Statement by the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women
Ahead of International Migrants Day, 18 December, we call on governments, local authorities, and civil society to invest in local communities to facilitate the socioeconomic inclusion of migrants and survivors of trafficking and prevent their exploitation and abuse.
Over the past two years, GAATW, together with members and partners, conducted one of the largest pieces of global research in our history. We spoke with a total of 970 migrants and survivors of trafficking (953 women and 17 men) in 18 countries across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Our aim was to learn more about their experiences with socioeconomic inclusion in the destination country or upon return to the country of origin.
Time and time again, the women spoke about the importance of finding a community, either at home or abroad. Repeatedly, they brought up the positive and negative role that people in their surroundings – locals or co-nationals in the country of destination and family and community in the country of origin - play.
In countries of destination, settled communities of co-nationals were both a source of exploitation and support. Women described how their lack of legal status, limited language skills, or overt and covert racism from the local population meant that they could only find work through other migrants from their country or region. While they appreciated these job opportunities, their limited options also meant that they sometimes had to accept low-paid or exploitative jobs. One Chinese woman in Canada said, “Chinese people tend to take advantage of Chinese people. Because we are from the same origin, it’s easier to find [a job]. But the salaries they pay are mostly low.”
There were many positive experiences too. One Vietnamese woman in the UK said, “I live together with my employer, a Vietnamese family. They are very nice; they told me they wanted me to work with them as a member of the family and not as an outsider.” A Cuban woman in Uruguay had found comfort and support in her faith group: “When we moved, we met some Catholic Cubans in Uruguay by chance. And it was the best thing that happened to me; these people have given us so much warmth.” Some of the women said they had received financial support from their employers, agents, or other migrants in difficult times, such as during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when they had no access to public support or job retention schemes due to their immigration status.
Women’s experiences with local people were also both positive and negative. Most of the interviewed East and Southeast Asian women in Europe and Canada had experienced racism because the COVID-19 virus was first discovered in China. However, racism, discrimination, and xenophobia were common before the pandemic too. Some of the Chinese women in Canada and Venezuelan women in Peru said they were denied jobs because of their race or nationality. Thai and Filipina women in Germany felt that locals judge them as “gold diggers” who are only trying to marry a European man. But racism and discrimination can manifest in more insidious ways too. One Indonesian woman in Germany described how her neighbour had complained to the housing association that she cooks with strong spices and the smell reaches her apartment. The Indonesian woman consulted with a lawyer who assured her that she was not doing anything wrong. However, she wanted to be on good terms with her neighbour, so “I sent her some Indonesian food and she started to be very friendly. Now she sends us chocolates.”
There were also many positive experiences with local people. A group of Vietnamese migrants who were dropped off by their smugglers in France said that local French people provided them with food, clothes, and water. A Filipina survivor of trafficking said, “I feel that France integrated me as a human and it showed me that everyone is equal; what I see is that people help me and guide me and I feel like I have a place like others.” Most women had received support from NGOs like our members and project partners who not only provide psychosocial and legal assistance but also organise exhibitions, picnics, and other community events for migrants. In Uruguay, our partner NGO introduced one of the Venezuelan women in the research to a candombe (a style of music and dance that originated among the descendants of liberated African slaves) women’s group where she now plays the drums.
Upon return to the countries of origin, women’s experience with reintegration was, to a large extent, shaped by how they were perceived by their family and community. In India, Nepal and Bangladesh, women felt disapproval from those around them because they were suspected of having engaged in “immoral activities” or of having eaten beef or pork, drunk alcohol, or worn modern clothes in the country of destination. For married women, this created tensions with their husbands and in-laws and for unmarried ones, it reduced their marriage prospects. One Bangladeshi woman said, “At least twelve marriage proposals came and all of them declined to marry me when they learnt I went abroad to work.”
Many of the women were also stigmatised as “bad wives and mothers” for leaving their family to work abroad even if their primary reason for migration was precisely their families’ welfare. Women were painfully aware that men are not subjected to the same kind of treatment. As one Bangladeshi woman said, “If a man goes to work in [Saudi Arabia], people envy that he would get to see the God’s city, Mecca. When he comes back, people love to meet him, respect him. But when a woman migrates, society considers it very shameful.” In Southeast Asia, women who had been away for a long time and missed important family events found it hard to reconnect with their families and communities and, in some cases, preferred to socialise with other returnee migrants.
Yet many others found a welcoming and supportive environment upon return. Especially those who had remitted money regularly or returned with savings were now seen by family members as authorities, and friends and relatives would consult them on social and employment-related matters; others were contacted by prospective migrants for advice, which allowed them to feel a sense of community and purpose. In Nepal, women said that as long as their families supported and accepted them, the rest of their community tended to do the same.
Thus our research demonstrates that family and community play an important role in shaping migrant and trafficked women’s experiences of socioeconomic inclusion. In recognition of the vital role a supportive local community plays in protecting and realising the rights of migrant women, we make the following recommendations to governments and local authorities, civil society organisations, the media, and all stakeholders who have a duty to uphold the human rights of migrants.
To countries of destination:
- Establish more channels for regular migration so that migrant women can have easier access to jobs in the formal economy and do not need to rely on irregular migration and exploitative jobs.
- Increase the funding and capacity of labour inspectorates and conduct inspections in locations and economic sectors known for high employment of migrant workers. Equip labour inspectors with the appropriate knowledge and tools for interviewing migrant workers and establish a firewall between labour inspectors and immigration enforcement.
- Offer accessible and affordable language courses to migrants so that they can access better-paid jobs and have more interactions with local people, which reduces their dependence on co-nationals for work and emotional support and increases the migrants’ wellbeing.
- Strengthen existing migrant communities so that they can provide advice and support to newly arrived migrants. To this end, remove any administrative barriers to the establishment of formal or informal migrants associations and provide funding to them.
- Promote interactions between migrants and local people through the organisation of social and cultural events.
- Promote a positive image of migration, highlight migrants’ contribution to the local economy and punish xenophobic speech by public figures and in the media.
- Provide financial and other support to civil society organisations working with migrant workers and trafficked persons.
To countries of origin:
- Invest in job creation and employment guarantees and protect the rights of workers in both the formal and informal sector. Make low-interest loans for starting small businesses available to returnee migrants, including women migrants. Provide relevant skills and business management trainings. Without those measures, reintegration measures will not work.
- Develop or strengthen policies and programmes for work with the family and community of returnee migrants to increase understanding of women’s migration experiences and reduce stigma. This can involve counselling sessions for the women’s family or information events in the community.
- Promote a consistently positive image of migrant women and their contributions to the local and national economy. This can be done through explicit acknowledgements by high-level government officials, information in the mass media, or an award recognition similar to the Philippine Bagong Bayani award.
- Facilitate the work of NGOs and other civil society organisations who work with returnee migrants and their families. Remove any administrative barriers to their registration, functioning and ability to receive funding from abroad. Where possible, provide financial support for their work.
Together with our South Asian partners, we have launched a regional campaign led by women migrant workers to demand respect and recognition for the valuable contribution they make to their communities and families. Please show your solidarity and follow the campaign on Facebook and Instagram.
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Since 2020, GAATW has been working with 30 members and partners in 18 countries across five regions to document migrant and trafficked women’s experiences with socioeconomic inclusion in destination and origin countries. These are: South Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka); North America (Canada); South America (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Uruguay); and Southeast Asia – Europe migration corridor (Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam in SEA and France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and the UK in Europe). You can read the first three reports here: