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RIGHTS: Seeking Work, Finding Violent Exploitation

Haider Rizvi

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 18 2005 (IPS) - A new report by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that despite voicing concern at the General Assembly two years ago, most governments have failed to take any concrete or meaningful steps to protect women migrant workers who suffer from violence at home and in the workplace every day.

“No specific legislation on violence against women was adopted by member states (in the past two years),” according to the report, which will be submitted to the 60th session of the General Assembly meeting next month, as required by a resolution adopted in December 2003.

Expressing “deep concern” at the continuing reports of grave abuses and acts of violence committed against women migrant workers, the resolution had urged governments to strengthen their efforts to protect and promote human rights and the welfare of female migrant workers through sustained national, regional and international cooperation.

The issue of violence against women migrant workers has been on the General Assembly agenda since 1992.

The report, which is based on information provided by governments, says out of 134 responses received, 129 covered the question of violence against women while only “some” referred to measures to protect migrant women from violence and other abuses. They include Azerbaijan, Belize, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United Arab Emirates.

Official responses received by the U.N. suggest that today’s migration is increasingly feminised.

A report from Indonesia, for example, indicates that women constitute more than 70 percent of the 350,000 Indonesians workers who search for work abroad every year. Women account for more 60 percent of the labour force that leaves Jamaica. Similarly, nearly half of the Mexican workers living in the United States are women.

According to the International Labor Organisation (ILO), domestic workers, the majority of whom are women, constitute a large part of today’s migrant worker population. In Latin America, they constitute about 60 percent of all internal and international migration. In the Middle East, thousands of women migrants work as maids, the vast majority of whom come from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines.

A report to the Commission on Human Rights last year observed that many women migrant domestic workers end up being “sexually abused by the employers, his children or family members, or by other domestic workers living in the same house,” and that many were “obliged to remain in the home and were repeatedly sexually violated.”

“There were also reports of large number of suicides among female migrant domestic workers, who frequently suffered from depression,” the report said, noting that women who migrated as domestic workers run a high risk of being victims of trafficking, primarily because of absence of a written contract of employment. Women migrating under such conditions often discovered upon arrival that they had been recruited for a different job.

Noting that many foreign women experience domestic violence but cannot seek assistance as their residency permits are linked to their spouses, the report calls for measures to eliminate discrimination against refugee and migrant women and girls in regard to their residency status.

It cites Denmark, Indonesia, the Slovak Republic and Tanzania as countries with sound national strategies to combat violence against women.

Last year, the Danish Parliament introduced a 10-year waiting period during which a foreign citizen cannot be granted residency on the basis of marriage to Danish citizen. This waiting period applies in cases in which a final judgment against the foreigner has been passed for a crime against a former spouse or cohabitant, which could have carried a punishment of imprisonment.

Dissatisfied with the overall performance of governments, Annan said states should “more systematically put in place targeted prevention measures, including comprehensive awareness raising initiatives,” to educate migrant women and the general public about the rights of migrant workers.

The report names Belize, Denmark, El Salvador, Jamaica, Mexico, the Philippines and Tanzania as nations that have launched awareness-raising initiatives and information campaigns on violence against women in print and electronic media. They are producing publications, brochures, pamphlets, posters, magnets and pencils.

“Governments should ensure that training is given to government officials, community leaders, law enforcement agents, social workers and others likely to work with migrant workers so as to sensitise them to the issue of violence against women migrants,” Annan said, adding that victims of violence must be given shelter and medical, social, psychological, and financial help.

The U.N. chief also urged nations to ratify international agreements on migration issues, particularly the U.N. Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, the Convention Against All Organised Crime and all relevant ILO conventions.