Escaping poverty and obtaining higher wages often means taking risks. But these challenges are also worthwhile for women commuting to work at home. Between 2000 – 2017, the number of migrant women in Asia increased from 23 million to 34 million – a 48% rise. Most of them are engaged in domestic jobs.
Yet many women domestic workers find themselves earning inadequate pay, working excessive hours, and being subjected to labor and human rights violations. In several destination countries, they are partly or entirely exempt from labor laws and legislation; placing them at increased risk of abuse and oppression. Yet migrant women are among the most vulnerable.
Ensuring that women recognize their rights as migrant workers, and what will be in their job contracts, is a vital step in shielding them from violence and coercion; particularly when some are unaware that their rights are being violated.
To this end, UN Women launched Empowering Women Migrant Workers from South Asia: a Gender Oriented Job and Recruiting Toolkit. The Toolkit offers detailed advice on ensuring the security and advancement of the interests of women workers during the job migration process.
This also points out concrete steps to ensure that labor migration policies and governance adapt to the living conditions of women; lead a stronger agreement on work arrangements for migrant women; ensure more reliable programs and security during the recruiting process.
When more and more women want to migrate to work, it is important that authorities, employers, recruiting agencies and civil society come together to ensure that migrant workers are safe and aware of their rights.
In addition to giving advice to decision-makers, the Toolkit may be used by civil society groups as a lobbying tool.
“The Toolkit is really useful for better security for migrant women workers;” says Mary Ann Abunda, founding president of Sandigan Kuwait. “We should add to our campaigns the value of understanding their rights as migrant workers on the basis of the job contract; and we can also integrate it into our ongoing campaign, particularly for domestic workers.”
Developed with the help of the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, the Toolkit has created critical traction and UN Women is currently responding to a range of requests to expand its implementation. It involves creating contact mechanisms to make women migrant domestic workers themselves more aware of their rights.
UN Women regularly supports governments and other partners in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka to establish national development plans; and countries across South Asia and the Arab world through the Abu Dhabi Dialog and the Colombo Process.
Reference: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2019/6/feature-empowering-south-asian-women-migrant-workers
