International refugee law and the feminist method: a critical approach ; La regulación del refugio y el método feminista: la necesidad de una aproximación crítica

This article aims to show how, through a feminist methodological approach developed from iusfeminist doctrines, an analysis of the International Law of Refugees shows how it takes on an androcentric regulatory function. The ultimate objective is to demonstrate how, through the application of the iusfeminist approach, that women's refugee experiences are marked by the gender-based violence they suffer both at origin, on their journey, as well as in the State where they request to be recognized under the status of refugee protection. At the same time, it is the intention of this article to show how the reality of gender violence is not contemplated by the International Law of Refugees. The article will first illustrate, and in detail, what the premises of the feminist method are. Thus, a review of the elements of Haraway's ‘situated knowledge’ will be made, which suggests that knowledge is a virtue, and is traversed not only by the historical and cultural context in which the research takes place, but also by the gaze of the person who investigates. Second, the article will expose the premises of the feminist method that calls into question the alleged universality, objectivity and impartiality of International Refugee Law, while taking into account gender relations and the experiences of women. In the development of the feminist method that this article will carry out, it will be structured around the question of women, feminist practical reason and the principle of awareness. In relation to the third point of the feminist method, it will be described how the application of postcolonial feminism affects the regulation of the law of refugees, which allows the deconstruction of the concept of equality such as: non-discrimination and non-subordination as well as explicitly examining the hierarchies of colonial powers and gender at stake in the research process itself. As for the fourth point of the feminist method, Crenshaw's intersectionality is presented, which will make it easier for us to show the multiple ...