Integrating the Gender Approach in the M&D nexus Gender concepts to get started
Contents 1 Concepts to get started 4 Migration and Gender Equality 2 Gender Mainstreaming 3 Some priority issues
1 Concepts Gender Sex Masculino y Femenino son categorías de género.
Building Blocks of Gender GENDER NORMS
GENDER ROLES Which gender would you associate with each of the following roles? Productive Role Reproductive Role Community Managing Role Community Politics Role Triple Role
GENDER RELATIONS
STEREOTYPES Social construction (of gender) Gender stereotype Stereotypes of migrant women: o Wives, not workers o Good daughter o Victims o Prostitutes o Bad mothers o Self-sacrificing Others?
Roots of Gender Inequality Patriarchy Gender Inequality Roots
CONCEPTS Gender Equality Gender Equity
So that the selection is just all have to pass the same test: please climb the tree!
Migration and Gender Equality
2 Rights ILO CONVENTIONS CEDAW 1979 Beijing Action Platform 1995 CEDAW 2006, General Recommendation Number 26 Convention Migrant Workers and their families 1990
CEDAW General Recommendation 26 on Women Migrant Workers (1) Recommendations to States: Origin: o Pre-departure training o Legal services o Monitoring of recruitment agencies o Services for women returnees and those who wish to return Transit: o Gender sensitive training, monitoring, and supervision of police and immigration officials o Prevention and prosecution of human rights violations, both public and private actors
CEDAW General Recommendation 26 on Women Migrant Workers (1) Recommendations to States: Destination: o Lift discriminatory bans or restrictions o Legal protections o Freedom of movement and association o Monitoring systems of recruitment agencies o Non-discriminatory family re-unification schemes o Social inclusion and integration for undocumented migrant women workers
CEDAW General recommendation 26 on Women Migrant Workers http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cedaw/docs/gr_26_on_women_migrant_workers_en.pdf
Why do Women Migrants Need Specific Legal Protections? Low regard for women workers and the types of mostly low skilled and semi-skilled jobs they perform Multiple discriminations and various forms of exploitation and abuse (non-payment, withholding wages, workplace violence, non-freedom of movement) Often outside the scope of national legislation Frequently no right to contribute to social security (mainly health coverage) No right to family reunification, family life nor to child care support Typically dependent on the employer for their work and residence status
Migrant women s human rights: countries of origin Before departure Bans or restrictions on women s out-migration based on sex or sex combined with age, marital status, pregnancy or maternity status Occupation-specific restrictions Requirements that women must have written permission from male relatives to obtain a passport to travel or migrate. Detention by recruiting agents for training in preparation for departure, during which time they may be subject to financial, physical, sexual or psychological abuse. Restricted access to education, training and reliable information on migration increased vulnerability to exploitation Exploitative fees by employment agents deepening women s vulnerability and economic dependence.
Migrant women s human rights: countries of origin (2) Upon departure Sex- and gender-based discrimination: Compulsory HIV and AIDS testing Moral rehabilitation for young women returnees Increased personal and social costs compared to men, without adequate gender-responsive services: Men may return to a stable family situation, whereas women may find disintegration and blame. Lack of protection against reprisals from exploitative recruiting agents.
