Refugee and Returnee Women: Skills Acquired in Exile and their Application in Peacetime

Displaced El Salvadorian women who lived in Honduran refugee camps during the 1970s and 1980s acquired significant knowledge of communal systems of education, medical care, and production, which enabled them to be self-sufficient. However, upon repatriation, they lost their new roles and reverted to their traditionally submissive positions in society. This report explains why the changes experienced by women in refugee camps were not sustained over time.