Human Rights
at home, abroad and on the way....
Human Rights
at home, abroad and on the way...
Statement by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women to the United Nations Constructive Dialogue on Trafficking in Persons, 1 July 2022, Vienna
Read the statement below or view it read out by Maya Linstrum-Newman, International Advocacy Officer at GAATW.
Statement by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women on International Domestic Workers Day
Domestic workers make crucial contributions to households and the global economy, yet continue to suffer from multiple vulnerabilities caused by the lack of recognition and respect for their work, inhumane labour migration regimes, rogue recruitment practices, and gender-based discrimination and violence.
On this International Domestic Workers Day, we highlight the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrant domestic workers in the past two years and their exclusion from much-needed social protections. We call for measures to improve their working and living conditions as well as access to labour rights and government support.
In our recently published research on reintegration of women migrant (domestic) workers from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka who had returned from the Middle East, the vast majority reported a host of human and labour rights violations but very limited government assistance, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Statement by Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women on International Women’s Day 2022
GAATW stands in solidarity with all women workers – paid and unpaid, local and migrant. We salute their courage to organise, form collectives, and support each other in this difficult time. We are inspired by their creative and innovative organising strategies.
We also applaud the steps taken by some states to provide migrants, including undocumented migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, with various forms of emergency support. Initiatives to extend visa and work permits and to create firewalls between access to services and immigration authorities are stepping stones to creating inclusive societies. More recently, we have been touched by the generosity of neighbouring countries towards people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
In Agenda 2030, states made commitments to promote the socioeconomic and political inclusion of all, ensure decent work, and end violence against women, among others. As signatories to the Global Compact on Migration, states have also agreed to ensure empowerment and inclusion of migrants and work towards social cohesion. Yet, the exclusion and othering that we have seen in the last two years and, most recently, towards non-Europeans fleeing Ukraine, tell us that reality is very different. Sadly, our states and we as people have many excuses to justify exclusion and rejection of our fellow human beings. Gender, race, class, caste, religion, and ethnicity are invoked in different contexts, both within countries and across borders, to justify exclusion.
In the lead up to International Women’s Day, 8 March, and the expected publication of a draft EU law to address violence against women and domestic violence, major international and European networks and organisations have adopted a manifesto for a truly inclusive EU law and policy. All civil society organisations and Members of European Parliament are invited to join us – sign up to the manifesto here.
In April, we launched a six-part series titled “Feminist Fridays: Conversations about Labour Migration from a Feminist Lens”, in collaboration with Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Focus on Labour Exploitation (FLEX), Solidarity Center, and Women in Migration Network (WIMN).
In these sessions, we reflected on how to undertake the complex work of standing in solidarity with migrant workers and celebrating their agency while also highlighting the abuse and exploitation they face. Feminist academics, civil society leaders, and migrant workers themselves discussed how to better understand and represent the lived experiences of migrant workers, especially women, who are overrepresented in low-paid and precarious jobs in the informal sector, and who have absorbed even greater caring responsibilities during the pandemic.
