CRRC-Georgia publishes study on internal displacements’ impact on attitudes toward gender relations

CRRC (The Caucasus Research Resource Centers)-Georgia has published a study on the internal displacements’ impact on the attitudes towards gender relations. Previous studies have shown that internal displacement from conflict can shift attitudes towards gender relations, such as perceptions of women’s household authority, tolerance of domestic violence, and attitudes towards women earning money.

Currently, 6 percent of Georgia’s population is internally displaced, as a result of the conflicts in the 1990s and 2008 in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region (so-called South Ossetia).

There are various explanations on this, mainly related to the psychological impacts of conflict and displacement on everyday household gender dynamics.

“Some have theorized that displaced women’s roles in the household often shift to that of breadwinner, and in response, men push back by becoming more of a dominant presence in the home. At the same time, women reject their new leadership role by becoming more accepting of the idea of male authority,” reads the report.

The analysis was conducted using a 2018 nationwide survey CRRC conducted for UN Women. The study compares individuals with similar social and demographic backgrounds except for whether or not the respondent had been displaced by conflict, it shows that the previously noted differences in attitudes are present among Georgia’s conflict displaced population.

In the survey, male respondents, in general, were more likely to believe that men should have the final word in the household. “However, both male and female respondents displaced by conflict were more likely to believe that men should have the final word in the household than individuals not displaced by the conflict that had otherwise similar backgrounds,” reads the analysis.

As for the domestic violence, non-displaced women were least tolerant of domestic violence as a means to keep the family together, while female displaced respondents and non-displaced male respondents were more tolerant. Male respondents displaced by conflict were more tolerant in their attitudes towards domestic violence for the sake of family preservation than all other respondents.

All female respondents, both IDPs and non-IDPs, were more likely to believe that a woman earning more than her husband would cause problems. However, male respondents not displaced by conflict were less likely to believe that women earning more would cause relationship problems than men displaced by conflict.

“Men and women displaced by conflict are more tolerant of domestic violence over the non-displaced in Georgia. Males displaced by conflict are more likely to believe men should have the final word in the home over non-displaced individuals, and non-displaced men are less likely to believe that if women earn more than their husbands, it will cause relationship problems. These findings support past research suggesting that the process of internal displacement can lead to adverse gender norms,” reads the report.

CRRC-Georgia is a non-governmental, non-profit research organization, which collects, analyzes and publishes policy-relevant data on social, economic and political trends in Georgia. CRRC-Georgia, together with CRRC-Armenia and CRRC-Azerbaijan, constitutes a network with the common goal of strengthening social science research and public policy analysis in the South Caucasus.