When when societies collapse to the extent that people are compelled to flee their homes, communities, regions, and nations; they usually send men to establish a base and then the women and children are sent for later; most of the refugee and immigrant families I know personally followed this pattern.
Also, women have less agency and social mobility then men do in most societies, so when the crisis hits women and children are often forced to follow whatever plans the men set, or those in power set; and most often women are not even included in the crisis response; or the women who work in crisis response are indoctrinated into the same system of devaluing women and women’s ability to plan and contribute, so they focus on what the men in power, or the men in crisis want above and beyond what women want.
Also, in a military conflict men flee because they fear conscription into the conflict. Families will send their sons abroad to protect them from becoming entangled in the conflict. Often all men of military age are considered combatants in a conflict and will be targeted. The US targeted all males between the ages of 12-60 when they invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. The same families that will send their sons abroad will not put effort in to sending their daughters away because the sons are the ones who “carry on the legacy, who carry the seed, or the name of the family,” and many patriarchal societies don’t conciser women worthy and capable of carrying the family name and legacy, and are thus devalued; and a family will not invest the resources needed to send their women abroad.
Also, fleeing a conflict into a foreign nation is extremely dangerous, and for women that danger is multiplied. They face all the risk men do, but also stand the risk of brutal rape, forced enslavement, sex trafficking. Not only are combatants and foreign agents a threat, their fellow male Refugees pose a threat to them. Jewish men were raping Jewish women in the Ghettos and Concentration Camps! So shared suffering dosen’t gain women consideration from their own men in many cases.
Even if they reach the lands they are fleeing to all of those risk remain. Immigrant and Refugee women are still victimized when they receive asylum. Women face great risk and dangers no matter what option they chose, staying put, fleeing, and the danger isn’t greatly reduced if they are successful in fleeing because immigrant women are 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th class persons even in the Liberal societies of the West. The police, border agendas, and aid workers also present a great threat to immigrant and refugee women and their children.
So you can take your pick, all of these reasons work, and there are many more tragic explanations.
Shit is fucked up for women in times of “peace and stability” in most parts of the world, so just imagine what it’s like when there’s a natural disaster or man-made disaster.
Capitalism and Global White Domination is not only Racist, Classicist, and Xenophobic, it’s extremely Sexist. One could argue that Sexism predates and runs deeper than Racism, and male dominance was the first manifestation of Classism; that’s why “weak” men are effeminized, and often called women or bitches. Sexism or anti-Womanism is so deeply entrenched that even Social Justice and anti-Racism movements and organizations are saturated with Sexist views and practices.
Whatever oppression a people face, you can almost universally observe that the women of the oppressed group have the added burden of Sexism to contend with on top off all the other bullshit.
Women are so devalued that the worst insult you can level against a man is to call him a woman. Hell, men consider being called a Dog, or a Bull, or even a Stud (Horse) a compliment, but you call him a female of his own species and you are in for a fight.
So, I’m glad you are even questioning the absence of women, or trying to understand their particular and unique hardships in this manufactured crisis taking place in Syria.
The Liberation of Women is the Liberation of Humanity; women have been saying that for decades, but who the hell is listening to them? SMH.
#XXPower
#XXLiberation
