Social Welfare, Human Rights, Gender Equality, and Promotion of Social Inclusion of Migrant Women
International migration processes involving female population are driven by various motivations which, compared to the past, can no longer be ascribed to family reunification only. Migration experience can constitute a moment of empowerment and emancipation for women: nonetheless, many of them are still exposed to the risk of abuse and exploitation.
Accordingly, migrant women are entitled to the protection of their human rights at various levels, namely:
- The right to life
- The right to personal liberty and security
- The right to an adequate standard of living
- The right to protection against poverty and social exclusion
- The right to be free from degrading and inhuman treatment
- The right not to be tortured
- The right not to be discriminated on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, cultural, nationality, language, religion, or other status
- The right to equality before the law
- And the right to benefit from due process of law.
In terms of human rights protection, no comprehensive instrument that would regulate the rights of migrant women as a separate category exists. Notwithstanding, this does not mean that there are no legal provisions providing migrant women with protection. For example:
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, UN, 1966) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, UN, 1966, 1976): concerning individuals and nations, women and men, autochthonous citizens and migrants, these two international human rights treaties contain, among other things, non-discrimination clauses based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, UN, 1979), along with its General Recommendation n. 26 (GR26), provides specific guidance that invites policy makers to take into account gender and active involvement of female migrant workers in migration processes, and predicts survey and research aimed at collecting useful data for formulating policies on migration phenomena that are respectful of the specificities implied by gender dimension.
Protection of human rights and gender equality, with particular reference to human rights laws and relevant international treaties, constitutes the basis for a widespread social well-being of women, and especially migrant women.
Paying attention to migration flows from a gender perspective implies the inescapable obligation to recall the principles governing the protection of human rights. Accordingly, actions are needed to prevent, combat and eliminate all direct and indirect forms of discrimination perpetrated by any individual, group of people or organisation against women at all stages of their migration experience. It further means recognising that different forms of discrimination may intersect, namely those based on race, migration status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, parenthood, nationality, class, ethnicity, religion or belief, age and/or disability.
Documents addressing the protection of migrant women from a human rights perspective call for a focused work aimed at developing a gender-sensitive migration policy that goes beyond the stereotyped representation of migrant woman as a passive victim, and recognises women as active participants in migration processes. This shift in perspective is a key factor in this context: the paradigm overturning the vision of a migrant woman from passive victim to active subject presents potentialities that, combined with adequate political actions, prove to be able to contribute to social, economic and political development of migrant women and the host societies they live in.
Online Resources
CEDAW, 2009, General recommendation No. 26 on women migrant workers, CEDAW/C/2009/WP.1/R, 5 December 2008.
(https://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/GR_26_on_women_migrant_workers_en.pdf)
CEDAW General recommendation No. 26 addresses Principles of human rights and gender equality, Factors influencing women’s migration, and Sex- and gender-based human rights, in relation to women migrant workers, and brings a series of relevant recommendations.
IOM UN Migration – Gender Equality
(https://www.iom.int/gender-equality), with further Resources & Tools
A person’s sex, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation shape every stage of the migration experience: gender influences reasons for migrating, who migrates and to where, how people migrate and the networks they use, opportunities and resources available at destinations, and relations with the country of origin.
Women in Migration Network (WIMN)
(https://migrationnetwork.un.org/resources/women-migration-network-wimn)
WIMN brings together organisations, activists and migrants in order to expand rights-centred policies that address the needs and interests of women. Campaign priorities include gender-responsive workers’ rights, access to health services and ending gender-based violence.
European Network of Migrant Women
(https://www.migrantwomennetwork.org/)
ENOMW is a migrant-women-led feminist, secular, non-partisan platform that advocates for the rights, freedoms and dignity of migrant, refugee and minority women and girls in Europe. ENOMW reaches various regions of the Globe and extends to over 50 grassroots and advocacy groups in over 20 European countries.