What Does Gender Have to do with Migration and Development? Gender affects all aspects of the migratory process 3 Migration and Development Reasons for migrating Decisions about who in the family should migrate Social networks people use to migrate Integration and labor insertion in destination countries Quantity and frequence of remittance sending Gender equality is key to achieving development It is a matter of human rights and social justice It increases the efficacy of policies and programs <<If the gender perspective is not introduced into development work, development itself is put at risk>> (UNDP) Sustaianble Development Goal #5: Acheive gender equality and empower all women and girls Adopting a gender perspective means that programs take into account the needs of women and men, and aim to shift unequal power relations to enable the full enjoyment of human rights for all
Gender Mainstreaming PRESENTACIÓN PARA
1 How to Mainstream Gender? GOAL: GENDER EQUALITY GENDER-INTEGRATED APPROACHES MULTI-TRACK STRATEGY: GENDER EQUALITY MAINSTREAMING DEVELOPMENT OUTCOMES IN SECTORS: GENDER EQUALITY & WOMEN S EMPOWERMENT GENDER-TARGETED APPROACHES
It is not It is about adding a women s component or even a gender equality component into an existing activity increasing women's participation. It goes beyond bringing the experience, knowledge, and interests of women and men to bear on the development agenda To modify development s agenda so the results will benefit men and women equally To transform social and institutional unequal structures
What institutional Initiatives require? Gender Policy Department of Gender Technical staff in Gender Action plan Recruitment Training Monitoring and Evaluation Gender indicators Reconciling professional and personal life Policy against harassment
Diagnosis based on Gender Perspectives Gender Analysis Increasing Resources Gender Focal Points Gender Mainstreaming the Project cycle Women s participation in decision-making Result of monitoring system Gender-responsive Budgets Mainstreaming = process
How addressing the issue of migration from a gender perspective? 2 Gender Mainstreaming in Migration Process Actors involved: Women, men, family, community, State, civil society, private sector... Levels of analysis: micro, meso, macro Different places and moments of analysis: Origine, transit, destination, transnationality Push factors: poverty, unemployement, climate change, war, social inequality, gender inequality, lack of freedom of expression and respect for diversity, family or personal problems Pull factors: job opportunities, family reunification, stability, security, Access to rights and liberties, greater gender equity
Feminization of migration Macro Bilateral migration agreements Link between migration, development and gender Meso Care crisis Social networks New sexual división of labor within global capitalism Micro Analysis macro/meso/micro Women as a heterogeneous group Re construction of gender identities Analysis of masculinity Avoid heteronormative assumptions Mobility
And in your context? 1. What gender inequalities exist at the micro level (household, community) within the migrant population that you know or with which you work? 2. What differences and inequalities can be seen in the labor market for male and female migrants in the destination country (meso level)? 3. How are macro level factors (bilateral migration agreements, structural adjustment programs) affecting women and men?
The Four Axes of Analysis Remittances are not the only link between migration and development, but rather the most tangible economic result of a much broader phenomenon. To broaden our view and understanding of the migration process and it's impact on development, we use the four axes of analysis: 1. Gender as central analytical category. 2. The right to human development. 3. The spatial dimension of development. 4. Migrants as protagonists of development.
How do we do Gender Analysis? This is our main tool for adopting a gender perspective We examine how ideas and expectations about gender influence people, families, institutions and society at large We pay attention to gender differences in roles, power relations, representation, access to resources This helps us identify inequalities and obstacles to human development
Neutrality often means blindness Gender neutral Assumption that policies are for all people and affect men and women differently Assumed equal opportunities But data tells us effects or outcomes are not neutral Gender blind In practive, stratification quite harmful to women due to: o Gender segregation of labor markets o Differences in qualification levels o Gender roles in countries of origin and destination o Quotas assigned for recruitment in male-dominated sectors Ignores demand for female labor in care industry and other services Restrictions on work permit for family dependents Result: women pushed further into informality and dependency
Some Priority Issues
Remittances Care Some Priority Issues Bilateral Agreements Contracts Standards Domestic Work Masculinities Pre departour training
1. Remittances
What does gender have to do with remittances? Gender is cross-cutting in origin and destination... Differentiated patterns in women s and men s remittance flows Differentiated patterns of remittance usage Gender relations within the household influence patterns of sending and spending Remittance management also changes power relations within the family Remittances Remittances are more than sums of money sent... They represent links of solidarity, reciprocity, and obligation They are situated in broader social, economic, and political processes of globalization Social remittances are ideas, behaviors, identities, and social capital flows Economic and social roles that women acquire through remittances can transform gender relations and broader social, culrural, political, and economic change
Recommendations (1) Strenghten the analysis of gender differences in remittances use, savings and investments Remittances Special attention should be paid to women s unpaid work and non-material needs (care public services to alliviate families care burden (in particular women) and to address psychological and social effects of migration on migrants who return and migrant s families, in order to enable opportunities for political and remunerated activities) Public institutions should support mechanisms that promote remittance-based development initiatives (a. providing orientation and guidelines for investments, b. help changing the structural conditions which inhibiy or frustrate investments (chronic rural problems such as lack of irrigation, roads, energy supplys, etc); c. building local develpment dynamic into which migrants and remitance recipients can integrate their efforts; d. Creating alternatives for stable labor participation and decent wages that might offset remittance dependency caused by the lack of other opportunities).
