“And Then One Day, Me and My Husband, We Learned How to Cross the Street”: Hazara Women’s Experiences in Sydney and Yearnings for ‘Home’

Abstract

As numbers of displaced people throughout the world steadily increase with the rise in global conflicts, many Western nations, including Australia, increasingly thwart asylum-seeking and place harsh restrictions on entry. Nonetheless, Afghanistan’s troubled political history over several decades has generated steady movement of refugees to Australia, and Australia has offered protection, although often conditional and limited. Little is known about the experiences of women who fled, giving up their homes, professions, education, extended family, and social lives that were rich in connection. Despite expanding research and literature, there are still gaps in what is known about what happens to refugee women who resettle in Australia. The research outlined in this article uncovers the stories of six Afghan women, highlighting their agency to counter stereotypes. The article focuses not only on losses experienced, but ways in which this group of Hazara women negotiated their way in their new home of Australia, with the support of STARTTS, a not-for-profit organisation. Some of the initial barriers to resettlement in Australia involved accessible and timely information, limited proficiency in English, and comprehending laws and norms. The ongoing effects of trauma along with these barriers often accelerated the ageing process for these women, limiting their ability as well as opportunity for employment. These barriers were exacerbated in the context of the yearnings for their homeland and loved ones who were still in Afghanistan. Women were torn between feelings of gratitude for their own security and of guilt and pain for those in Afghanistan. Through STARTTS-facilitated groups, women found opportunities to connect with one another. They also used these connections to gather information about support programs, for themselves or their families, crucial for them to reconstruct their lives in Australia. For refugees experiencing dislocation, the formation of social networks in the host country contributes to belonging and connectedness and facilitates rebuilding trusting relationships that have been intentionally destroyed, where they can share their experiences in a safe, trauma-informed environment.

1. Introduction

As numbers of displaced people throughout the world steadily increase with the rise in global conflicts, many Western nations, including Australia, increasingly thwart asylum-seeking and place harsh restrictions on entry (Briskman and Sharples 2024). Nonetheless, Afghanistan’s troubled political history over several decades has generated refugee movements to Australia, and Australia has offered protection, although often conditional and limited.

Afghanistan’s oppressed Hazara minority, as targets and subjects of a long history of human rights abuses, have featured significantly, reflecting not only their experiences in Afghanistan but also in neighbouring Pakistan and Iran (Amnesty International 2023). Following the resurgence of Taliban rule in 2021, saturation news broadcasts over many weeks displayed images of people in flight. Although media reports eventually subsided as other international conflicts emerged, one of the main messages to reach the Australian public was the suffering and oppression of women.

Until recently, little was known about the experiences of women who fled, giving up their homes, professions, education, extended family, and social lives that were rich in connection (Jafari et al. 2024). Despite expanding research and literature (e.g., Lumbus et al. 2021; Ryan et al. 2024), there are still gaps in understanding the emotional journeys of refugee women who resettle in Western countries, including Australia.

The research outlined in this article uncovers the stories of six Afghan women, highlighting their emotional journeys and their agency to counter stereotypes, although it is extremely difficult to generalise the migration experience of Afghan–Hazaras in Australia (Parkes 2020). The article focuses not only on losses experienced, but how this group of Hazara women negotiated their way in their new home of Australia, with the support of a not-for-profit organisation. For refugees experiencing dislocation, the formation of social networks in the host country contributes to belonging and connectedness and facilitates rebuilding trusting relationships that have been destroyed by structural violence (Mehta et al. 2022).

This article draws on Yuval-Davis’s (2015) conceptualization of situated intersectionality, where she highlights that an analysis of social stratification is highly sensitive to the changing geographical, social, and temporal contexts of individuals or groups. This approach emphasizes translocality (how social divisions hold different meanings and power across spaces), transcalarity (how these divisions vary in significance from local to global scales), and transtemporality (how their meanings and power evolve over time and across life stages). Additionally, the article incorporates Yuval-Davis et al.’s (2018) concept of the politics of belonging, which posits that political projects create boundaries and shape notions of identity, belonging, and territoriality, defining “who we are” and “our place in the world”. These frameworks are particularly useful for understanding the emotional journeys of Hazara women in Australia, as it highlights how shifting social, political, and spatial contexts influence their sense of identity, belonging, and lived experiences.

Our research incorporates elements from Ryan et al. (2024) who used longitudinal research methods on a large data set, including in-depth case studies of five women interviewed over many years. Although our research was of a smaller scale and not longitudinal at this stage, we foreground narratives from six Hazara women in Sydney Australia. Unlike the longitudinal research of Ryan et al. (2024), we present one-off focus group discussions that focus on network formation, while recognising that the experiences of the women are likely to change over time and vary across intersections of marginalization, particularly age and education. Although this article is based on one focus group, the participants selected for this research were from a group associated with the New South Wales (NSW) Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS), where they receive consistent and ongoing support.

