Gendered Dimensions of Conflict Displacement and Reintegration in North East Nigeria

This study offers an original contribution to understanding the gendered dimensions of conflict-induced displacement and reintegration in North East Nigeria, focusing on women's and girls' experiences across Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe states. While displacement studies in the North East have generated extensive quantitative data on population movements, the qualitatively distinct conflict experiences, protection risks, and reintegration challenges faced by women and girls remain theoretically and empirically marginalised in mainstream Nigerian conflict studies. Employing a feminist ethnographic research methodology, data were collected over twelve months through immersive field research involving participant observation, in-depth narrative interviews with 75 displaced and returnee women, and focus group discussions in IDP camps, transit sites, and returnee communities. The theoretical contribution is a Nigeria-specific gendered conflict-displacement framework that integrates feminist political economy, intersectionality theory, and the continuum of violence model to explain how conflict displacement compounds pre-existing gender inequalities while simultaneously creating limited transformative opportunities for some women. Findings document the systematic invisibility of gender-specific displacement experiences in programme design and policy, as well as the emergence of women's collective agency as a conflict management and recovery resource in displacement contexts. Recommendations include mandating gender-disaggregated data collection in all North East displacement programming, developing women-specific reintegration pathways that address sexual violence survivor needs, and funding feminist conflict research in Nigerian displaced communities to continue building the evidence base. Keywords: gender, displacement, reintegration, North East Nigeria, feminist conflict studies.