Assessing Refugee Camp Characteristics and The Occurrence of Sexual Violence: A Preliminary Analysis of the Dadaab Complex

Abstract

Most studies examining rape in war contexts focus on the characteristics of the perpetrators of collective rape. Where previous scholars focus on victims or civilians it is often at the general level where they emphasise sociocultural and political factors pertaining to patriarchal society gender roles and more direct measures of gender empowerment. In this study we focus on civilians but examine a lower level of analysis narrowing the focus to refugee camps and assessing how camp characteristics contribute to or mitigate the proclivity of sexual violence experienced by camp inhabitants. Focusing on the Dadaab Kenya complex in particular we identify various measures implemented to mitigate the occurrence of sexual violence in the Dadaab camps and assess their effects on the incidence of sexual violence. Our preliminary analysis reveals that these measures have been only partially effective but we conclude that a more comprehensive cross-camp analysis is warranted. We thus call for the development of a refugee camp database to be utilized by scholars policymakers and humanitarian agencies to conduct cross-camp analysis allowing for more comprehensive assessment of the effectiveness of various measures intended to enhance the security of refugee camp inhabitants.