ASEAN: EU, ILO, and UN Women launch "Safe and Fair" programme to protect migrant women workers
"International push begins for 'Safe and Fair' treatment of women migrant workers in ASEAN," 30 August 2018
Delegates from the European Union, International Labour Organisation and UN Women are meeting...to introduce the "Safe and Fair" programme designed to promote safe and fair migration policies, including labour rights and an end to violence against migrant women.
Women migrant workers are contributing to the development and economies of both the country they work in and their homelands, sending significant amounts of money home and bringing back skills and contacts.
Women make up nearly half the migrants in Thailand, China and Japan and just over half in Singapore.
Women work as domestic helpers, factory staff, sex workers and in agriculture and construction. According to the World Bank’s Migration and Remittances Factbook 2016, Myanmar migrants remitted US$3.5 billion to Myanmar in 2015, nearly 5 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Myanmar women continue to migrate for livelihood reasons, and migration can be a positive experience, in which they gain skills, find meaningful employment, and gain more opportunities for themselves and their families.
Through migration, women can inform and change social, cultural, political and gender norms and can influence positive change across households and communities.
Yet some women migrants find that they cannot access legal and social support when they face problems. They can also suffer from discrimination – both as migrants and as women – which can result in isolation, unfair working conditions or abuse and exploitation.