22 | Training handbook . Statelessness 1. Introduction 2. Guidance 3. Legal context 4. Research strategy 4. Research strategy The resource, "Principles for Conducting Country of Origin Information Research on Statelessness," was created based on the lessons we learned from conducting research on the subject of statelessness. They are meant to encourage COI researchers, legal counsel, and decision-makers to approach international protection applications involving stateless persons in a more comprehensive and knowledgeable manner, which, we hope, will improve the accessibility of highquality COI research and well-informed decisions. We have introduced you to some of the principles in sections 2 and 3 of the handbook: 5. Appendices 4.1 No single experience of statelessness Stateless persons are not a homogenous group, which means that they do not share a uniform set of characteristics or experiences. The stateless population comprises individuals from diverse backgrounds, each with their unique histories, circumstances, and reasons for being stateless. This diversity is reflected in several aspects, such as: • Race, • Ethnicity • Religion • No single response to statelessness • Language • What the law says and what happens in practice • Gender We will now discuss the remaining principles, and what So, what is intersectionality then? It is a term which they mean for our research strategy. is mentioned a lot but not always understood or engaged with properly. When we take an intersectional approach we are able to reach a more nuanced understanding of how intersecting factors and processes of power shape the risks, needs and experiences of individuals seeking international protection. This can be complicated though, and can give rise to a whole set of other considerations to take into account when developing our research strategy. For example, if we are researching the situation of stateless children, we will also need to be alert to child-specific rights and violations. Intersectionality encourages an understanding of people as being shaped by the interaction of different aspects of their identity, such as race/ ethnicity, indigeneity, gender, class, sexuality, geography, age, migration status, religion etc. These interactions occur within specific contexts and structures of power. Intersectional discrimination refers to a situation in which people are discriminated against on different grounds which, taken together, result in a level of prejudice or persecution that is higher than if these different grounds were considered separately. © Asylos, 2023 Back to contents