Entry:
The Intercultural Association provides services for immigrant and refugee newcomers in the Greater Victoria area. I spoke with Dr. Sabine Lehr about her role at ICA, and what transnational feminism means to her:
“In my role as Private Sponsorship of Refugees Manager at ICA, I help resettle refugees from different countries of origin and different contexts of violence and persecution to Canada. In this context, transnational feminism for me means safeguarding the rights of women and girls in situations of forced displacement. It also means examining together with displaced women and girls the gender-based drivers of displacement as many of them are not simply caught up in situations of conflict, but are specifically targeted because they are women and girls”.
Rationale:
I wanted to focus on a local organization in order to create connections between the “here” and “there” of transnational feminism. The existence of local organizations like the Intercultural Association of Greater Victoria are connected to larger patterns of forced displacement and resettlement across and within borders around the globe. I chose to include Dr. Sabine Lehr as I wanted to draw attention to the on-the-ground work that she does in the field of refugee and immigrant resettlement - especially her focus on the gender-based drivers of displacement – in order to connect the work happening here in Victoria with some of the broader focal points of transnational feminist activism and discourse.
Keywords: Refugees, immigrants, borders, forced displacement
Author: deroo
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