AHMR African Human Mobilty Review - Volume 8 No 3, SEP-DEC 2022 causes of statelessness for women and their children, that are rooted in or exacerbated by gender discrimination. While not an exhaustive analysis, and certainly there is further research required on this issue, it demonstrates that women are vulnerable to a range of elevated and compounded risks of statelessness linked to patriarchal norms and deeply rooted gender inequalities. These risks are not only limited to the discrimination de jure of gender discriminatory nationality laws, but also arise from indirect gender discrimination, especially as reflected in bureaucratic and administrative practices. For women who may also suffer discrimination on other grounds, such as race, ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic status, these effects are further compounded. (d) Key consequences of statelessness for women Despite the many serious consequences of being stateless, there is limited existing research into the gender-specific impacts of statelessness on women and their lived experiences. This is a significant gap, as Manjoo’s discussion of a feminist approach to citizenship highlights. She argues that there is a need for ‘a situated understanding of citizenship for women’ informed by women’s lived experiences.65 Also, as George notes, ‘limited existing research largely ignores the impacts that statelessness specifically has on women, including the extent to which statelessness creates vulnerabilities for abuse’.66 As a starting point, it is very difficult to quantify how many women actually experience statelessness, given that the limited global data that does exist is not gender-disaggregated.67 While there is a dearth of research in this area, some key overarching concerns often affecting stateless women are identifiable. As Rijken et al observe, ‘in a number of areas, stateless women are more affected by the consequences of statelessness and find themselves in a more vulnerable position than men’.68 The COVID-19 pandemic, and accompanying lockdowns and reduced access to services, as well as its severe socio-economic impacts, have heightened this vulnerability for stateless women even further.69 Emerging research suggests that women who are stateless are especially vulnerable to VAW, including trafficking and sexual exploitation, as well as domestic violence and intimate partner violence.70 UNHCR ‘Statelessness: Prevention and reduction of statelessness and protection of stateless persons’ (14 February 2006) EC/57/SC/CRP.6 at para 7(d). 64 Pumla Rulashe ‘Without documents, women at high risk of gender-based violence’ UNHCR (15 December 2021), available at https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/2021/12/61b9c3104/documents-women-high-risk-gender-based-violence.html, accessed on 12 May 2022. 65 Rashida Manjoo ‘Special guest contribution: Violence against women as a barrier to the realisation of human rights and the effective exercise of citizenship’ (2016) 112 Feminist Review 11 at 14. 66 George op cit note 9 at 1. 67 UNHCR ‘Global trends: Forced displacement in 2018’ (2019) at 51. The report notes that fewer than half of countries have official statistics on stateless people, and it does not include any gender-disaggregated data on statelessness. 68 Conny Rijken Laura van Waas Martin Gramatikov & Deirdre Brennan The Nexus Between Statelessness and Human Trafficking in Thailand (2015) 106. 69 UNHCR ‘Displaced and stateless women and girls at heightened risk of gender-based violence in the coronavirus pandemic’ (20 April 2020), available at https://www.unhcr.org/news/press/2020/4/5e998aca4/displaced-stateless-women-girls-heightened-risk-gender-based-violence-coronavirus.html, accessed on 12 May 2022. 70 UNHRC op cit note 59 para 53. 63 26