The (In)Visibility of Gender in Refugee Protection Frameworks
Authors
Husein, Amal Jimaleh ; Abusomwan, Promise
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-05-29
Pages
59
Abstract
This thesis compares two regional refugee protection frameworks—the European Union’s Qualification Directive and the 1969 OAU Convention in Africa—to examine how they define and acknowledge gender. Using Feminist Legal Theory (which studies how law shapes gendered power relations) and Carol Bacchi’s 'What’s the Problem Represented to Be?' (WPR) approach (which analyzes how policies frame problems), the study looks at how these systems describe gender, persecution, and protection for refugee women, and how their underlying logics influence recognition and exclusion. Through qualitative, interpretive policy analysis, it finds that both frameworks sideline gender as a structural factor, but in opposite ways: the EU framework formally includes gender, yet only on conditional terms and within existing legal categories, whereas the OAU framework’s collective, crisis-focused approach leaves gender largely invisible at the structural level. The study shows that gender in refugee protection is not simply present or absent; it is constructed differently across regional systems, shaping which experiences are seen and protected.
Dette speciale sammenligner to regionale rammer for flygtningebeskyttelse—EU’s Kvalifikationsdirektiv og OAU-konventionen fra 1969 om de særlige aspekter af flygtningeproblemer i Afrika—for at undersøge, hvordan de definerer og anerkender køn. Med afsæt i feministisk retsteori (som undersøger, hvordan retten former kønnede magtforhold) og Carol Bacchis 'What’s the Problem Represented to Be?' (WPR) tilgang (som analyserer, hvordan politikker indrammer problemer), ser studiet på, hvordan disse systemer beskriver køn, forfølgelse og beskyttelse af kvindelige flygtninge, og hvordan deres grundlæggende logikker påvirker anerkendelse og udelukkelse. Gennem en kvalitativ og fortolkende policyanalyse viser studiet, at begge rammer skubber køn som strukturel dimension i baggrunden, men på modsatrettede måder: EU-rammen indarbejder formelt køn, men kun betinget og inden for eksisterende juridiske kategorier, mens OAU-rammens kollektive, kriseorienterede tilgang gør køn stort set strukturelt usynligt. Specialet viser, at køn i flygtningebeskyttelse ikke blot er til stede eller fraværende; det konstrueres forskelligt på tværs af regionale systemer og former, hvilke erfaringer der bliver set og beskyttet.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
Keywords