STARTTS is a not-for-profit organisation that delivers specialised, culturally appropriate biopsychosocial support to individuals and communities from a refugee/asylum seeker background who have undergone severe trauma from violence and conflict in their countries and on their journey. Founded in 1988, the organisation has expanded to establish 10 offices across NSW, including rural and regional areas. Among other services, STARTTS creates groups with different communities that afford a safe space, psychosocial support, well-being activities, creation of social networks, and for gaining knowledge about available services. The groups foster the development of social capital that centres on social relationships, including social networks that at the institutional level facilitate cooperation and collective action that provides mutual benefits (Bhandari and Yasunobu 2009). Through STARTTS, the adoption of a social capital paradigm significantly enhances resilience to the impact of trauma and improving the well-being of individuals, families, and communities. The groups are led by bicultural staff with lived refugee experience or experience of working with refugee communities, who facilitate group activities and ensure a secure and supportive environment.

2. Background

To contextualise the women’s experiences in historical perspective, we briefly overview the complex history of Afghanistan over several decades, resultant displacement of refugees, and changing Australian policy reactions with their effects for Hazaras seeking asylum in Australia. A literature review that primarily focuses on the situation of Hazaras, including women, and particularly in Australia, follows this.

Afghanistan has a long history of foreign domination and internal conflict (Public Broadcasting Service [PBS] News Hour 2021), with refugee movement beginning when the Soviet–Afghan war triggered large-scale displacement to Pakistan and Iran in the 1980s (Public Broadcasting Service [PBS] News Hour 2021). The Taliban, a mainly Pashtun Islamic fundamentalist group (Maizland 2023), emerged as a dominant force, particularly from 1996 to 2001, violently suppressing the minority Hazara group (Ibrahimi and Taye 2021) and curtailing and restricting gains made by women. Consequently, refugee movements to the West accelerated with a large number of people arriving by boat in Australia from the late 1990s.

The 2001 attacks in the United States on September 11 profoundly influenced subsequent events in Afghanistan with a US-led invasion that targeted Taliban entities seen as belonging to the al-Qaida network (Public Broadcasting Service [PBS] News Hour 2021). Subsequent power shifting with the installation of the Karzai government restored democratic rule to Afghanistan and the bestowal of a range of rights.

In August 2021, following a violent insurgency, the Taliban re-took Afghanistan, resulting in the collapse of the elected government, the demise of two decades of social progress achieved during allied-supported government rule, and the reinstatement of repression and persecution (Spaaij et al. 2022). There were reports of human rights abuses and oppression of girls and women (Ibrahimi and Taye 2021), as well as minority groups, particularly the LGBTQIA+ community. Women had their rights obliterated, including prohibition of attendance at secondary schools and universities and restrictions on work (Maizland 2021). In recent legal pronouncements, women have not been permitted to expose their faces (Fetrat 2024) or to speak in public (Hutchinson 2024).

With the specific targeting of Hazara, a prediction that refugees would flee for their lives to international borders (Mohammadi and Askary 2021) has been realised. Australia has joined Western countries offering protection to Afghan refugees. However, although dominant discourses underscore the construction of new lives in a country portrayed as rights-respecting, Australia’s policy responses have not always been generous to Hazara refugees. Responses include many people seeking asylum arriving by boat, including Hazara being declared “illegal”, and transported to harsh immigration detention facilities including offshore sites (Briskman et al. 2008). Others remain in Indonesia with little prospect of resettlement.

There have been some more positive changes in policy responses following the recent takeover by Taliban in 2021, when the number of Afghan people, particularly Hazaras, seeking refuge in Australia and other parts of the world increased. Unlike previously, the Australian Government facilitated the arrival of this latest group of Afghan refugees via evacuation flights. They therefore had a valid visa before arrival, did not experience hazardous boat journeys, were less denounced than those before them, were not detained, and were granted permanent visas and associated rights. Hence, they were able to easily transition to permanent residence.

The nature of journeys of Hazara men and women to Australia and their subsequent experiences are gendered and therefore vastly different (Goodall and Hekmat 2021). People from Afghanistan, mostly men, have previously come to Australia seeking asylum through sea routes, being categorised as “boat people” and denied reunion with women and children. This is reflected in the narratives presented in this article, and the geographic research focus supports the view that relationships are shaped by the context of visa and immigration regulations (Ryan et al. 2024).

