Protecting Migrant Women Workers from Going into Exploitative Work Situations

An Information Guide - Preventing Discrimination, Exploitation and Abuse of Women Migrant Workers: Booklet 1 - Introduction: Why the Focus on Women Migrant Workers Booklet 2 - Decision-making and Preparing for Employment Abroad Booklet 3 - Recruitment and the Journey for Employment Abroad Booklet 4 - Working and Living Abroad Booklet 5 - Back Home: Return and Reintegration Booklet 6 - Trafficking of Women and Girls

Series on Women and Migration (10 Working papers covering United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka, Italy, Japan, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Philippines, Costa Rica, Bolivia and Ethiopia)

More and more women, especially Asian women, are migrating legally or illegally for overseas employment. These women are among the most vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, mainly because they are outside the legal protection of their home countries and because they work in jobs - as domestic servants, prostitutes, entertainers, contract manual labour - which are not covered by labour legislation. Their situation is made worse by the fact that they are usually young and poor, living in fear of losing their jobs, do not speak the language of the host country, are unaware that their rights are being infringed and normally do not know where to go for help. Many also end up in a situation of debt bondage, having borrowed money to pay for the costs of obtaining an overseas job or having being duped by unscrupulous agents or employers. In collaboration with the Migration Branch, GENPROM developed a manual aimed at better preparing women for international migration and protecting them from exploitative and abusive forms of employment.

Developing a Manual of Good Practices:

• to be used in various ILO activities as a practical guide on policies and programmes to prevent and protect women and girls from being trafficked and exploited;
• to be adapted at national and regional levels to provide training to government agencies, workers’ and employers’organizations, NGOs and individual migrants;
• to provide inputs for the design of direct assistance programmes addressing the needs and concerns of migrant women workers.

Research in Labour Sending and Receiving Countries focussing on:

• different groups involved in the migration process
• indicating the concerns and needs of female migrant workers
• identify and document good practices for promoting and protecting rights of migrant women workers and preventing them from being trafficked, exploited or abused
• highlight constraints and opportunities faced by government agencies and NGOs in the countries concerned.

Examples of information sought:

• socio-economic background
• legal framework, including:
• existing bilateral agreements
• overview of relevant laws and regulations covering minimum standards for employment contracts and control and licensing of recruitment agencies
• complaint mechanisms and means of redress
• action to prevent and protect women from being trafficked
• training programmes concerning the rights of female migrants
• policies and programmes:
• to address the needs of female migrants
• to regulate and control recruitment agents
• to sensitize and provide information and advice concerning dangers of migration, including trafficking
• to provide skills training
• to provide support services and assistance to returnees
• to address social and economic root causes
• Institutional capacity to address the situation of female migrants and promote their rights.

Countries covered in project

Partnerships

Gender Promotion Programme
Migration Branch
Equality and Employment Branch
ILO Area Office and Multidisciplinary Teams