Recommendations (2) Strenghten and support co-development initiatives (a. based on common goals and equal partnerships, b. recognize protetcion of rights as priority in origin and destination, c. place Women at the centre of the debate; d.gender equality and inclusión of Women as actors); Remittances Provide safe and low cost remittance channels Strenghten gender-sensitive micro-finance services (finance litteracy, social benefits, tax incentives for starting business, etc) Financial services and banking must be committed locally (rural banks, thrift banks, cooperatives, microfinace institutions)
2. Care
CONCEPTS What is care? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvw858gqhoe Care What concrete activities enter in the concept of care? What are the characteristics of those activities (time, remuneration, importance, visibility)? What is the link between care and gender roles and traditional sexual división of labor?
What is care? Care work: all the daily activities that sustain our lives and health Domestic work (food preparation, cleaning, laundry) Personal care (children, elderly, sick, disabled) Most commonly performed by women for free (unpaid work assigned to their gender role in the traditional sexual division of labor) Paid care work also feminized, based on association with women s traditional gender role Domestic work Child care Home health aide worker
Causes of the crisis of social reproduction In Global North: o Mass integration of women in paid labor force o Change in family structure: nuclear (non-extended) families o Ageing of the population o Changes in women s expectations for their lives o But men have not assumed greater share of care work In Global South: o Households face increasing difficulty guaranteeing daily life o Structural adjustment programs o Public spending cutbacks in health, education, disproportionately affecting women o Women continue to be ultimate person responsible for family care Traditional system of providing care no longer sustainable in Global North and South Care = sustaining of daily life (What is more important than that?)
A concept linking origin and destination countries Definition Chain formed linking households (women) who transfer care work from one home to another, based on power hierarchies such as gender, ethnicity, social class, and place of origin The more power she has (social and economic), the greater her options for resolving her family s care needs
Care and economy Care is the invisible base of all socio-economic systems From rights-based perspective, care is key dimension of human development: o Capacity to live a life worth living o People are the real wealth of a nation Economy encompasses more than just the market Economy as means of satisfying human needs and provision of resources needed for people to acquire capacities and liberties
Invisibility of caregiving
Care Diamond For women and men to have equal opportunities, care work must be considered a collective social responsibility Households/Families (women and men) Government services Market (private sector services) Non-profit or charity services
Universal Right to Care A proposal for including care in development processes
Care in the development policy agenda Care is left out of development policy agendas (assumed to be women s issue and responsibility of private households) BUT crisis in social reproduction cannot be resolved by households or the invisible hand of the market Care chains reveal existing deficiencies in social provision of care, both in origin and destination We must engage our societies in debate on the social organization of care as part of our models of local, national, and global development
Why should people working on MIGRATION consider the issue of care work? The most common sector of labour insertion for migrant women is care work. Due to the care crisis in destination countries, there is likely to be growing demand for female immigrant labour. However, care is barely on the policy agenda, and so migration policies do not usually take into account this demand, meaning that few formal channels of labour migration have been established for women to work in the care sector. Care work tends to be informal or very poorly regulated, making migrant women caregivers vulnerable to exploitation. Unregulated migrant labour may be a temporary solution to the care crisis, but it is not sustainable. Migrants families right to care is often left out of the picture, leaving them to negotiate major difficulties in terms of reconciling work and care responsibilities, family reunification, etc. Women s migration exposes gaps and deficiencies in the social provision of care, both in origin and destination.
