Abstract

As a ‘superpower’, the United States’ failure in effective humanitarian intervention demonstrates significant consequences in Syria, specifically concerning female refugees.  It is through the accounts of Syrian female refugees that profound cultural issues are revealed, grounded in patriarchal international relations regarding the status of women, refugees, and states.  This study assesses the consequences of the lack of direct action by the U.S. through the explanation of the conditions endured by Syrian female refugees in accordance with the globally accepted definition of refugee status and the role of feminist action in relationship to this.  The experiences of Syrian female refugees were analyzed in the context of typical realities of female refugees worldwide and the framework in which patriarchy defines and perpetrates this phenomenon.  This work is unique as it undertakes a perspective that assesses the manner in which overarching male-dominated thought, in both cultural consciousness and in international humanitarian law and practice, has been instituted as the norm.  The realities that female refugees are forced to endure are ones that are distinctly marked by exploitation based upon their gender with characteristics being sexual exploitation, lack of mobility, and increased risk of domestic violence.  Through the U.S. government’s failure to effectively intervene in the Syrian crisis, a cycle of female refugee experiences defined by patriarchal norms is once again placed into motion.