Marginalisation – C4D Network

Solidarity Across Borders – Evolution of Struggle (London, UK)

February 21, 2019

Overview: Today’s generation of activists often hold up the anti-apartheid movement in the UK as an ideal example of how solidarity should function. It was organised and coordinated with direct reference to the ANC, with a clear view of the strategic role of the movement in the UK focused on UK institutional complicity with apartheid. However, the movement was often fraught with difficult questions about how best to support South African freedom fighters as well as internal struggles over issues of voice and representation.

Social movements, and particularly when solidarity is evoked, are spaces where questions of identity and representation come to the fore. Social movements are vehicles for marginalised voices, however, they can also be tools through which existing hierarchies can also be invoked for the sake of “unity” and “the cause”. This session will explore these dynamics, with a specific focus on how issues of nationality, race, gender, and class were negotiated in movement politics.

This event is open to the public but booking preference will go to students who register with university email and show ID at event.

Click here to find out more and register.

The Political Participation of Armenian Women with Disabilities: Barriers and Recommendations (IFES/AGATE Report, 2018)

September 16, 2018

This report provides insights into the challenges that hinder the participation of Armenian women with disabilities and identifies the means to address them. To conduct the research, Agate utilized IFES’ Intersectionality Assessment Framework, organizing participatory focus group discussions with men and women with disabilities and their peers from urban and rural areas of Armenia.

Armenian women with disabilities identified various attitudinal, communication, environmental and institutional barriers to participation in formal political spaces and in the recent demonstrations that led to a change of political leadership. Women with hearing disabilities noted that they did not participate in political campaigns because they did not have access to information about candidates and the process.

The report found that women with disabilities are not participating in formal political spaces equally with their peers. The attitude of the public, Armenian patriarchal society and family indifference also increase the likelihood of women with disabilities becoming marginalized from political processes. Even so, it revealed that building confidence in women with disabilities and raising awareness of rights would provide a critical foundation to overcoming their inner fears and building their capacity to participate as voters, candidates, observers, and other leaders in political life. Finally, when women with disabilities have the opportunity to detect and assess discrimination, government stakeholders should involve them in policymaking and legislation that concerns them.

Click here for full report.

‘What Violence Means to Us: Women with Disabilities Speak’ (Inclusive Friends and NSRP Research Study, 2015)

July 30, 2018

There is growing recognition in Nigeria and across the world of the need to protect and promote the rights of women and people with disabilities in times of relative peace, insecurity and violent conflict. Through treaties, resolutions of the Security Council and General Assembly, as well as national policies – including National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security – countries have committed to ensuring that conflict resolution, security operations and peacebuilding policies and practices are inclusive. However, to date, this commitment has not translated to positive and genuine impact experienced by women with disabilities, who face double marginalisation due to their gender and their disability. Very little research has been conducted on women with disabilities and their specific experiences of conflict and violence. As a result, many government and civil society policies, programmes and services do not take these realities into account.

Click here for full study.

The Modern Slavery Trap: Bonded Labour (IDS Briefing, 2018)

May 20, 2018

The IDS briefing entitled The Modern Slavery Trap: Bonded Labour highlights is based on research conducted with villagers in Nepal and India by IDS research fellows Pauline Oosterhoff and Danny Burns, supported by the Freedom Fund.

Its key recommendations include prioritising support for local officials to enforce existing laws on bonded labour; and developing inclusive, community approaches to tackling bonded labour, as it derives from dynamics of whole families and communities – warning that focusing on individuals will have limited impact.

Generations within marginalised communities most affected

The briefing highlights that bonded labour disproportionately affects communities living in poverty that are historically socially and economically marginalised.

Generations within families in bonded labour can find themselves trapped in a cycle of bonded labour. For example, if adults who are already in bonded labour require further loans, they will often have to offer their child’s labour to repay the additional debt – thus trapping the next generation into bonded labour. Family members can also become bonded labourers through inherited debt when original debtors within their family die.

Participatory data provides critical insights into bonded labour

Participatory research involving the gathering of ‘life stories’ from villagers, revealed key factors leading households in particular areas of Nepal into debt bondage and also weaknesses in policy implementation that is enabling the prevalence of bonded labour to persist.

Click here for full report.