France
The question of the integration and inclusion of immigrant women in France emerged as an object of social struggle for feminist movements and gradually as an object of study in the social sciences in the late 1960s. Discussing the place of immigrant women in the French labor market and the factors that explain their integration and exclusion implies that there is a clear interest in this issue on the part of various public and private actors.
The participation of migrant women in civic life is among the priorities of the National Strategy for Reception and Integration, carried by the Ministry of the Interior since 2018. This participatory approach, with the aim of fostering exchanges between exiled persons and local populations, represents a key to integration into the host society. The involvement and inclusion of immigrants in the associative and civic spheres allows them to become actors in their own lives, to participate more in the life of the structures that accompany them, to build references and a network in the host country, but also to value and make the most of their skills.
In fact, the French government, in order to meet its integration obligations, has set up local authorities that allow immigrants to participate in the social and civic life of their community of residence. For example, as part of its contract with the Interministerial Directorate for the Reception and Integration of Refugees (Diair), the city of Dijon has set up and financed the "Together!" program managed by the Cesam association. This program has two main components: to establish an individual diagnosis of the needs of each migrant and to integrate them into the projects carried out by the associations in the area. The city of Clermont-Ferrand is also developing the participation of migrants within the framework of the contract with the Diair. The objective of this social and civic inclusion makes it possible to better target actions in favor of this public. Moreover, the insertion in an associative and institutional fabric gives the possibility to the immigrants whose fight for freedom and the defense of human rights was a reason of exile, to maintain this commitment and to make their testimonies last. This participatory dynamic is finally part of the more global perspective of the consultation of refugees, which aims at gathering their experiences of migration and integration in order to better involve them in decisions that concern them.
However, despite this picture of social integration, the fact remains that the inclusion of migrant women remains very difficult in France. The debate on the integration of immigrants has gradually turned into a debate on identity. Indeed, in order to be able to participate in the civic life of their host community, these women must be in a legal situation, i.e. have a residence permit. Knowing that the principle of residential stability is the first condition to be able to justify social inclusion, many migrant women are excluded from civic life with regard to the right to residence. As they do not have access to housing but to emergency accommodation, they are excluded from civic life. These undocumented immigrants will have to wait to obtain their residence permit to be able to receive social aid and family benefits in order to participate in civic life.
References/Online Resources
Immigrant Women and integration
https://www.coe.int/t/dg3/migration/archives/Documentation/Series_Community_Relations/Immigrant_women_and_integration_en.pdf
This document presents the measures taken for the integration of migrant women
Promoting integration for migrant domestic workers in France
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/--migrant/documents/publication/wcms_232518.pdf
This research is based on the analysis of national statistics regarding the inclusion of migrant women in France