Lesson 4.1: Anti-Gender Politics and Displacement
In many contexts, ‘anti-gender’ mobilisations ; create conditions that drive people to leave. Rising hostility, shrinking civic space, criminalisation, targeted repression, and violent attacks have compelled queer, trans, feminist, and LGBTIQ+ people to seek safety elsewhere. At the same time, anti-gender rhetoric shapes border and asylum regimes, influencing who is recognised as deserving of protection — and under what conditions.
5. Exercise: Understanding the Intersections of ‘Anti-Gender’ Violence and Migration
Objective: To test your understanding of how migration intersects with ‘anti-gender’ violence, in this exercise you will map the factors behind migration and exile of LGBTIQ+ people and feminist activists.
Task: Fill out the table below using the examples from the RESIST Project’s research covered in this session. While revisiting the case study on Belarus and the case study on exiles from Turkey and Northern Kurdistan, consider the following questions:
-
What sociopolitical conditions make the home country a dangerous or unfavourable place to live for LGBTIQ+ people and feminist activists?
-
What events or sociopolitical conditions contribute to migration and exile? Why do people decide to leave their home countries? Why are they forced to leave?
-
What conditions queer, trans, and feminist individuals and activists are seeking in their host countries? What conditions would make their lives liveable?
-
What forms of border and asylum regimes might obstruct their entry into the host country? What larger systems are at play here (e.g. transphobia, racism, xenophobia, etc.)?
|
Home country Political situation and barriers to queer-feminist activism and gender and sexual diversity |
|
|
Push factors Why do LGBTIQ+ people and feminists forced leave their home country? |
|
|
Pull factors What conditions are they looking for abroad? What do they hope for? |
|
|
Barriers What systemic and bureaucratic barriers do they face when migrating? |