RESETTLEMENT CHALLENGES AND GENDER: A CASE STUDY OF LIBERIAN REFUGEES IN NOVA SCOTIA

Abstract

This Master’s level research project investigates how gender shapes the resettlement challenges that liberian refugees have faced in Nova Scotia. The study investigates the impact of the reframing of gender relations during resettlement processes in both material and symbolic domains of life in Halifax. While male Liberian refugees are found to have a comparative advantage over their female counterparts, due in large part to the priority given to educating young men in rural Liberia, they also have higher expectations of education and employment once settled. Women seem to benefit symbolically if not materially from the reframing of gender relations in Canada, as compared to Liberia.