{"id":4723,"date":"2019-01-30T15:03:18","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T14:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/?p=4723"},"modified":"2019-01-30T15:03:18","modified_gmt":"2019-01-30T14:03:18","slug":"same-same-but-very-different-lets-end-double-discrimination-against-women-refugees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/speech\/same-same-but-very-different-lets-end-double-discrimination-against-women-refugees\/","title":{"rendered":"Same, same but very different \u2013 let\u2019s end double discrimination against women refugees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Same, same but very different | Doris Dede | TEDxUniPotsdam\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3yWl9fLU8dQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>On Monday  28th January 2019 we took part of the  <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\/tedx\/events\/30956\"><em>TED talk<\/em><\/a><em>  at the  University of Potsdam with the theme <strong>Seeking discomfort, <\/strong>following you find the content of our talk.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are human rights that we are all entitled to from birth until death. Would it surprise you to learn that many people are denied these rights? It surprised me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Becoming a member and part of the volunteer staff of Women in Exile initiative, is a privilege that has allowed me to see, understand and be a witness to so many concerns surrounding human rights, especially the denial of those rights to women living in exile. Those whom we call refugees.<br> It is this uncomfortable truth that has made me seek the discomfort of standing in front of you, because I believe that this platform can bring awareness and awareness is the first step to creating the change needed to end the double discrimination against women refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>I\nwould like to introduce you to some of the women refugees who I work\nwith, but for many protecting their identity is vital to their\nsafety. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still\nI want to give you a picture of what the discrimination that many of\nthe women face looks like on a daily basis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/coffee-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4725\" width=\"342\" height=\"512\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>What do notice about these images? Yes, they are all coffee. In that regard, they are the same. The coffee is brought into this country from different countries around the world, so they are all imports. In this regard, again they are the same. Although they are all coffee, we can see that there are some differences. Let\u2019s assume some have sugar, sweetener, milk or cream and some do not. If I asked you to decide which cups of coffee are good and which should be discarded, how would you decide? It would be a matter of preference wouldn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Preference\nis fine as a basis for deciding on which coffee you keep and which\nyou discard, it is a terrible basis for deciding who gets basic human\nrights and who does not. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br> For many refugee women in Germany, decisions about their where, how and in the end, even if they are allowed to live, are decided based on preference. Sometimes it is based on the individual preference of a social worker or a refugee camp supervisor with racist beliefs. Sometimes it is a judge acting on laws that discriminate against the refugee from economized countries, and give preference to the one from \u201cbetter countries\u201d.<strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During\nthe past two years, Ivy has lived in a single room with three other\nwomen. She has visited the refugee camp director 8 or 10 times asking\nto be moved to a room with a little more space. Each time her request\nis denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\nHema\nwho arrived from Syria at the same time, spent only two months in an\novercrowded room. After she visited the same refugee camp director,\nshe was moved to a room with only one roommate. Her request was\napproved almost immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ivy\nand Hema are both women, refugees and both in need of an appropriate\nspace to live in. They are treated very differently, often the\ndiscrimination is based on skin color, but also religion and sexual\norientation play a role in the unfair treatment. The line between\ndiscrimination, racism and sexism is most often blurred and\noverlapping<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sometimes\nthe unfair and unequitable treatment stems from individuals or one\npart of the refugee process and sometimes it stems from the very core\nof our system itself, with biased and discriminatory laws. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine\nfleeing from your country because it is one of the 73 countries in\nthe world in which homosexuality is banned by law. You are a crime.\nYour life is threatened by your society and even by your family and\nrelatives. A serious threat that could lead to a death sentence\nwhether by court ruling or stoning in the streets, just because you\nare not accepted the way you are born. Eventually you manage to flee\nto Germany, a country whose parliament voted to legalize same-sex\nmarriage in June 2017, a country where you know you\u2019ll be safe. At\nthe least you will be able to enjoy being free of fear and you can\njust be yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your\nrelief is short-lived, when you are called in for the interview that\nall asylum-seekers must go through. You are surprised at some of the\nquestions you are asked during your interview, but if this is the\npath to saving your life, you will answer any question. Imagine your\npain when you hear that your asylum has been rejected and your shock\nwhen you learn why. Your asylum has been rejected, because you can\u2019t\nprove that you are a lesbian. You wonder if the others, asylum\nseekers are also being questioned to prove if they are straight or\nnot. After all, even though their case for fleeing might be\ndifferent, you are seeking the same, a safe place to live, refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\ntalk of welcoming integration and at the same time we practice\ndiscrimination by separating the good &amp; the bad, the preferred\nand the undesirable refugees. The one to stay &amp; the one to be\nforced away. The one who gets a chance at a new life and the one who\nis sent back to lose her life. Again, through these restricted asylum\nlaws and policies, the refugees learn amongst themselves that some\nare better than the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nAct of Benefits for Asylum seekers was passed in 1993 with the aim of\ndiscouraging asylum seekers from coming to or staying in Germany.