One member of the group in our research said:

When I came here, because I left everything in Afghanistan, my job, my colleagues, family members, and also all the property I had. I left them, even I didn’t close my door. When I left it was maybe 10 a.m. in the morning, I received the call from my airport support group from Australia, and they called me that you should go to Bal province [in Pakistan] and there is a flight from Bal International Airport and you can come and then I left everything. Just I took one change of clothes with my children and husband, and we left.

When Australian evacuations flights stopped in August 2021, many women journeyed to Pakistan or Iran in their desperate attempt to board a plane to Australia. Throughout harrowing, life-threatening journeys to Pakistan, they experienced the ongoing horrors of brutality and violence, witnessing the Taliban shooting and beating people, which redoubled the trauma of their own experiences.

Upon reaching the Afghanistan–Pakistan border, some of these women encountered closed gates and were forced to endure a two-day wait before they could proceed. There was a pervasive threat and fear of being identified and persecuted by the Taliban during this tense period. These arduous journeys, often undertaken with their children and with limited to no resources, presented unimaginable challenges for these resilient women.

Finally, upon arrival in Sydney, they received the necessary support services from organisations such as Settlement Services International and STARTTS, who are tasked with and funded by the Australian government to resettle Afghans in Australia. Given that they arrived during the peak of COVID-19 restrictions on public mobility and engagement in NSW in the second half of 2021, this presented several additional barriers to their resettlement.

3. Literature Review

Hazarajat in central Afghanistan is the homeland of Hazara people, approximately 10% of the Afghan population (Department of Home Affairs [DHA] 2019) who are mostly Shi’a Muslim, a minority in a Sunni majority country (Saikal 2012; Goodall and Hekmat 2021). The experiences of systematic oppressions have not only shaped the collective Hazara identity, but also resulted in their exclusion from governance, economic opportunities, and self-determination within their social spheres (Paiman 2020). Hazara women, positioned as subordinate under the Taliban regime, face additional pressures, creating profoundly unsafe living conditions (Rezaie 2021). Crenshaw’s intersectionality framework is relevant in understanding the extension and interconnection of discrimination encountered by Hazara women, reinforced by state institutions and colonial remnants that shape their circumstances (Alameldeen and Fatima 2021).

According to the 2019 Australian Census, about 46,800 Afghan-born people live in Australia, with 22% identifying as Hazara (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 2019). However, these numbers may be underestimated due to safety concerns preventing some from disclosing their ethnicity (Ibrahimi 2012). The Hazara diaspora has built strong communities in Australia, contributing to its cultural diversity. They include intellectuals, journalists, activists, aid workers from Australian missions in Afghanistan, and women and children coming under the ‘Women at Risk’ humanitarian visa program (Evason 2016), the majority arriving between 2015 and 2016 through humanitarian programs (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS] 2019; Special Broadcasting Service [SBS] 2020) and family and skilled visas (Refugee Council of Australia 2020a, 2020b). However, Hazara refugees granted temporary protection visas had limited access to governmental support, relying more on non-government and voluntary organisations for social and legal assistance (Radford and Hetz 2021).

Many Hazara fear returning to their homeland as the trauma of forced displacement increases psychological and emotional harm, particularly relating to their concerns for safety, feelings of guilt, shame, stress, and mental well-being (Department of Home Affairs [DHA] 2019). Ordeals endured as a result of forced displacement encompass family and friends left behind, or loved ones who died, offshore detention for those arriving by boat (Goodall and Hekmat 2021), protracted visa processing wait times (Ibrahimi 2012, 2017; Mackenzie and Guntarik 2015; Radford 2016), loss and disruption of social networks, adapting to new and unfamiliar environments, loss of traditional and cultural values within family dynamics, and challenges to traditional gender and social roles (Alemi et al. 2014; Burford-Rice et al. 2022), heightening stigma, anxiety, and depression (Goodall and Hekmat 2021).

Structural barriers compound challenges for Hazara women who encounter obstacles related to language, education access, and inexperience with employment systems (Wali et al. 2018; Copolov and Knowles 2023). English proficiency is often a prerequisite for accessing educational and job opportunities (Vergani et al. 2021; Lange et al. 2007), leading to higher unemployment levels among women due lower literacy, the gendered division of labour, and cultural expectations (Vergani et al. 2021). Lange et al. (2007) explored the unequal power dynamic embedded in language service delivery. They noted that Hazara women actively resisted communication from service providers structured in a way that diminished their status as adults, instead asserting their choices and challenging assumptions about their roles and capabilities. In this context, their resistance to stereotyping involved valuing their diverse experiences and asserting their rights to make their own choices.

