Migration policies must offer equal opportunities to reduce women’s vulnerability to exploitation, said the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) ahead of International Women’s Day last Monday 8 March.
While increasing numbers of migrant women – representing 105 million people, close to half of all migrants worldwide – are emigrating for work opportunities, the IOM says they are still not offered the same legal means as their male counterparts, and are often disproportionately affected by the risks that arise from migration, such as workplace exploitation.
Laura Thompson, the IOM’s deputy director general, said: “Although labour migration policies in countries of destination may appear gender-neutral, they continue to be biased and based on a model that focuses on skilled, traditionally male-dominated jobs. Those are the types of occupations mostly covered by permanent labour schemes.”
The IOM outlined that the jobs usually undertaken by women migrants, such as care and domestic services, are “frequently under-valued and poorly integrated in admission policies”.
Thompson called for the introduction of “more gender-sensitive labour migration policies, acknowledging that men and women have different needs and opportunities.
“More opportunities to migrate legally would prevent a lot of women from getting trapped in irregular, exploitative and abusive situations, including human trafficking.”
She added: “We need to reaffirm our commitment to women migrants and their empowerment. Our priority is to ensure that their migration experience is positive and a force for development. Let us all work towards achieving this goal.”
