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Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders GIRWL, Germany,
Title:Intersectional Feminisms in the 21st Century: Refugee- and Stateless-Led Pathways to Inclusion
Intersectional feminisms radicalize Kimberlé Crenshaw’s framework by revealing how gendered oppression intersects with race, class, sexuality, disability, migration status, and statelessness intensified in forced displacement by exclusionary borders, asylum systems, and citizenship denials that silence and disenfranchise refugee, stateless, and LGBTIQ+ individuals.
This presentation centers how refugee- and stateless-led initiatives operationalize intersectional feminisms to secure meaningful participation not mere consultation, but shared agenda-setting power in local, national, and global decision-making. Drawing from women- and queer-led networks like GIRWL, it highlights strategies that combat gender-based violence, expand access to education, employment, healthcare, and justice, and challenge tokenistic inclusion through grassroots-to-institutional advocacy.
Particular focus addresses stateless women and girls, whose legal erasure compounds gendered risks, while displaced leaders forge alternative care infrastructures and political voice that reject top-down models.
The presentation asserts that intersectional feminisms, grounded in the leadership of forcibly displaced communities, redefine meaningful participation as transformative: centering lived expertise to hold policymakers, humanitarian actors, and civil society accountable. It concludes with actionable recommendations to embed intersectionality in policy, funding, and governance ensuring gender equality and justice are driven by those most affected.
Shaza Alrihawi is a Syrian sociologist, human rights advocate, and refugee leader based in Germany. A research assistant at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), she co-founded Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders (GIRWL) and other refugee-led initiatives. With prior roles at UNHCR and UNRWA, her work centers on gender-based violence, statelessness, LGBTIQ+ rights, and meaningful refugee participation in policymaking. Nominated for the Women of Europe Awards 2024, she has authored/co-authored publications on refugee leadership and inclusion and speaks frequently at international policy and academic forums.