The aftermath of the Syrian crisis: a glimpse of the challenging life of widowed and divorced refugee women in Jordan
| Date | 27 March 2023 |
| Pages | 522-537 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/MHSI-01-2023-0007 |
| Published date | 27 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Social inclusion |
| Author | Ayat J. Nashwan,Lina Alzouabi |
The aftermath of the Syrian crisis: a
glimpse of the challenging life of widowed
and divorced refugee women in Jordan
Ayat J. Nashwan and Lina Alzouabi
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to address thesocial, cultural, financial and psychological obstacles these
women face in preserving their livingarrangements and in parenting as well as the coping mechanisms
women adopt to overcome everyday challenges. Researchers used qualitative methodology and
interviewsto fulfill the aims.
Design/methodology/approach –Researchers used qualitative methodology and interviews to fulfill
the aims. The sample consistsof 20 Syrians living in Jordan’s Amman, Irbid and Al Ramthain specially
designedcompounds for them (14 widows and 6 divorcees).
Findings –This study’s findingsdemonstrate that socialand cultural norms existing in Jordanand Syria
are generally similar, in which women view the males in the family as a source of socioeconomic and
emotionalstability for them. Widowsand divorcees face serioussociocultural, financialand psychological
challenges in maintaining their living conditions and the integrationprocess as well as performing single
parenting.Faith and social connectionsrepresentan important part of copingwith the situation in theshort
term; nevertheless, financial and psychological support seems a vital component in the long term.
Research on the conditions of widows and divorcees provides evidence to comprehensively approach
the issueof ‘‘vulnerabilities’’ in thehumanitarian-policy programmingtargeting refugees.Theoretically, the
findings may provide empirical insights for discussions around women’s changing identities through
displacement,agency and empowermentin relation to parentingexperiences.
Originality/value –The lived experienceof widowhood and divorce among Syrian is understudied,while
their resiliencestrategies are less known. To fill thesegaps, this study focuses on Syrian refugee widows
and divorcees who are raising their children in specially designated compounds in Jordan and the
difficulties they face on social, economic and emotional levels. Besides its originality in providing
empirical material about challenges Syrian women faced, our study contributes to better understand
women’sclaims for agency and empowermentas a part of identity changes.
Keywords Syrian women, Social, Financial, Psychological, Challenges, Coping skills
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
With an estimated 7.1 million refugees in Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt by the
end of 2021, the situation in Syria represents the largestongoing refugee crisis in the history
of the world since 2011 (Regional StrategicOverview, 2022;Khawaldah and Alzboun, 2022;
Paudyal, et al.,2021). More than 676,496 Syrian refugees were officially registered in
Jordan (ACAPS, 2022;UNHCR, 2022); women and girls make up nearly half of all Syrian
refugees (IPSOS Group SA, 2018). Syrian familial structure in exile has been directly
impacted by the dramatic changes thatwomen have experienced as a result of being thrust
suddenly and forcibly into extremely challenging circumstances; given that approximately
22% of families are headed by women and that 16% of all homes are headed by single
parents, it can be concluded that women and children make up a large proportion of
Ayat J. Nashwan is
Associate Professor at the
Department of Sociology
and Social Work, Yarmouk
University,
Irbid, Jordan and is
the Head of Sociology
Department, University of
Sharjah, Sharjah,
United Arab Emirates.
Lina Alzouabi is based at
the Department of English
Language and Literature,
Karabuk University,
Karabuk, Turkey.
The authors would like to thank
all research participants who
generaously shared their
experiences with them.
Funding: This research
received external funding from
AHRC-GCR Project.
The Global Challenges
Research Fund (GCRF).
Institutional review board
statement: All participants in
the study provided their
informed consent.
Conflicts of interest: The
authors declare no conflict of
interest.
PAGE 522 jMENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION jVOL. 28 NO. 5 2024, pp. 522-537, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2042-8308 DOI 10.1108/MHSI-01-2023-0007
refugees (ReliefWeb, 2019). According to a report by CARE about Syrian women,
confirmed by other studies as well, a majority of these women assume different roles and
commitments, getting involved in decisions about expenses and income taking on
obligations outside the residenceand becoming the head of the family (CARE, 2016).
In contrast to the broad impression that the “Syrian refugee” term conjures, women
especially those who are single parents (widows and divorcees) are underrepresented in
research. Few scholars have focused on distinct groups of Syrian refugee women, like
widows and divorcees, despite the growing body of scholarship (Ozkaleli, 2021).
Nevertheless, they encounter a plethora of challenges due to their status. Often it is the
case that when they first enter refugee camps or societies, many women lack money, know
nothing about their options and are unawareof the unique difficulties they will face (Giovetti,
2021). The financial, cultural and psychological challenges accumulate when they lose a
husband through death or divorce. These difficulties faced in the country of displacement
further burden widowed and divorced Syrian women who are also committed to keeping
themselves and their childrensafe (CARE, 2016, as cited in Cline, 2013).
The relative lack of literature on recent accounts of widowhood and divorce among Syrian
refugee women as a result of emergency situations suggests that this aspect of lived
experience is understudied. This study will therefore concentrate on Syrian refugee widows
and divorcees who are raising their children in specially designated compounds in Jordan
and the difficulties they face on social,economic and emotional levels.
Additionally, it will examine how they manage to raise their kids in the host nation as single
parents. Therefore, this study willshed light on the parenting dilemmas and difficulties these
single mothers encounter in Jordan, the study’s host nation, by examining the lives of
these Syrian women. Investigating the social, economic and emotional difficulties will result
in the literature on the narrative experiences these mothers have and the coping strategies
they use to ensure better housingand resettlement.
2. Literature
There has been a quite rich scholarship showing how gender identities transformas people
migrate and how these intersect with multipleidentities like class, nationality, race, ethnicity,
religion, disabilities and other identities(McIlwaine, 2010;McNay, 2004). Households, labor
markets and the state seem to be some scales to trace these transformations. Among them,
labor market has received the most attention (Knappert et al., 2018;Korukmez et al.,2020).
Agency and experience have been the key concepts to explain the gender and migration
nexus (McNay, 2004). There is limited literature on widowhood among refugee women.
They are called as “war widows,” “refugee widows” and “displaced widows.” Although
losses are an integral part of the journey of many refugees, in the case of widows the
question turns into “how the sudden loss of a spouse under such circumstances can
compound resettlement anxieties” and “how they negotiate lives characterized by
community ostracism and stigmatization attached to widowhood and lone parenting”
(Lenette, 2014:403). Studies on widowhood in general point out that “when woman’s
husband dies or divorces, she becomes more vulnerable and is ostracized,” “across Africa
and Asia, widows are coerced into harmful, degrading traditional practices”; “even in
developed societies, widows can be denied proper medical care, have difficulties
accessing credit, be liable for the debts of a deceased spouse, or be driven to suicide by
the hostility of in-laws or the greed of their own children.” (Platzer, 2018, p.181).
Accordingly, refugee widows are probablyamong the most vulnerable.
Sufferings of widows due to the war and settlement experiences are common findingsin the
research on women and migration (Lenette, 2014;Agutter, 2016;Kanyangale and
Maclachlan, 1995;Ochala and Mungai, 2016). Regardless of where they settled (urban or
camp setting) and when many refugee women experience hardships. They face the
VOL. 28 NO. 5 2024 jMENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION jPAGE 523
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