Gendered Vulnerabilities and Violence in Forced Migration

"This book presents important and timely research about gendered dynamics of conflict. By focusing on the Rakhine state of Myanmar through rich fieldwork over five years, Mohammad Musfequs Salehin brings in-depth insights into how gendered dynamics are experienced and articulated. The careful analysis of the forced migration of the Rohingya population to Bangladesh shows how gendered violence is formed in direct, structural, and symbolic ways. Mohammad Musfequs Salehin is an outstanding scholar whose work deserves to be read by peace and conflict, gender, and area scholars alike." —Inger Skjelsbæk, Professor, Center for Gender Studies, University of Oslo & Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) "In this important book, Mohammad Salehin provides a poignant analysis of the multiple forms of violence and vulnerability experienced by the Rohingya women and girls in Myanmar and the refugee camps of Bangladesh. A vital contribution to our understanding of the gendered and patriarchal dimensions of insecurity amongst displaced populations." —Dr Jeff Crisp, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford This open access book investigates the gendered violence and vulnerabilities experienced by Rohingya men and women, drawing on qualitative data from refugee camps in Bangladesh. It shows that in Myanmar, men suffered torture and sexual violence, while women experienced physical, mental and sexual violence, legitimized by patriarchal norms. Sexual violence was wielded as a weapon to coerce their exodus from Myanmar and to disrupt the essential facets of Rohingya femininity, motherhood, and reproductive capabilities. Structural, cultural and symbolic violence affected the Rohingya differently across gender lines. A gendered threat narrative and othering cast women as ‘ugly’ and reproductive threats while men are framed as potential threats to national security and Buddhist nationalism. In Bangladesh, gendered othering continued, with Rohingya men seen as security threats and women as vulnerable victims. This book contributes to peace and conflict studies, gender studies, and migration and refugee studies, by analysing gendered violence. Mohammad Musfequs Salehin is an Associate Professor at UiT The Arctic University of Norway and a Senior Researcher at Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).