3. Domestic work
Factors contributing to vulnerability of migrant women domestic workers Absence or inadequacy of legal regulations Absence of residency permit and/or work permit Social invisibility of domestic workers Low levels of education among women domestic workers Poor pay for domestic work Contradictions between migration policies and regulations on domestic work o For ex: domestic workers often have verbal contract, but migration policies require written contract o Others?
Common violations of migrant domestic workers rights Working conditions vary enormously On one extreme = paternalism Why might this be a problem for protection of labor rights? On other extreme = exploitation, forced labor o Employers sometimes withhold migrant worker s passport, keep from leaving employer s home o Some migration policies prohibit migrant from changing employers (work permit linked to one employer only) In between = many violations of labor rights o Long, excessive hours of work with no compensation for overtime o No rest days o Low wages, often way below minimum wage o Inadequate health insurance coverage o Fired if pregnant, impossibility to combine work and family o Exposure to physical abuse and sexual harassment
What can be done? Promote the organization of domestic workers rights Hold dialogues between labor unions, women s and feminist organizations, Ministry of Women s Affairs, Ministry of Labor Encourage public and democratic debate on how to build a more just model of the social organization of care
Multiple Levers: Multiple Opportunities Legislation o National labor laws o International Conventions (C189, other labor conventions, convention on rights of migrants) Labor market institutions o Inspection o Tribunals o Certification o Recognition of skills o Recruitment Minimum wages and collective bargaining Organizing: o Through existing trade union system o Forming new trade unions or collectives
4. Bilateral Agreements
Characteristics of BA s and MOU s in Asia: General Mainly cover low-skilled and semi-skilled workers, as well as medical and technical professions Enhances the role of the recruitment sector without clear distinctions between the role of the State and accountability of private employment agencies A primary motivation for both countries of origin and destination is the need to meet labour market needs for low-skilled workers and reduce irregular migration Rights Protection Agreement titles rarely reference rights, MOU on Labour, Employment, and Manpower Development or Agreement on Labour Cooperation for Domestic Workers Recruitment Human and labour rights violations throughout the migration process have recently been taken into account in bilateral negotiations, due often to civil society and media advocacy More recently, States have considered provisions on wage protections, employment contracts, and redress measures within BA s and MOU s A lack of monitoring and compliance remains a critical challenge MFA Policy Brief No. 10, 2014
Overview of Good Practices in Study of 65 Asian BA s and MOU s (1) Good Practice % of Asian Agreements [n=65] % of Total Global Agreements [n=147] 1. Transparency and publicity; awareness creation about provisions 2. Reference to international human rights instruments and normative foundations 3. Provisions to protect migrant workers from recruitment malpractices, in origin and destination 26% 66% 38% 39% 67% 62% 4. Address gender concerns, particularly for those not covered by labour laws in destination 5. Coverage of wage protection measures; ex. timely payment, allowable deductions, overtime 6. Concrete and enforceable provisions relating to employment contracts and protections 5% 2% 41% 30% 77% 49% [Wickramasekara, 2015]
Overview of Good Practices in BA s and MOU s (2) Good Practice % of Asian Agreements [n=65] 3% of Total Global Agreements [n=147] 7. Provision for skills development 20% 34% 8. Concrete implementation, monitoring and evaluation procedures 91% 86% 9. Prohibition of confiscation of travel and identity documents 8% 6% 10. Provide social security and health care benefits 3% 30% 11. Incorporation of concrete mechanisms for complaints an dispute resolution procedures, and access to justice 50% 25% 12. Provision for free transfer of savings and remittances 36% 38% [Wickramasekara, 2015]
5. Contracts Standards
Model Standardise d Contract for Domestic Workers: Saudia Arabia Draft Model Standard Employment Contract for Migrant Household Service Worker This employment contract is executed and entered into by and between Employer/Sponsor known as First Party Name ID No Nationality : Sex : Type of Residence : Residence Address : Residence Tel No. : Residence Fax No. : Mobile Tel. No. : E-mail Address : No. of Family Members Occupation Represented in the country of employment by; Name of Recruitment Agency Authorized License No. : Name of License issuing Authority: Address of the Agency : Telephone No. : Fax No. E-mail Address : Name of contact person : Position: Mobile Tel. No. : / Employee known as Second Party Name : Nationality : Sex : Passport No. :
