Unmoored and in flight, the refugee is vulnerable to every king of harm- from homelessness to fraud- but sexual violence is the most intimate and most public act of brutalization, and it erupts wherever laws and social norms are unraveled. As transit bodies drift in search of sanctuary, gendered violence can buttress a social taxonomy of dominance and oppression, demarcating the tapeable and those with the power to rape, siphoning spheres of male and female, captors and prisoners.
The refugee experience is marked by extreme vulnerability, exposing individuals to numerous dangers, including homelessness and exploitation. However, sexual violence stands out as a particularly devastating form of harm, occurring in environments where legal protections and societal norms have broken down. This type of violence is both deeply personal and publicly visible, highlighting a systematic failure to protect those in transit.
As people seek refuge, gender-based violence intensifies the existing hierarchies of power, reinforcing a social order characterized by oppression. This violence creates a clear divide between the oppressed and their oppressors, distinguishing between those who are victimized and those who exert authority. In this context, sexual violence becomes a tool of dominance, reflecting broader societal issues of control and inequality.