Summary

More than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar live under a complex system of camp governance in which access to services, protection, and programmes is often mediated through majhis – community administrators appointed by the Bangladeshi authorities. Drawing on long-term feminist ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2025, this research examines how that governance system shapes women’s experiences of authority, participation, and support. It argues that an “empowerment paradox” emerges when programmes intended to empower women are delivered through male gatekeepers, reinforcing the very inequalities they seek to address. At the same time, women have developed their own forms of governance through religious, care, and mutual aid networks that remain largely invisible to humanitarian actors. Recognising and supporting these existing structures is critical to understanding how authority, protection, and social support function in the camps.

Key Findings

  • The majhi system centres authority in roles overwhelmingly held by men. Although often treated as a community tradition, this system was created by institutional actors and continues to be sustained through humanitarian programming and aid delivery.
  • Reports from Rohingya women describe instances where majhis delayed protection referrals, demanded informal payments, and used their position to monitor and control women’s movements.
  • Women have built parallel governance structures through religious study circles, mutual aid networks, and informal support systems that help resolve disputes, share information, and support women in crisis.
  • Current gender programming approaches can deepen the inequality they seek to address when programmes are delivered through male gatekeepers and access depends on majhi approval.
  • Women often make strategic decisions not to participate in NGO programmes because visible engagement can undermine the informal authority and community trust that make their existing support networks effective.
  • Funding cuts and prolonged displacement are weakening women-led support structures at the same time that they remain an important source of protection and social support within the camps.

Policy Implications

  • Gender programmes should assess local governance structures before implementation, including who controls access to women, how authority is established, and how programme participation may affect women’s standing within their communities.
  • Creating access routes that do not depend on majhis, including direct engagement with women’s networks, women-to-women referral pathways, and women’s leadership structures, may help reduce reliance on male gatekeepers.
  • Assessments of programme success should consider whether women’s existing authority and leadership roles are being strengthened or weakened, rather than relying solely on participation figures.
  • Women-led religious circles, mutual aid groups, and other informal networks should be recognised as governance infrastructure and incorporated into protection analyses, community assessments, and programme design.
  • Greater accountability within the majhi system may require mechanisms that allow women to raise concerns independently, alongside approaches that assess community perceptions of majhi performance.
  • Efforts to improve camp governance need to extend beyond programme design. Because the majhi system is embedded in the wider governance architecture of the camps, longer-term reform requires engagement with the structures through which authority and accountability are organised.