Invisible Figures: Women’s Legacy in Humanitarian Action

14/01/25
Blog, News

The history of humanitarianism is often told through the deeds of prominent men, yet the contributions of women like Renée-Marguerite Frick-Cramer and Marguerite van Berchem offer a vital perspective. Their work for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), particularly during the two World Wars, challenges conventional gender narratives of aid.

Such is the perspective taken by our Head of Learning, Dr. Valérie Gorin, and her colleague, Dr. Dolores Martín-Moruno, who recently published in the article “Caring for Prisoners of War: Marguerite Frick-Cramer’s and Marguerite van Berchem’s Service Activities in the International Committee of the Red Cross (1914–1969)” in the history journal Dynamis (2024, Vol. 44). This meticulously researched piece delves into the overlooked histories of these two remarkable women, shedding light on their innovative approaches and moral courage.

(Left) Renée-Marguerite Frick-Cramer, ICRC member from 1918 to 1946. ©Ville de Genève/ICRC (Right) Marguerite Gautier-Van Berchem, ICRC member from 1951 to 1969.
©ICRC archives (ARR)
Women’s Humanitarian Legacy and the Feminist Ethics of Care

The feminist ethics of care, introduced by Carol Gilligan and expanded by Joan Tronto, serves as a framework in this article for understanding how Frick-Cramer and van Berchem approached their work. Care is viewed not only as an emotional response but as a multi-phase process involving awareness of needs, responsibility to meet them, practical action, and consideration of the outcomes. This perspective critiques traditional humanitarian narratives that prioritise justice or heroism over relational and emotional labor.

When the ICRC established the International Prisoners of War Agency in 1914, Frick-Cramer and van Berchem took leading roles in addressing the emotional and material needs of prisoners of war. Gorin and Martín-Moruno highlight how these women also operated beyond the visible, front-line roles often attributed to humanitarian agents. They pioneered systems for restoring family connections, managed sophisticated information networks, and advocated for legal protections for unrecognised groups like colonial troops and civilians. Their approach combined academic expertise, legal insight, and emotional engagement—an embodiment of care as both an ethos and a practice.

Despite their achievements, institutional histories often sidelined them. They also overlooked the contributions of women in less privileged roles, such as the typists working at the Agency, whose efforts were essential and indispensable in processing the millions of letters exchanged between families and prisoners. This neglect echoes broader gender stereotypes within humanitarian narratives, where women are cast as compassionate caregivers rather than strategists or advocates. Their contributions remind us that humanitarian care extends beyond physical aid to encompass emotional and systemic support.

Resonating Challenges Today

The struggles of these women resonate with current dilemmas in humanitarian contexts, particularly the challenges faced by women aid workers and the populations they serve:

  1. Gender Bias in Leadership: Women still face systemic barriers in leadership roles within humanitarian organisations, mirroring Frick-Cramer and van Berchem’s battles for recognition.
  2. Intersectional Inequities: The care they extended to marginalised groups, such as colonial troops, parallels the ongoing fight for equitable treatment of vulnerable populations and the need for the aid system to address systemic inequalities based on disability, gender, race-ethnicity, and age.
  3. Moral Indignation in Action: Their moral courage to speak against institutional inaction—such as the ICRC’s decision not to publicly condemn the Nazi regime’s extermination of civilians during WWII—remains a poignant reminder of the ethical dilemmas humanitarian actors face today.
  4. Caring Beyond Borders: Their focus on “caring at a distance” through innovative information systems foreshadowed today’s digital tools for reconnecting families and providing aid remotely, which are crucial in modern crises.
Why This Matters

Exploring these stories is not just an exercise in historical justice; it provides a lens to examine how care, gender, and power dynamics shape humanitarianism today. Care, as a feminist ethics, challenges us to view aid as a relational, ongoing process rather than a transactional or paternalistic one. This perspective is also emphasised throughout our DAS programme, particularly in our modules addressing the histories, legal frameworks, and anthropology of aid.

The article was published as part of a special issue of Dynamis on the histories of care. It is a must-read for those interested in the intersections of gender, history, and humanitarian action. Dive into this collection to explore how care, as an analytical lens, reveals overlooked histories and redefines humanitarian practices.