Research in forced displacement: guidance for a feminist and decolonial approach

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened inequities and undermined health, human rights, and gender equality for forcibly displaced populations The ongoing pandemic has also exposed persisting power hierarchies between researchers and forcibly displaced populations These populations experience power asymmetries in their position as the so-called beneficiaries of humanitarian research and action, and are often excluded from participation in decision making about the research intended to benefit their communities Forcibly displaced women and girls are consistently categorised as vulnerable and needing protection or rescuing, which takes away their agency and power of action, while risking exploitation or abuse by the same humanitarian actors that supposedly aim to protect them We believe that applying a feminist lens is not merely about demolishing problematic structures, but also about collaboratively building up new ones for a more just world (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)