The Benefits of Standardised Contracts (1) Preserves a migrant domestic workers right to receive a written employment contract that is legally binding and enforceable in the destination country- standards established by ILO C. 1989 and Recommendation 201 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers Establishes domestic workers as employee-employer relationship rather than an informal one. This entitles domestic workers to the same rights and labour standards as other workers and defines responsibilities of the domestic worker and employer, which is often missing in most contracts. Also unlike most contracts, would define minimum labour standards. For example, a standardised contract would adhere to the basic principle of 8 hour working day unline most contracts with unregulated working hours. It represents a vehicle for protection for migrant domestic workers excluded from national labour laws in destination countries. MFA Policy Brief No. 1, 2012
The Benefits of Standardised Contracts (2) Universalises the right to fair conditions for all migrant workers, regardless of country of origin. Origin countries often establish different minimum wages and standards in bilateral agreements with destination countries. This disparity can be exploited by destination countries to drive down the granting of rights. Could promote alignment among countries of origin to negotiate for similar minimum wages and labour standards and build consensus for standards set forth on ILO C. 189. May help prevent exploitative recruitment practices, such as contract substitution which is rife in GCC countries. It empowers migrant domestic workers and stakeholders with an accessible tool to now their rights. Serves as a basis for legal recognition and allow workers to bring complaints to judicial authorities in destination countries. Would standardize the need to translate the contract into languages understood by domestic workers MFA Policy Brief No. 1, 2012
Recommendations on Standardized Contracts for Migrant Domestic Workers: 1.BA s and MOU s should include standardised contracts that are enforceable and recognised in both countries, along with effective monitering mechanisms. 2.The standardised contract could be used by countries of origin as a multilateral advocacy tool to negotiate with destination countries and in drawing up national contracts 3.The model contract should be made available to domestic workers, employers, representative organizations, and the general public. (ILO Recommendation 201, para. 6 no. 4) 4.The model contract could be explained in pre-departure training programmes that are gendersensitive and rights based. 5.Recruiters and subagents should be regulated through regular and spot inspections as well as incentive mechanisms for employers and recruitment agencies to ensure compliance. 6.Countries of origin can assure legal assistnace and temporary shelters as part of accessible dispute resolution mechanisms. [MFA Policy Brief, 2014]
6. Pre departour training
Based on Rights Innovative and rights based curricula Involve local governments as partners Involve civil society organiaions and the private sector Create orientation programmes aimed at recruitment agencies Establish migration information centers and engage media in local communities Supplement trainings with other information on services and self advocacy strategies [MFA Policy Brief, 2014]
Gender Sensitive Trainings for Gender Equality Prior to training Gender analysis, design an development During the training Implementation After the training Evaluation [MFA Policy Brief, 2014] Fuente: Everythingpossible
7. Masculinities
Masculinities Endorsed by UN Women towards engaging men and boys in achieving gender equality Some Recommended Policy Areas and Actions: Promote gender-equitable socialization Engage men as fathers and caregivers and in taking equal responsibility for unpaid care work Promote gender justice strategies in all development programs Video: Steven s story, Sri Lanka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wifq1whzpy
Data http://www.migrant-rights.org/statistic/domesticworkers/ Health http://health.gov.mt/en/phc/mhlo/pages/mhlo.aspx Undocumented migrants http://picum.org/es/ The Migrants Right Centre Ireland https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzoippblt7c Helping women returnee migrant http://www.pourakhi.org.np/projects/helping-returnee-women-migrants/ Financial literacy programme http://www.aidha.org/
Email info.trainingcentre@unwomen.org Phone: +1 829 954 0000 Adress Ave. César Nicolás Penson # 102-A Santo Domingo, República Dominicana