Gendering remittance policies

The International Organization for Migration has released a report examining the gender dimensions of remittances. Drawing on several studies of gender differences in patterns of sending and receiving remittances, the report suggests strategies for helping women on both ends of the remittance chain to ensure that they and their families can maximize the benefits of these money flows. As the report recognizes, remittances are the second largest source of external funding for developing nations, and thus an important tool in poverty reduction and local development; understanding the gender dimensions of these flows is vital to achieving these goals.

The report lays out several interesting findings. While female and male migrants send approximately the same amount of remittances, women tend to send a higher proportion of their income and over longer periods of time. Women also send money more regularly, which means that they may be more significantly harmed by high transfer fees.
While male migrants largely send remittances to their spouse, female migrants send money to the person, often also female, who cares for their children. Women also tend to take more responsibility for money transfers to extended family members. Because of this sense of familial responsibility and due to traditional gender roles, female migrants may face particular pressure to remit much of their earnings. As a result, they may accept very challenging living and working conditions.
The constraint of gender roles from home may be compounded by a lack of legal status in the destination country. Women without lawful means of migration may have to rely on smugglers simply to enter that country. They may then be forced to spend much of their earnings repaying debt. Once they arrive, female migrants are often restricted to low-skilled jobs in domestic work, agriculture, hotel and catering, and sex work. Women in these fields face significant challenges, including low pay and withheld wages, which makes them even more vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation -- particularly if they are under pressure to remit. Women in these sectors also face barriers to formal remittance channels both because of a lack of lawful status and because they may be isolated in their workplace and accommodation. These challenges faced by female migrants are not new to readers of this blog, but it is important to note that they affect not only the human rights of these migrants but also the development goals of their home countries.
In the home country, women are often recipients of remittances. In some countries, women are empowered to manage these funds, while in others, male relatives control the use of remittances. In the latter case, women and children become more vulnerable to poverty and sexual abuse from their family and from the broader community. From a policy perspective, it is important to ensure that women are direct recipients of remittances in order to increase economic empowerment. Moreover, programs should focus on making investment options more accessible to female remittance recipients, who may have limited access to credit and financial literacy.

Protecting Migrant Domestic Workers

I've blogged before on the situation of migrant domestic workers -- largely composed of females and ethnic minorities, without permanent legal status and working in the "private" sphere, this group of laborers is uniquely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. The UN Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families has turned its focus to this group, and rleased last week a draft report summarizing the proceedings of October's Day of General Discussion on Migrant Domestic Workers.
Panelists began by discussing the obstacles to protection of migrant domestic workers. The central problem has long been familiar to feminist legal activists: "domestic work is broadly not perceived as real work, and is thus almost universally excluded from labour legislation and regulations and not subject to labour inspections." The curtain of the domestic sphere is drawn tightly and resists lifting, particularly when the subjects are migrants. Many domestic workers, the report notes, have irregular migration status, and are thus particularly vulnerable to sexual and other abuse. Employers withhold salaries, confiscate migration documents, and fail to contribute to social security benefits, without threat of investigation let alone prosecution. In addition to the obvious candidates for treaty protection (CEDAW and CMW), the report suggests that International Labor Organization conventions, including those prohibiting forced labor and employment discrimination as well as those concerning migration for employment (none of which has been ratified by the U.S.).
The first working group focused on the recruitment of migrant domestic workers, suggesting that protective bilateral agreements between migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries as well as standard binding recruitment contracts might help to prevent the exorbitant recruitment fees and the lack of written contracts that lead to exploitation of migrant domestic workers. Raising awareness on the part of migrant domestic workers about their rights is also an important protective measure. The second working group highlighted the link between stringent immigration laws and exploitation of domestic migrant workers -- because these laborers often have no legal means of entry into countries of employment, they fail to report mistreatment to the police for fear of deportation. For others, particularly in the Middle East, work permits are attached to particular employers, increasing the opportunity for exploitation and abuse. If the migration status of domestic workers could be regularized, even through temporary work visas, this would open up the possibility of consular involvement, labor inspections, and control of health and labor standards.
The report specifically suggests use of "a gender perspective [to] facilitate understanding the specificities and gender-based discrimination that migrant domestic workers face throughout the migration process." It suggests the creation of a new ILO instrument specifically focused on migrant domestic workers, and notes the important role of sending and receiving states in piercing the private sphere to protect these vulnerable women.

Introducing Frances Perkins

My heartfelt thanks to Diane Amann for inviting me to participate in this blog – it’s a privilege to be a part of this fabulous online community.
Let me introduce Frances Perkins (1882-1965), Secretary of Labor under FDR and the first woman to hold a cabinet position in the United States. A strong advocate of workers’ rights and protections, Perkins began her career studying firsthand the problems of the working poor, particularly young women who had immigrated to the United States in search of jobs. During her tenure as Secretary of Labor, Perkins achieved landmark reforms, including giving workers the right to organize unions and bargain collectively, establishing a minimum wage and maximum workweek, and spearheading the development of the U.S. social security system. As former Secretary of Labor Willard Wirtz put it, “[e]very man and woman who works at a living wage, under safe conditions, for reasonable hours, or who is protected by unemployment insurance or social security, is her debtor.”
Imagine what Perkins could have accomplished were she alive today. As our leaders continue to debate immigration reform and to develop/implement anti-trafficking laws and policies worldwide, may Perkins’ work inspire us to consider these issues from a labor perspective...