1/3/2018 FY 14: Gender-based violence among stateless and national populations in Cote d'Ivoire A comprehensive review of the literature has revealed that most published work either focuses on the legal challenges of statelessness or offers an evaluation of the social, political and economic effects of statelessness on populations. There is a dearth of literature that exists on the situation and contexts of GBV, statistical estimates of GBV, and GBV related health impacts among stateless populations. Current research establishes that displaced women and refugee women are at increased risk of GBV,[3-7] but there is little information on GBV among stateless populations. By exploring this relationship, this proposed study aims to characterize the contexts and risks of GBV among stateless populations and establish recommendations for policy change and programming options to addressing GBV among these stateless populations. The effects of migration and conflict, hurdles in issuance of birth certificates, challenging definitions of nationality, and discrimination have resulted in an estimated 700,000 persons who are stateless or at-risk for statelessness in Côte d’Ivoire.[8, 9] Migration is one of the principal factors associated with statelessness, whether this was related to historical migration (prior to independence) or a recent migration. The border between Burkina Faso and Côte d’Ivoire serves as the busiest migrant route in Africa. Over the past few decades millions of migrants from Burkina Faso, Mali and Ghana have traveled to Côte d’Ivoire to work or seek asylum, and thousands of Ivoirians have returned home after fleeing conflict or persecution. In fact, as of 2013, an estimated 12.3% of population in Côte d’Ivoire were migrants.[10] Individuals who migrated prior to independence were given one year to apply for naturalization after independence; however, most failed to do so. Speculation by UNHCR suggests this missed opportunity was due to lack of awareness or individual belief they were Ivorian and did not require registration. The lack of documentation has extended down through generations of long-term migrations and the current failure to keep government records of migrations prevents recent migrant from obtaining documentation.[11] Côte d’Ivoire also currently receives a large number of refugee returns, receiving over 80,000 in 2012-13. The majority of these individuals, and the children born in asylum, also return without documentation or birth certificates – approximately 80% of returnees are returning to areas where civil records have been destroyed by conflict. Moreover, the legacy of statelessness associated with lack of documentation and lost of documentation as a result of conflict also affects those who were born in Cote d’Ivoire. Statelessness subsequently is passed on from one generation to the next. The challenge to national documentation is attributable to ambiguous and restrictive national laws of citizenship: Ivorian nationality is based on the jus sanguinis principle of citizenship, meaning that nationality is determined by parentage, not by location of birth. Specifically, this requires having at least one Ivorian parent, though prior to independence there was no Ivorian nationality or ethnicity.[12] This law was later amended to provide nationality to anyone born in the country prior to 1972; however, this resulted in the nationalization of only a few hundred.[11] The nationality code has enabled the discrimination of specific minorities groups, referred to as “dioulas”, who are various ethnicities but predominantly of the Muslim faith living in Northern Côte d’Ivoire. Birth and residence in Côte d’Ivoire, these groups have been excluded from citizenship on the basis of being considered ‘foreign.’[12] Children who are double orphans or abandoned also risk statelessness, as a birth certificate verifying relation to an Ivorian national is necessary to prove nationality. A large number of people living in Côte d’Ivoire experience administrative hurdles, difficulty verifying their nationality, and are thus stateless or at risk for becoming stateless. Ambiguous definitions and complicated rules for conferring nationality to children and unregistered adults make the process of obtaining documentation of Ivorian citizenship extremely difficult. Special certificates of nationality are issued in the process to effect naturalization. Once issued, these certificates are only valid for 6 months and can be questioned by authorities and revoked by the courts. A key barrier to this is the requirement of verification by demonstration of one’s birth certificate and proof of citizenship of at least one family member. In a setting with limited documentation, meeting these requirements is challenging for many applicants.[8, 11] Without a certificate of nationality a person is unable to own property, access state health and education services or obtain a state identity card. Failure to demonstrate documents at checkpoint restricts movement, unless the traveler can pay a bribe. Ivorian nationality is required for land ownership, preventing demonstration of ownership in the case of land disputes, particularly in areas where returnees reside.[11] In the absence of data on GBV among stateless persons, some general information can be drawn from conflict-affected communities in Côte d’Ivoire. The country’s civil war resulted in a dire humanitarian situation in the country, with 67% of women reporting that they had experienced some form of GBV, often within the context of conflict.[13] A study of 12 rural, conflict-affected communities estimated that approximately 10% of women and 6% of men had experience a lifetime history of forced sex. Moreover, recent intimate partner physical violence (last 12 months) was prevalent and reported by 21% and 10% of women and men, respectively. Across physical and sexual violence, perpetrators were rarely combatants, but were more commonly acquaintances, strangers and family member, including both genders. [14] Evidence of perpetration by non-combatants is important, highlighting perpetration of GBV during opportunities of vulnerability, and may be similar for stateless persons who lack access to basic rights, justice, and healthcare and who may, themselves, have been affected by conflict. Other qualitative research from conflict-affected women in Uganda suggests that extended family members are often the perpetrators of GBV in the aftermath of a conflict.[15] Little attention is given to GBV inflicted upon women by extended family members, although intra-familial GBV has been associated with many of the same negative health affects reported by victims of IPV.[16] A 2013 post-conflict study examining GBV in Côte d’Ivoire found that women who experienced adversity or whose family had been victimized in the conflict reported increased rates of past-year in-law abuse, affecting almost 25% of studied women in the last 12 month.[17] While national law prohibits rape, with penalty of 5 – 20 years in prison, there is no law protecting women from spousal rape and does not specifically outlaw IPV.[9] Even for those who experience rape, women residing in Cote D’Ivoire without certification of citizenship would be limited in their access to state services, including healthcare and education, putting them at increased risk for continued abuse and subsequent or continued negative health outcome.[11] Moreover, survivors of rape are required to pay for a medical certificate, limiting access those who cannot afford to pay.[9] Given the current dearth of information on GBV among stateless populations and traditional approaches that focus on identity, land ownership and basic rights, the research findings on GBV experiences, related health outcomes and access to appropriate care produced by this study will provide new evidence for advocacy and may expose new policy implications and inform policy and programming for stateless populations. METHODS Overview https://www.state.gov/j/prm/policyissues/prmfund/276832.htm 3/27