“I am free”: Gender statements and the empowerment pedagogies for refugee women in Brazil

Abstract

In this article, I analyze a set of gender statements that, intertwined with the category of refuge, constitutes a specific narrative articulated by the international organizations integrated to the transnational human rights regimes. I take the United Nations (UN) project Empowering Refugees as a reference to introduce gender narratives that will largely direct the asylum policies in the Brazilian context. I also discuss the effects of these actions on the lives of two women who engaged in the project in the city of Sao Paulo: Samira, example of empowerment presented publicly; and Jana, also a participant in the project, but who did not become a public voice for its results. My main argument is that projects aimed at “refugee women” headed by international agencies are promoting an empowerment pedagogy based on concepts such as autonomy and freedom, which does not necessarily favor women who are the targets of their actions.