For over 30 years, Women for Women International has supported the most marginalized women in countries affected by conflict and war, with a vision to create a world in which all women determine the course of their lives and reach their full potential.
Recent posts from the BMRSG Blog
August 2025: Two ways to support women’s education in Afghanistan
March 2025: Women and Girls in Afghanistan
September 2024: Action against Afghanistan over violations of human rights of women and girls