Aims

This paper aims to describe the problems facing Kurdish refugee women in the UK and seeks to provide ways of empowerment for these women.

Methodology

The paper is based on the author's work facilitating writing workshops with refugee women, on interviews with Kurdish women refugees in London and other locations in the UK and on her own experiences as a Kurdish refugee. The paper is peppered with illustrative case studies.

Key findings

A selection of the paper's key findings follow. The problems facing Kurdish refugee women in the UK include uncertainty about the future and a lack of control over events; a sense of loss including loss of status; adapting to a new culture and learning a new language. "Further problems for refugee women" are defined as those that follow the initial problems aforementioned i.e. those associated with the longer-term processes of settlement. Major changes in women's lives during settlement alter their power relationship with their surroundings. For married women, there can be a "role reversal" when their husbands lose jobs and they take on work and become breadwinners. For mothers, they often become the sole caregivers for their children, when previously care had been given within a circle of relevant others. They often struggle when inculcating culturally and religiously important values to their children in the UK context. For younger women, they may be pressurised into maintaining traditional values and culture which may lead to stress and a division of loyalty.

Narrative therapy is a way of empowering these women by enabling them to deconstruct the structures which oppress them as women and as ethnic minorities in the UK. Recounting histories in a group context enables them to give positive meanings to their experiences as well as establishing a support network. Coming together in groups also enables women to fight oppression and take on broader political aims for their community. The women interviewed for the study felt empowered by taking advantage of the employment and educational opportunities that were not available to them in their home countries. They also felt that they benefited from living in a society where males did not dominate as much as in their home countries.

Conclusions

The settlement process for refugee women entails a sense of loss and disempowerment and changes their roles, often involving a greater burden in terms of responsibilities, expectations and pressures. In order to help these women, the processes that disempower them should be identified and reversed. They can be empowered by talking about their experiences and by taking advantages of opportunities that being in exile has offered them, such as education and employment.