An Analysis of the Gender Blindness in Turkey’s Social Cohesion Policies for Refugees Through the Experiences of Syrian Women Residing in Ankara

Turkey’s position on the global migration map has undergone a significant transformation following the Syrian Civil War, which began in 2011, and by 2014, Turkey had become the country hosting the largest number of refugees in the world. With the acknowledgment by policymakers that the likelihood and inclination for Syrian refugees to return to their home country has diminished, social cohesion policies have been initiated since 2016.The central claim of this study, which aims to examine Turkey’s social cohesion policies for Syrian refugees from a feminist perspective, is that Turkey’s social cohesion policies possess a gender-blind characteristic. The primary aim of the study is to analyze how the gender-blind approach in these policies neglects the gender-based challenges faced by women, who constitute nearly half of the Syrian refugee population in Turkey, and how this affects their access to education, healthcare, and the labor market. In this context, the findings of a qualitative study conducted through semi-structured interviews with 14 Syrian refugee women residing in Ankara will be employed. Field findings indicate that current integration policies fail to decrease the pressure, exploitation, and discrimination faced by Syrian women due to both their refugee status and gendered position. Furthermore, these policies, which leave the fate of Syrian women to the domination of patriarchal traditions and norms, reinforce the vulnerable and dependent positions of Syrian refugee women in Turkey.