Paper short abstract:

It is officially considered that the work with repatriates in Central Asian countries is gender sensitive. The paper argues that gender-sensitive approach is used nominally, since it does not pay attention to the differences between "sex" and "gender" and such aspects as gender role and identity.

Paper long abstract:

The return of foreign fighters and their families who went to Iraq and Syria to live in the Islamic State has been considered as very urgent political and security issue since the mid-2010s. In some countries, the return of such individuals has taken place by their own initiative. In several countries, such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, repatriation and rehabilitation has been organized by the state. It is officially considered that the work with repatriates is gender-sensitive. Is this really the case and what is the gender sensitivity meaning in this case?

The research, which included in-depth interviews with female returnees, shows that, in fact, rehabilitation and reintegration in Central Asian countries either focuses almost exclusively on women and children (Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) or does not make any gender distinction between returnees (Tajikistan). The dominant approach in Central Asian countries is one takes into consideration only sex status of the returnee and does not distinguish between ”sex” and “gender”.

The reintegration of women is mainly based on a traditional understanding of the role of women in the family and society. This actively uses the desirability and possibility, on the one hand, of placing women in the position of an "invisible", inactive and dependent member of society, and, on the other hand, of imposing standardized, "traditional" model of behavior on women. This approach can be considered gender-sensitive only nominally, since it does not take into account the differences between "sex" and "gender" and such aspects as gender role and gender identity.