Constraints also varied by age, with young Hazara women experiencing educational difficulty due to increased responsibility within the home, lack of prior education, and language barriers (Iqbal et al. 2012). However, younger Hazara women, growing up in Australia, were more aware of available services, received education about mental health, and formed support networks beyond their immediate cultural community, challenging traditional views on mental health (Radford and Hetz 2021). For older women, enforced traditional gender roles and cultural constraints impacting their participation outside the home limited their exposure to education, literacy, and advancing their communication skills (Vergani et al. 2021).

Mackenzie and Guntarik (2015) identified intra-communal viewpoints, which, despite conservatism, prized women’s education. Rezaie (2021) and Vergani et al. (2021) concur, observing the transformative power of community-led educational pathways that support literacy classes, computer training, and craft workshops developed with Hazara women. Hazara women’s cultural communities were a crucial source of support, fostering a sense of collective identity and shared experience (Wali et al. 2018). Information exchange, skill development, and collaborative initiatives addressing Hazara women’s needs facilitated their collective empowerment, thereby increasing their successful integration and chances of flourishing. This lessened the risk for potential barriers identified above and increased their chances for finding employment (Lange et al. 2007; Valibhoy et al. 2017a; Vergani et al. 2021).

Hazara women described connection with family as a source of comfort and familiarity, helping them navigate struggles encountered (Radford and Hetz 2021). However, while family networks provided support, they were also a limiting factor in the contexts of mental health and family stress. Stigma associated with mental health issues and considerations about family reputation posed social and cultural barriers to seeking help from mental health and related services (Copolov and Knowles 2023). Further, exploring women’s exposure to human rights abuses, including sexual violence, rape, and unwanted pregnancies, Burford-Rice et al. (2022) noted that perceived negative impacts on family reputation deterred Hazara women from seeking help for related psychological and emotional harms. Responsibility was placed on women for looking after their families, and this contributed to their perception that asking for help was a mark of failure, stigmatising speaking outside the family and attracting significant social condemnation, exacerbating the women’s sense of shame and guilt (Burford-Rice et al. 2022). Hiebert (1985) theorised that in these instances, power is maintained by intensifying feelings of guilt to brand behaviours such as “speaking out” as unacceptable or morally wrong. Parkes (2020) found grievance, guilt, and shame were used coercively within families to shape and reinforce silencing as a social norm.

Alemi et al. (2014) noted family separation and adapting to shifting role expectations and discrimination connected with wearing the hijab, increased women’s vulnerability. Iqbal et al. (2012) argued racism was a trigger for memories of past violence, social withdrawal, and depression. Additionally, the racial bias of media representations of people seeking asylum contributed to wider community perceptions of negative stereotypes and experiences of racism (Lange et al. 2007; Saikal 2012; Wali et al. 2018), heightening a distrust of outsiders within Hazara communities (Special Broadcasting Service [SBS] 2020; Vergani et al. 2021), and further limiting opportunities for social connectedness (Alemi et al. 2014; Burford-Rice et al. 2022). De Anstiss et al. (2009), studying modesty in Islamic culture with Hazara women, suggested the need for a more nuanced understanding of the psychological and emotional harms experienced by Hazara women. Lange et al. (2007) contend that empowerment involves not only resisting external pressures but also actively participating in shaping the stories encompassing their experiences, challenging stereotypes and advocating for their rights and choices.

Hazara women in Australia navigate complex social networks providing emotional support, cultural continuity, and access to essential resources. However, their participation in social and economic life is often shaped by intersecting factors such as gender norms, language barriers, and systemic discrimination. While strong intra-community ties offer security and solidarity, they can also reinforce traditional expectations, limiting opportunities for independence and broader social integration. Understanding these dynamics is essential for developing policies and programs that empower Hazara women while respecting their cultural identities.

4. Methodology

This article is based on the findings of a focus group discussion with Hazara Women’s Group (henceforth referred to as the Group), which was carried out as a part of the research titled “Networking and social relations amongst Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) refugees in New South Wales”.1 The primary research objectives driving the research were: 1. To understand the extent to which formal networks supported by service providers such as STARTTS promote wider informal networks among CALD refugee service users 2. To understand the ways in which the formal and informal networks are harnessed by the CALD refugee service users for their well-being. An inductive qualitative methodology with an intersectional perspective guided the methods used for this research. Focus group discussions with community groups were deemed suitable as they could provide insights into both shared and individual experiences. Three community groups—Sri Lankan, Tibetan, Hazara—were selected purposively to participate in focus groups for this research, following consultations with STARTTS and drawing upon the organization’s extensive experience in collaborating with various refugee communities in NSW. Purposive sampling of the three community groups was carried out to ensure diversity across intersections of sociopolitical contexts, ethnicity, gender, and age. The information about the research was shared with each member of the Group, and participants in the focus group included those who consented to participate in the research process.

