France
Over the last ten years, migrant women have become a priority for integration policies in France. This construction of "immigrant women" as a category of public action is reflected in legislative measures, in the implementation of national and local programs and in the development of specific actions in the field of associations and social intervention. Thus, the issue of "immigrant women", considered a public priority, falls within the scope of both integration policy and women's rights policy.
The French government, in accordance with international treaties, is setting up an organizational approach to integration policy to take into account the different sectors of integration policy for migrant women in France. In terms of labor market integration and access to employment, national guidelines and priorities specifically take into account migrant women, as evidenced by the "action plan for the recognition of skills of newcomers and access to employment for foreign women. This consideration is the result of a development of the national integration strategy and the orientations pronounced by the Inter-ministerial Committee on Integration (C2I) and the Inter-ministerial Committee on Immigration and Integration (C3I) in 2018 and 2019.
To support the inclusion and civic participation of migrant women in France, funding is made available. At the national level, in 2020, four projects specifically targeted newcomer women and the professionals who accompany them. They addressed the themes of support towards employment and access to rights (in particular female genital mutilation, early marriage, violence against women). In 2021, six projects in favor of women have been subsidized for their support towards employment, professional training, access to rights and learning French in addition to the training provided under the Republican Integration Contract. Some projects include a childcare solution.
At the territorial level, in 2020, 35% of migrant women benefited from integration actions (employment, learning French, including for professional purposes, access to rights, appropriation of the principles of the Republic and the customs of French society). For example, the State has supported a large number of projects at the regional level for the professional integration of newcomer women. These projects, like the ones run by the associations UniR Universités & Réfugiés in Ile-de-France, CIDFF in Haute-Savoie or Retravailler in Moselle, include a diagnosis of acquired skills, a validation of acquired experience or comparability of the foreign diploma via ENIC NARIC. Another example is a job discovery program for newcomer women, including 10 days of training and 10 days of internship in partner companies.
An Integration Week for migrant women was organized throughout France in October 2021, in order to promote the initiatives of all actors, ministries, local authorities, associations, and companies, committed to integration. This week was an opportunity to present the comprehensive support system "Empower My Mama", dedicated to the empowerment of women, to enable them to become independent and entrepreneurial women.
References/Online Resources
How the French understand immigrant integration and citizenship
https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/bertossi_immigrant_integration_2020.pdf
This article analyzes the issues of immigration and citizenship through the example of France.
Equal rights. Equal Voices. Migrant Women’s integration in the labour market in six European cities/ A comparative approach
https://www.womenlobby.org/IMG/pdf/enomw_and_ewl_research_study_migrant_women_s_access_to_labourmarket_march_2012.pdf
The objective of the study is to produce a comparative report on the integration of migrant women into the labor market. By examining the specific impact that local, regional and national integration policies have had on migrant women.