Humanitarian assistance and the empowerment of Karen women in a refugee camp in Thailand

The civil conflict in Burma, causing mass amounts of displacement, has been ongoing and relatively unnoticed by the international community for more than two decades. Increased levels of fighting combined with countless cases and forms of human rights abuses has led to the flight of many people across borders into neighboring countries. The first Karen refugees came to Thailand in 1984, ongoing SPDC offensives and human rights abuses have led to a refugee case load which is now over 150,000. Women's experiences in conflict as well as in refugee situations are often unique due to their gender. Women in conflict zones often face increased threats of sexual abuse and rape and many times become uprooted and forced to migrate with the added responsibility of care taking for children and the elderly. On top of the basic needs which all refugees share, refugee women may face specific vulnerabilities such as manipulation, sexual physical abuse, exploitation and unequal access to goods and services. There are 7 Karen camps along the Thai-Burma border and a wide variety of humanitarian organizations work along the border area and within the refugee camps. Some organizations focus specifically to help women deal with the conditions of the refugee camp and post-conflict situation. This research uses five in-depth case studius to answer the research question of how Karen women are empowered through humanitarian assistance programs. The empowerment of Karen refugee women is measured through four indicators: access, conscientization, mobilization and control. This research argues that certain conditions in the lives of refugee women living in Mae La camp create vulnerability and makes specific humanitarian assistance to them necessary. The research finds that women are empowered on some levels, mostly on an individual basis in education on gender, human rights, and democracy; income generation, and increasing representation in political and social capacities. However, Karen refugee women in Mae La camp meet numerous obstructions in their empowerment due to certain power structures, namely the lack of female representation at decision-making levels. The author proposes ongoing education with regard to gender roles and sexual and gender based violence in order to decrease refugee women's vulnerabilities and negative experiences within the refugee camp. Further to this, the author encourages an increase in women's representation at decision-making levels.