The Group at STARTTS was initiated for the purpose of reducing social isolation among members and improving their mental well-being through the modalities of yoga and psychosocial educational workshops. The aim of the Group was to build a community for members based on trust, support, knowledge, cultural awareness, and strong leadership skills. To that end, members gathered once a week to take part in the activities organized by the Community Development Officer (CDO). Six members of the Group were present for the focus group discussion, which took place in June 2022, after the restrictions around COVID-19 were lifted. The participants for the focus group discussion comprised women between the ages 31 to 63 years who lived in Australia under the Refugee Permanent Residency visa or as citizens. They were married or in a de facto relationship. In terms of educational qualifications, three women stated being uneducated, two had completed their undergraduate studies, and one mentioned completing a TAFE course. Most of the members present were unemployed and depended on either support from welfare services or their children’s income. They possessed a basic proficiency in conversational English and mentioned Hazargi as the language spoken at home. They had been in Australia for 22 years to about 1 year, including two women who came after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Although recognising that their pathways to settlement in Australia varied, often depending on time and mode of arrival, our purpose was to hear their stories without delving into legal aspects.

The focus group discussion was designed to be open-ended, with prompts related to the women’s association with the STARTTS group, the support they received, their reasons for joining the Group, the significance of the Group in their lives, their involvement with other community groups and networks, as well as the obstacles and facilitators of participation. A small group size enabled the opportunity to create an environment of trust and obtain in-depth narratives.

An interpreter facilitated the interpretation of the narratives of the women in the Group. The interpreter, who shared the lived experiences of the Group members, often joined the Group meetings but was limited in involvement because she had other work engagements. While interpreting the narratives of the women of the Group, she also added a few of her own experiences, which have also been included in this article. The narratives from the focus group discussion were translated and transcribed and then thematically analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-stage process alongside an iterative process. The main themes emerging from the narratives are discussed in the subsequent sections and are as follows: Barriers experienced in Australia; Yearnings; Negotiating and reconstructing lives.

5. Findings

5.1. Barriers Experienced in Australia

Women’s narratives oscillated between expressions of gratitude for finding safety and protection in Australia and the emphasis on the distress and challenges they encountered during the resettlement process in the country, despite the formal supports that were offered. One participant said:

I mean, I didn’t know how to find a house, how to find a job, how to find the—even how to use the public transport. It was so difficult for me. And within one week, even me and my children and my husband, we couldn’t cross the street because I didn’t know the rules here. In Afghanistan, it was easy to cross the street from everywhere, we could cross. But I know that there are some rules here in Australia, but I didn’t know those rules, because we didn’t receive any information.

Another participant echoed this narrative and said:

Australia is a good country. However, people who do not have someone to support them here, cannot get far. I hired a lawyer for my sister in 2017, and then the lawyer and the money disappeared.

In Afghanistan, women relied on networks of neighbours and families for support. In Australia, they are left without such connections—creating additional barriers to seeking support. The lack of familiar social structures can exacerbate feelings of isolation, particularly for those already navigating trauma. As a result, women found the experience of navigating the everyday life in Australia extremely daunting. Limited or no knowledge of the laws, norms for navigating roads, or using public transport made women feel “immobile” within their new context. It created several barriers for them, sometimes even to access basic services. A participant further added:

Maybe about 20 days or so—it was a one month, we couldn’t use the public transport because we didn’t know. And about one week or 10 days, we couldn’t go for shopping, just we received some food from [an organization] and when the food finished, we call to the case manager, “The food is finished,” and she said, “We cannot bring more for you”. And we said, “How we can purchase?” and she said, “There is a market, a shop, you can go and purchase”. “How can we? We still didn’t receive our bank card, and we don’t have Australian cash without it”. But I had some US dollar. And I asked how we can change it, how we can change it? Where’s the money exchange? And she said, “Oh, unfortunately, money exchange is closed because of quarantine. It’s closed”. And we starved at home, and my children asked me, “Mom, please buy something for us”. Because it was about—it was about one month because two weeks we were in quarantine, and after that we came to Sydney to temporary accommodation, and we couldn’t buy anything for the children.

There can be ripple effects and serious repercussions for women because of not having accessible information on their arrival in Australia. The effects may be exacerbated in a context where women also experienced language barriers in addition to the structural problems compounded by COVID-19 lockdowns and the speed of evacuation from Afghanistan in 2021.

