women
Almost half of international migrants are women, generally travelling as either migrant workers or refugees. Refugee women face greater challenges, including discrimination, sexual violence, a greater risks being trafficked, and limited access to healthcare. Their mental and physical health are often affected as a result.
I. REASONS WHY WOMEN MIGRATE
- To provide income for their family at home.
- Break free from the limitations placed on them at home.
- For Self-empowerment.
- The possibility to create a better life.
- To further their education.
- Reunite with their family, who might have already migrated.
- Like men, they fall for the lies of human traffickers, who offer false promises of money and safety abroad.
- Escape inadequate employment and educational opportunities in their home country.
- Avoid early and/or forced marriages.
- To get away from female genital mutilation.
- They want to go somewhere where they can have ownership of resources and have full legal rights.
More information online:
MIGRATION_FEMINIST_ISSUES
II. MIGRATION DECISION MAKING
Access to correct information can help save lives by providing women with the knowledge needed to make informed decisions about migration. Here are some questions to ask yourself before migrating and to help you figure out what information you need to find answers to.
- What do you know about the country you want to migrate to, in terms of:
- Politics?
- Treatment of women in front of the law?
- Language?
- Culture?
- Weather and climate?
- Likelihood of your facing discrimination?
- level of education of the population?
- What is the nature of work for women in the country you intend to travel to?
- What rights do women have to legally work in the country you plan to travel to?
- How will migration affect your reproductive chances, if you want children?
- Are there possibilities to return home to your family, if migration fails?
- If you decide to migrate, can your family visit you? Will you be able to afford to visit home?
- Would your family find jobs there, if they decided to migrate as well?
- Do you know how to apply for visas and travel documents?
- Do you have enough information on the journey?
- Where did you get your information from?
III. DANGERS OF IRREGULAR MIGRATION FOR WOMEN
- At a greater risk of exploitation, abuse, and sexual violence
- More likely to be trafficked
- Higher levels of harassment and assaults
- Unwanted pregnancies
- Inadequate access to health services
- Homelessness
More information:
RETURN_REINTEGRATE_GENDER
IV. REGULAR MIGRATION CYCLE
Migration can be a circular flow: you migrate the regular way, work in the new country, and can come home to visit your family. But this cycle of migration and visits ONLY work if you migrant regularly, with valid documents.
More information:
WOMEN_AND_MIGRATION