In 21^st century Western contexts, notions of human rights are omnipresent and have become ubiquitous as symbols of freedom and equality (United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948). However, in context of displacement, these assumptions do not always translate, particularly for women. In context of displacement, particularly in the global south, human rights education (HRE) programmes aim to promote the understanding that respecting human rights related to women is fundamental in terms of employment, reproduction, healthcare, sexuality, education, family life and access to justice (Marcus, 2017). Thus, empowering women in fragile contexts has become a priority to overcome models of inequality that still persist and address the lack of consensus on what women’s rights mean (Marcus, 2017, Relis; 2016, Altinova et al., 2016).

Nonetheless, there is evidence to suggest that there are discrepancies between theory and praxis related to the impact of Human Rights Education (HRE) programmes, and the need to question the one-size-fits-all approach used to design and deliver these programmes in different cultural contexts (Bajaj et al., 2017). The overarching research question of this multi-disciplinary research in education and forced migration explores, with Colombian women, the role of Western human rights discourses in shaping notions of empowerment and social justice. Research suggests, that in certain contexts, discourses on empowerment have the capacity to enable and limit practices of dissent and provide opportunities to both challenge and stabilise power structures (Grobklaus, 2015). In that light, this research aims to couple empirical work with theory to shed further insights on the way the movement of knowledge triggers changes in the framing, substance and meaning of a universal principle (Elberts, 2019). It seeks to understand how Colombian women’s distinct social realities impact how they learn and/or transform human rights knowledge (Biesta as cited in Coe et al.,2018) and how they inform notions of empowerment and vulnerability.

Using a feminist new materialist lens, this paper looks at the ethical challenges and entanglements of conducting research with women in a context of crisis as a result of Covid-19 restrictions and serious political unrest in Colombia in 2021. Although ethical and logistical challenges are expected when conducting research in crisis (Falb et al.,2019; Taylor et al., 2020), this paper looks at these challenges as ethical entanglements through ‘ethically important moments’ (Gillemin and Gillam, 2004). This was a useful approach to navigate the shifting nature of what harmful practices meant in the evolving context of the research, to ensure fair reciprocity to research participants and to reflect on methodological rigour.

Moreover, in line with an auto-ethnographic approach, the paper also sheds light on how looking at the entanglement of the researcher’s ethical journey, the evolving compounded crisis and the participants’ fluctuating needs, aided the researcher to develop a compassionate and an alert approach to delivering the research (Falb et al., 2019). The paper also discusses how the changing crisis brought about different, and at times, conflicting needs for both the participants and researcher and highlighted shifting perceptions of fragility and sensitive topics (Hydén, 2013).

Data collection methods include document analysis of a key legal instrument in Colombia (Law 1257, 2008), auto- ethnography and 12 interviews with women in Colombia. Thematic document analysis of Law 1257 (2008) has been critical in providing contextual background to understand how displaced women conceptualise empowerment and vulnerability. In the Colombian context, this legal instrument has been instrumental in seeking to protect women against violence and establish the right of women to live a life free of violence in Colombia. Second, an auto-ethnographic approach situates the researcher with the insider’s perspective and allows to draw on own experiences to understand a particular phenomenon. As a cisgender native Colombian woman, the researcher has experienced living in conditions of violence and protracted conflict. This exposure has moulded the researcher’s ontological predispositions on what empowerment and fragility mean in contexts of violence. In the context of this research, auto-ethnography and interviews with participants have opened up spaces for dialogue with participants that recognises multiple and even contradictory voices (Ettorre, 2017). This multiplicity of voices is fundamental in questioning highly judicially regulated contexts defining victimhood and empowerment and in highlighting the importance of collecting and analysing uprooted women’s narratives in order to ‘unsettle feminist geopolitics’ (Hyndmans, 2019 as cited in Tamboukou, 2020, p.3). Moreover, a new materialist perspective offers alternative views on power relations in displacement and shows that displacement could also be ‘entangled with forces of desire for detours and wanderings’ (Tamboukou, 2020, p.9). This focus suggests new avenues to challenge dominant perceptions of displacement that are only equated with notions of powerlessness and vulnerability. A final data collection method includes interviews with 12 women in Colombia. Twelve interviews were conducted with Colombian women of different ages, professional and ethnic backgrounds and locations. All of them were involved in delivering HRE programmes or gender equality training. Interviews explored participants’ views on issues of empowerment and the role HRE and human rights play in developing agency/empowerment. They also explored women’s subjective views on learning, how learning is transformed and applied in their day-to-day lives and how these notions inform notions of power and vulnerability.

Using a feminist new materialist approach, this paper explores the methodological and ethical challenges of conducting research in context of a protracted crisis. Documenting ethically important moments’ (Gillemin and Gillam, 2004), analysing auto-ethnographic data and a key legal document (Law 1257, 2008) was useful in understanding local and current contexts and untangling conflicting concerns and priorities while navigating the research process. The paper argues that approaching ethics as an entanglement of ‘ethically important moments’ was key in forming respectful and successful research relationships with participants in fragile circumstances and at a distance. It demonstrates the importance of ongoing, respectful and honest communication with participants during the research process. This multi-disciplinary research in education and forced migration aims to advocate for ethical practices, both at institutional and ground levels, that support meaningful and respectful ethical practices in contexts of crisis, both for research participants and researchers. This paper also argues that complex research contexts are an opportunity to see ethical challenges as openings, that it is possible to turn ethical dilemmas into rich resources and to engage participants in ethical decisions in a meaningful, participatory and egalitarian way. Finding a space to discuss with participants their perception of what they consider ethical, harmful, sensitive and respectful in fragile contexts is a fundamental step in decolonising ethics (Tuhiwai-Smith, 2005). These ongoing conversations and reflexions are crucial in considering the motivations driving our research forward and to be aware of the multiplicity of answers when we ask the question ‘what’s in the process of research for all of us’?

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