The experience of each woman in terms of accessing the available information and services was different. Disparities in education have an effect on people’s access to resources and support systems. Educated individuals are better equipped to navigate the service system, understand available assistance, and advocate for their needs, thereby facilitating a smoother recovery process. Conversely, those with limited education face additional barriers in accessing support, compounding the challenges of healing from trauma. One of the women said that she found it difficult to “find the right way how to process our issues here in Australia”. Some women said they relied on their teenage children to translate conversations in public places and shops into English. One participant of the focus group said:

I would come with my daughter or my child to every shop. When I went, they didn’t understand either, I didn’t understand either. Those who spoke Farsi and English did well.

Availability of information in an accessible format and language is important for the resettlement experience of refugees and is also directly related to their access to health services and therefore overall well-being (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 1999). The barriers created by language, coupled with the ongoing impacts of violence and gendered societal norms, also have an impact on their ability to participate in or sustain their employment. One participant spoke of the multiple layers of disadvantage that they faced:

And, actually, it is a health problem, especially for adult women in Australia. I don’t know about other communities, but with Afghan ladies I know because they are young, about the age they are young, but actually they are not so much young. Because they brought lots of babies, and they had a tough situation and difficult life in Afghanistan. So, if they are 50, it seems they are 70. And when they come to Australia and the government ask them for a job. But really, they cannot do any job because they are tired, because they are sick, because they did so much in their past. So, it will be a trauma for them. But whenever government ask them that, “You don’t have any job, you couldn’t get any job, so we will cut off your payment”. And they don’t have any resource, any other resource for the income. Actually, for my mom, this is her problem because my mom, she raised nine children.

The narratives of the women foreground the interconnectedness of the structural barriers they navigate, including the increased rate of ageing for people who have suffered traumatic experiences. Women’s challenges extend from caring and providing nourishment for their children, ensuring their own and family’s health and well-being, finding and sustaining a job—all this while also learning about the norms and laws of Australian society. These challenges are exacerbated for women who are older and have limited proficiency in English. While challenges are obvious, the structural barriers that present these challenges and the impact of gendered norms on resettlement are often “hidden”.

5.2. Yearnings

The circumstances in which Hazara women left Afghanistan, particularly in 2021, made yearning for home and family an integral aspect of their everyday life in Australia. This yearning also carried with it the weight of guilt that they experienced for leaving their loved ones behind in Afghanistan to face the retributions of Taliban. One participant said:

I can neither return back home nor bring my fiancé here. I’m alone at home. To be here, yet my heart back home, I don’t understand the [English] lesson at all, my thoughts are all back home, yet, I’m here.

This participant’s [relative]2 was unable to get to Pakistan from Afghanistan because of the COVID-19 restrictions and therefore could not travel to Australia. This separation from loved ones made everyday life extremely difficult for Hazara women, who had managed to escape from Afghanistan. Another woman said:

One [relative] is alone in Kabul. I have put in an application for my [relative], my [relative’s] family application, but nothing has happened for them.

He [immigration officer] called me and told me that you have to pay all the expenses of the family: living expenses, food expenses, and other expenses. I myself am sick and can’t work, so I can’t help them.

Women found themselves in this conundrum of emotions where they experienced the pains of separation, deep desire to support their loved ones to find protection in Australia, dealing with their own trauma, feelings of guilt and helplessness, and the challenges of finding their feet in Australia. The wait time for immigration applications took a toll:

Because of our other family, close family members, they are in Afghanistan, we cannot provide any support for them. And just we think about all of them, but we don’t know how we can support them. My [relative] came out from Kabul to Pakistan and then from Pakistan, now she’s in Cyprus. And I put in an application for her but still is not coming.

These feelings were exacerbated when they heard the fears and experiences of violence of their family in Afghanistan. One participant said:

One day when the Taliban occupied Afghanistan, they came to Afghanistan and my [relative’s] daughter called me that you are comfortable, you are safe, you are in Australia, but the Taliban will kill us. “I was cooking at that time. Then I didn’t know what happened to me and I ran out”. And then my hand was still in a cooking dish- I shouted, my husband had heard me.

The deep impact on mental health for women is reflected in the above narrative as well as the one below:

My [relative] has two daughters. Girls can’t go to school and can’t even go outside because they are afraid of the Taliban. And my [relative] said we only think about them, but we can’t do anything for them, and it really disturbs us mentally. Even about me, my [relative’s] son. They asked me, why didn’t my aunt send me a visa to come to Australia? I can’t go to school. My [relative’s] son and my son are the same age. And he said: “I can’t go to school, but your son goes to school. I want to go, but my father won’t let me go to school because there are explosions in schools. We can’t go”.