\nIt\u2019s discriminating because according to this Act, treatment is\nonly paid for in the event of acute diseases or pain. For any further\nmedical treatment, one needs to individually apply at the Social\nServices. This means that unqualified people make decisions\nconcerning the health of the refugees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most\nrefugee women\u2019s health cases are treated by radical and drastic\nmeasures, such as surgeries, which has left the women lacking time or\npossibilities to decide on a treatment on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A\ngood example is of one refugee women who had an ongoing bleeding, and\nthe doctor treating her, immediately suggested the complete removal\nof the uterus. Terrified she came to us where we referred her to an\noutside doctor. It turned out the surgery was completely unnecessary!\nHer story is not unique!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\nneed clear policies on how to protect refugee women especially from\nviolence, especially sexual violence, sexual harassment and other\nphysical violence. Clear policies that make women feel safe\nregardless of their status in this country. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lager3-1024x764.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"4731\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/?attachment_id=4731\" class=\"wp-image-4731\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lager1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"4730\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/?attachment_id=4730\" class=\"wp-image-4730\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lager4-1024x764.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"4729\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/?attachment_id=4729\" class=\"wp-image-4729\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/lager2-1024x764.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"4728\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/?attachment_id=4728\" class=\"wp-image-4728\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/freezer-lager-1024x741.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"4727\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/?attachment_id=4727\" class=\"wp-image-4727\"\/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/toilets-lager-1024x610.png\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"4726\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/?attachment_id=4726\" class=\"wp-image-4726\"\/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>)<\/strong>We need an end to policies and practices aimed at making life here as hard and emotionally draining for the women as possible, such as over-crowded rooming and humiliating conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These\nwomen have no privacy in their accommodation homes, where any one\nwhether it\u2019s the social worker or security or inmate can enter\ntheir rooms at any single time of the hour of the day\/night. This\namong other things, contributes to the risk of sexual assault and\nexploitation of the women and often their children. These are the\nsame women and children, who are still traumatized from their country\nof origin, from their long, risky and the experiences during the very\ndangerous journey they had to undertake get here (Germany) only to\narrive and still receive such ill- treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These\nwomen\u2019s voices need to be heard and their cries shouldn\u2019t be\nturned into deaf ears. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\nknow what many of you are thinking: \u201cYes, these women must be heard\nand helped, but what can I do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\nwill share a quote from one refugee activist who like us, had heard\nthis question many times:  How can I help? She replied \u201chow can we\ntell you what your solidarity looks like? You know your resources,\nyour abilities and your power. So, think about that and see how you\ncan join in solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\nus all, with open minds, see how we can be in solidarity with the\nthousands of women refugees in this country. Let us reflect on our\nown prejudices &amp; privileges and look into our environment, change\nit. Let us break the isolation and listen to their stories. Let us\ndonate what we can because solidarity needs time, energy and money. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\ncan dismantle discrimination, racism &amp; sexism when we look at the\nuncomfortable truth, when we decide use our resources, abilities and\npower to make a change, and when we unite in the discomfort of taking\naction to uphold the human rights to which a refugee woman is\nentitled, the same as you and I!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/IMG-20190130-WA0001-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4732\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Monday 28th January 2019 we took part of the TED talk at the University of Potsdam with the theme Seeking discomfort, following you find the content of our talk. There are human rights that we are all entitled to from birth until death. Would it surprise you to learn that many people are denied [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":51,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-speech"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"en","enabled_languages":["de","en"],"languages":{"de":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.women-in-exile.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}