Because Deportation is Violence Against Women: On the Politics of State Responsibility and Women’s Human Rights

• In Event: 415 - Section on Race, Class and Gender Paper Session. Gendered Racism, Vulnerability and State Sanctioned Violence

Abstract

In 2011, Canadian immigration authorities issued a directive allowing border guards to enter women’s shelters to deport “unauthorized” migrants. The policy was implemented despite significant protests from civil society groups. Using discourse analysis of both the protests and the state’s response, this research analyzes the politics of state responsibility that are implicated in contestations over women’s human rights. The findings distinguish between the state’s use of securitized notions of responsibility to limit access to protection for non-citizens, versus advocates’ expanded conceptions of responsibility to protect all women regardless of immigration status. The findings also show two competing strategies used by advocates to frame the issue: whereas statist appeals sought greater state accountability for upholding women’s human rights, postnational appeals challenged the very legitimacy of the state and state borders as sites of gendered violence.

Author

• Salina Abji, University of Toronto