The ramifications of separation from family ran deep in the lives of each of the women who participated in the focus group, irrespective of the amount of time they had spent in Australia. They could relate to each other’s story and nodded in agreement whenever one of them shared their experiences and feelings towards their loved ones in Afghanistan. These conversations were difficult for them, and some women started crying as they shared and heard experiences.3 One participant said:

If we share our experience more and more, then we will really feel pain. It’s better to—don’t allow it to come out. It’s better to keep inside. When we keep it with us, it is better. When we want to talk about it, then it becomes like a fire, the fire is lit.

The narratives of the women present their emotional turmoil, in the context of the structural barriers and challenges of resettlement in Australia. However, the women navigated every challenge and strived to make a better and safer life for themselves and their families. Gaining access to information, accessing mental health support, making social connections, and establishing networks, as discussed below, were some of the ways in which they were doing this, and the Group provided them with opportunities for the same.

5.3. Negotiating and Reconstructing Lives

In their endeavour to reconstruct their lives, women negotiated with and navigated the everyday challenges as well as structural inequalities, and the Group played a crucial support role in this process. There were various ways the women were introduced to the Group, but most reported that they received information about the Group through the STARTTS counsellor, who was supporting them with their mental well-being and trauma healing. One participant said:

I was very sick, maybe it’s been 2 years. We came here. The first “doctor” [name redacted] was, a “psychologist”, and she would give me support. After that, I came to [name redacted] and [name redacted] classes. In the women’s group. I got a little better. I came to dear [name redacted] class and, now my mind is OK.

At the time of the focus group discussion, most women in the Group had been involved with it for at least 1 to 2 years. They had actively participated in group activities, even during the pandemic, albeit online. The pandemic-induced isolation reinforced the importance of social connections for the women, who already experienced loneliness. In response, they adapted by learning to use technology to stay connected, a skill they acquired through the grassroots organization Waris Hazara Women’s Group. This enabled them to transition to online meetings, increasing their frequency from one to three times per week. Additionally, the in-person yoga classes organised by STARTTS were shifted online, enabling continued participation from the safety of their homes. The Group played a significant role in improving their mental and physical well-being and served as a valuable source of information, particularly for young mothers. One participant said:

When I came to Australia, I faced a lot of health problems because I was alone at home and I got stressed and depressed. All the kids would go out for studying or work. When I would be alone in the house, I would get stressed. Since I joined this group, I am fine now.

This support, in terms of alleviating isolation, was crucial for women arriving in Australia, given their lack of income support, numerous caregiving responsibilities, the trauma of witnessing torture, persecution, and violence, along with the weight of guilt from leaving their loved ones in Afghanistan. The Group served as a vital source of community for these women, offering a shared healing space to cope with their trauma. Classes like Yoga played a crucial role in supporting them by promoting both physical health and mental well-being. Through controlled breathing, mindful movement, and relaxation techniques, yoga helps regulate the nervous system, reducing stress and anxiety often associated with trauma. The practice fostered a sense of grounding, allowing the women to reconnect with their bodies in an empowering way.

Lessons in English language was another important reason for women to join the Group. Women acknowledged that being conversant in English language was key to their resettlement experience in Australia.4 Some of the women mentioned that they were initially hesitant to join the Group, and their husbands accompanied them for the first two or three sessions. However, they eventually became comfortable and began attending the Group independently.

The Group also provided opportunities for women to connect with one another and build solidarities and a social network to support one another emotionally as well as in other ways. One participant said:

When we meet anyone in the class from our group, from our country then we start making communication with them like this group. Yeah. In any class, in any group. Then we start communicating with each other, then we—at the weekend we go to each other’s home and then we go for any ceremony, for any events we have. Persian speakers, Hazare. There was a gathering in the mosque, and people met. Then we meet each other, then through those lines, we make our networks.

Women shared that they often met other Hazara women in a children’s playgroup and would then keep in contact with one another. The government-funded Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), Technical and Further Education (TAFE), and private education providers, such as Navitas, are other places where they met other Hazara women and established contact. Women did, however, acknowledge the gendered norms in their community, which presented differential opportunities for men and women to socialise and establish networks. One participant said:

But just in our culture. Just women can do network with women, and men can do with men. But in my point, mostly men are better because they don’t take care of children and they can go outside, and they can make a connection with everyone. When they are in Australia, they can make friendships with males and females in Australia. But for women, but in the case of women, they’re not so much free to make connections with other people just they are allowed to make a connection with women, not with men. I think it’s different that between women and men and mostly men, they have lots of groups, lots of communication, lots of programs, and they are free. They can go to the swimming pool, they can go everywhere to have fun, but for women it’s not.

Apart from gendered barriers to establish social relations and networks, the women also were not able to connect with people from other communities due to linguistic barriers. One participant said:

Because one of the ways for making communication is the language and we don’t know other communities’ language. That’s why just we make communication networks with Afghan ladies, not with others. But if we know English so it will be really good to have connection with Turkish, with Arab, with Chinese.

