Women’s Labor Migration: New Policy Brief from IOM’s Asia-Pacific Office
Thailand - A new policy paper from IOM’s regional office for Asia and the Pacific, together with the Migration Policy Institute, Washington, has been launched, focusing on the opportunities and challenges of women’s labor migration from the region.
At the launch yesterday in Bangkok, Andrew Bruce, IOM’s Regional Director, noted that “Women’s labor migration is an important trend that is often overlooked despite the opportunities for women’s empowerment and gender equality that it provides.” In light of the recently completed “Beijing+20” review by the Commission of the Status of Women, IOM chose to focus on this important topic, he explained.
Bandita Sijapati, author of the Issue in Brief, presented the trends of women’s migration within and from the Asia Pacific region. A panel of eminent experts including the Malaysian Ambassador, the chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of Sri Lanka and the Deputy Regional Director of UN Women, reflected on the key findings of the paper.
The discussion that followed focused on individual country experiences dealing with women’s labor migration, the trade-off between economic and social gains and costs for women’s migrants, and recommendations to mainstream gender in the migration process. The breakfast briefing was attended by representatives from diplomatic missions in Bangkok, academics, civil society and UN agencies.
Rabab Fatima, Regional Coordinator and Advisor for South and South West Asia and moderator for the panel discussion, concluded by reiterating the need to address gender-specific challenges faced by women migrants: “This will be crucial to achieve goals and targets set out by the post-2015 development agenda.”
Analysis: In an era of unprecedented human mobility, migration from and within the Asia-Pacific region has assumed gendered dimensions, with implications for migration flows, trends and patterns. Gender roles, inequalities and relations affect who migrates, why and how, and migration also has significant implications for women migrant workers (WMWs) themselves. Migration can provide opportunities to improve their lives and that of their families, help them escape from social and economic vulnerabilities, and offer avenues for greater autonomy and empowerment. Migration also, however, exposes these women to different types of vulnerabilities, discrimination and risk, both in their origin and destination countries, particularly where such migration carries a stigma and patriarchal norms are deep-seated.
For the broader society, the consequential effects of women’s increased mobility have been significant. Sending countries have benefitted from higher inflows of remittances and changes in societal and family relations, particularly as they relate to gender roles and relations. For receiving countries, the welfare gains have been considerable, in the form of increased labor supply, opportunities for native women to enter the workforce and child- and elder-care possibilities, especially in contexts where such services are limited.
While countries in the region have adopted various measures to address the concerns of women migrants nationally, bilaterally and regionally, the ability to highlight issues concerning women migrant workers in the Beijing+20 discussions and in the formulation of the post-2015 development agenda provides opportunities for greater impact on gender equality and women’s empowerment. A few key areas for consideration include: greater protection for women migrant workers; measures to maximize the potential of remittances for the workers, their families and beyond; and improvements in information, evidence and knowledge base.
For more information please contact Rabab Fatima, IOM Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Emailrfatima@iom.int
The full document can be accessed here: http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=49&products_id=1466&zenid=jf8cqcu6tnbkj2n1d89l98ev17