Roads to Refuge

Teaching ideas

REFUGEE JOURNEYS

Lesson 3: Refugee women and children

Learning outcome

Participants will be able to identify (and empathise with) the similarities and differences between the experiences of men, women and children during their refugee journey.

Lesson resources

Refugee Journeys » Women and children

Step 1. Reading

Question: How are men, women and children (boys and girls) affected differently by war and conflict?

Ask students to refer to the short stories at Roads to Refuge » Refugee journeys » Seeking refuge » Our experiences.

  • Atoosa (Iran) from Stories from a Troubled Homeland (written by students at Randwick Girls’ High School, Sydney)
  • Ali (Afghanistan) from ‘The Truth Hurts - Facts and Stories about "Boat People" and Asylum Seekers’, The Centre for Refugee Research, UNSW
  • Dunia (Iraq) from Stories from a Troubled Homeland (written by students at Randwick Girls’ High School, Sydney)

The following terms can be used to consider how people’s experiences might be different.

  • Mental health
  • Family support
  • Violence
  • Role of elders
  • Education
  • Employment/work
  • Roles and responsibilities in family

Step 2. Discussion

Ask students to suggest why the experience of conflict is different for men, women, boys and girls.

Step 3. Unaccompanied minors

Look at these statistics and identify the numbers of unaccompanied children (minors) arriving in Europe in recent years.

Watch the following videos and discuss reasons why children might travel by themselves. What type of assistance might they need on their journey?

 

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