Women shared their desire to meet people from other communities and suggested the possibility of organising intra-community events where there could be interpreters to facilitate communication between different community groups. Despite the barriers, women shared some experiences of supporting and communicating with people from other communities, which reflected their resilience and ability to negotiate barriers through non-conventional ways. One participant said:

We had neighbours, and they were from India, and they had a child, and we asked the child to come to our home, and we had some good moments with the child. We have different neighbors here as well, but unfortunately, the only word we have in common is “Hi”. Just say “Hi” and nothing else.

Women made large strides to negotiate their circumstances in Australia. As mentioned previously, their emotional turmoil and yearnings for home made their everyday challenging. While the process of navigating, negotiating, resisting barriers is ongoing for Hazara women, they hold the idea of Afghanistan as home close to their hearts. One participant said:

We remember the country because we are here. We are comfortable here, but unfortunately, we are not comfortable spiritually. Spiritually, we are not comfortable here because our mind is in our own country. Because we mostly think about those people, not outside.

6. Discussion and Conclusions

The narratives of the women are holistic, traversing their resettlement journeys. The narratives reveal an accumulation of individual and structural barriers that made resettlement in Australia a vexed undertaking. These experiences varied across age and time of arrival in Australia. Experiences of women, who had arrived post-Taliban resurgence in 2021, were compounded by limitations to service provision in the context of the speed of evacuations and COVID-19 lockdowns. Some of the initial barriers to resettlement in Australia involved accessible and timely information, limited proficiency in English, and comprehending laws and norms. The ongoing effects of trauma along with these barriers often accelerated the ageing process for these women, limiting their ability as well as opportunity for employment. These barriers were exacerbated in the context of the yearnings for their homeland and loved ones who were still in Afghanistan. Women were torn between feelings of gratitude for their own security and of guilt and pain for those in Afghanistan. Despite the intersectional differences in experience of resettlement, owing to age, educational background, and time of arrival in Australia, there is a continuity in the emotional journeys of the Hazara women. It is crucial to highlight these emotional journeys of shame, guilt, and yearnings, in the context of ongoing structural violence by Taliban in Afghanistan. Moreover, emotional journeys often get “hidden” in a gendered context where women are either expected to take on caring responsibilities or their resilience is romanticized.

Organisations like STARTTS, grounded in the principles of building social capital, play a crucial role in supporting the women with accessible information and creating opportunities for them to make connections and establish wider social networks. The Group provided a space for mutual support and connection. Women found opportunities to connect with those who shared the same ethnic and cultural background and share their experiences in a safe trauma-informed environment. As members engage in shared activities and rely on one another for emotional and practical support, they develop relational norms such as mutual trust and reciprocity. This trust strengthens social bonds, making individuals feel a sense of security and inclusion. They also used these connections to gather information about support programs, for themselves or their families, crucial for them to reconstruct their lives in Australia. The women expressed the importance of the Group in facilitating the development of a social network, given that networking within their community can have gender-specific implications, highlighting the impact of gender and cultural norms on resettlement. The role played by STARTTS underscores the significance of community organizations in fostering integration for refugees. For the women in the focus group, trying to navigate ways to negotiate and achieve essentials was compounded by their deep yearnings for home that social networks can only partially address. Forging solidarities with other women in the Group and listening to one another’s stories was a way for the Hazara women to cope with trauma and deal with emotions of shame, guilt, and yearning for their loved ones.

Yuval-Davis’ (2015) notion of situated intersectionality when applied to understand the experiences of Hazara women can illuminate understandings of groups, particularly refugee women, who have faced oppression and experience trauma in the context of forced migration. Constructs of race, ethnicity, gender, and class are worthy of further exploration within the specific context of Afghan Hazara women. The narratives reveal the ongoing racialisation of Hazara in Afghanistan that continues to impact on their trauma and experience in a new land. The compounding of their situation not only in Afghanistan but in gender expectations that remain in place creates barriers to finding “place”.

The narratives direct us to the interconnected structural barriers that impact Hazara women in Australia. The role of Western countries in Afghanistan, the ongoing structural violence of Taliban, and the gendered norms and challenges to resettlement present extenuating circumstances for Hazara women. Most of these issues go well beyond what service provision can resolve. The geopolitics of the refugee crisis in Afghanistan requires a global response to ensure that responsibility goes beyond the individual nation state, and the lived experiences of Hazara women can contribute to changes that create an existence in a new land where their rights are realised, their connections are solidified, and where, as is the case with STARTTS, their trauma is understood so they and their children can achieve a sense of welcome and connection.