Empowerment of African women in the Diaspora

Abstract

<p>The search for the Holy Grail to advance women’s economic advancement has been long and hard. Researchers have expounded on the barriers to women’s advancement and made recommendations. But figures show that more needs to be done to advance women’s economic empowerment. This paper explored the strategies used in Australia to empower African women. African women in Australia fall into several categories. Category one includes professional women immigrants who hold qualifications from their home countries, such as doctors; category two contains refugee women running away from war, early marriage, domestic violence, and persecution; category three comprises African women born in Australia or who grew up in Australia. The first and third categories of women are often in well-paying jobs and do not find it hard to integrate into Australian society. This paper examined the second category, the refugees with little or no education who speak little or no English. These women face stigma, have low self-esteem, and are more often than not dependent on welfare. Journal articles, policy documents, government and Non-governmental websites related to empowerment of African women in Australia were studied. Feminist theory was employed to explore women’s lived experiences and power relations. The results indicate that among the strategies used to empower African refugee women economically include collaboration with corporations such as banks and large supermarkets, which facilitate internships, facilitating provision of English-language classes, support in enrolment in training courses, spreading awareness of available services, providing driving lessons practice, and most important of all, culturally responsive support.</p>