Not Just Victims: A Case Study of Internally Displaced Women's Response Strategies in Barrancabermeja, Colombia

Abstract: Internally displaced women hold together the social fabric of society; they are resilient, resourceful and creative in ensuring the well-being of their families following forced displacement. By utilizing the analytical framework of the actor-oriented approach, and the concepts of feminization of poverty and response strategies, this research demonstrates that women’s agency, as actors in the reconstruction of their lives, is derived from how social networks construct agency and response strategies. Social networks are valuable in providing internally displaced women with, not only the support in reflecting and healing from their experience of forced displacement, but also in giving them the tools to be autonomous as women, as well as being economically independent. However, this greatly depends on how social networks view women. Displaced women can be viewed as either empowered or victimized. The aim of this thesis, then, is to explore and capture how internally displaced women in Barrancabermeja, Colombia reconstruct their lives and the perceptions they associate with their experience. The focus is thus on the true voices of the women, as they demonstrate their agency.