Reconstruction of Gender Roles

Abstract

Reconstruction of gender roles and gender relations is inevitable for most refugees in transnational terrains as they navigate a new socio-cultural context. In Somalia, women operate from a highly patriarchal system that legitimises dependence on men, but in the host country, they are making remarkable inroads in redefining gender roles and relations. In this chapter, the authors interrogate how Somali women reconstruct gender roles and relations within the transnational terrains in the context of South Africa using feminist intersectionality. It is informed by a qualitative study that drew data from in-depth interviews of 40 Somali refugees in Gauteng, whose purpose was to interrogate the gendered complexities of Somali women in the South African context. The study establishes that redefining gender roles and power relations was elicited by pressing livelihood demands and the South African context, which gives Somali women the ability to access rights more easily than in Somalia. The Somali women reconstruct gender roles and relations in their Diaspora households as they strive to build themselves in South Africa. When these women have an income and access to resources in these transnational terrains, they control the household budget and decisionmaking. The women venture into the male domains to maximise family returns to support their families in the Diaspora and, importantly, send remittances home.