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More than 50 members of multilateral organizations, NGOs and governmental institutions attended the dialogue on “Women and Migration: a view from the Caribbean,” at UN-INSTRAW headquarters on 22 April. Speakers at the event highlighted the important role played by Caribbean women in the present migration processes.
Research on migrant Caribbean women show certain interesting patterns, such as their to global care chains. The dialogue gathered women from different academic and national backgrounds who work on the issue of migratory flows between the Caribbean and international destinations.
Diana López, Associate Expert of UN-INSTRAW, presented a general overview on migrant women, highlighting the lack of visibility in the feminization of migration and the reality of women’s autonomous projects, who migrate alone and who become the main providers for their families. The main structural causes of this pattern are the demographic situations in the countries of destination as well as in the countries of origin. In developing countries there is a demographic transformation with an aging population, a lack of social care services and women’s increasing participation in the labour market. This creates a gap in households at the care level and the carrying out of domestic chores. In a complementary manner, in regions like the Caribbean, limited opportunities in the labor market encourage populations, particularly younger people to migrate. This leads to global care chains in which Caribbean women enter domestic work in countries like Spain while local women must in turn take care of the domestic and reproductive work they left behind.
“Women’s migration offers certain mobility, many times meaning having capacity to transform the mentality in relations of power with men. Many women say that they will not return to their country of origin where they lack independence and autonomy. In their country their mobility is restricted, that is, the possibility of going out, of changing the environment in which they live,” declared Diana López.
However, women’s migration does not only have positive effects. Often, the domestic area does not have a solid legal framework. María Paredes, researcher and activist of the organization Tú Mujer, having done extensive work on Dominican women in Spain highlights that while “the female employer is becoming independent and enters the labour market, the domestic worker is trapped in unending work hours.” Based on studies carried out on Dominican women who work as domestic workers, the researcher presented the image of the woman who lives in the employer’s house to save money and sometimes sends back home up to 60 percent of her salary to meet the demands of the family in the country of origin. There are examples in which women rent a shared apartment, only to spend a few days there once in a while “so as to have a space in which they can feel like people”.
The isolation which many migrant women experience overseas makes them vulnerable to violence. One third of murdered women in Spain are immigrants and they represent 44 per cent of victims of gender violence. However, they are the ones who denounce it less.
“They have been more powerful because they can make an economic contribution, but it seems that the price has been very high,” stated María Paredes.
Tahira Vargas, a Dominican anthropologist who has carried out research on migrant Dominican women in Switzerland and on migration and remittances between the Dominican Republic and the United States, spoke of the duality of the situation of migrant women, based on the statements offered by the so-called “viajeras” (travelers), Dominican women who migrate to Switzerland to work as exotic dancers.
“This situation creates a twofold and conflicting social status, since women are subject to social criticism and accused of performing indecent work at the same time as they help their family in resolving their economic situation,” stated Tahira Vargas.
Many families sell their cattle and farms so that the young woman can travel, but at the same time they do not show their pride in having relatives who travel overseas. Usually, there is less debate about a man who migrates than there is about a woman. Women migrants are also the ones who are pointed out as responsible for destructuring the family.
“Migration could mean that there are single parent families or extensive families, however, these structures have always existed in the Caribbean,” highlighted Vargas.
Bridget Wooding, researcher at FLACSO and coordinator of the Caribbean Migrants’ Observatory, presented the results of a study recently completed on Haitian women migrants in the Dominican Republic. The study shows a feminization of interregional migration, in which many of the women migrate in their own capacity and whose economic project is to sustain their families. Most of the women are young and educated but are working in jobs that do not correspond to their qualifications. The lack of legislation and the deficient regulation of both countries in this area place Haitian women migrants in a very vulnerable position. Besides, very little organizational support is given to women migrants.
“Women analyzed in the study have scarce political perspectives and hope on the Haitian state and the Dominican Republic state. Haiti is confronting a loss of social capital with the migration of these qualified young women,” affirmed Bridget Wooding, highlighting the suggestions made in the study on the need to raise awareness on the right to free transit and the need to reinforce the legislation in both countries.
From the standpoint of the rights of Haitian women migrants and their children, they could be affected by the proposal for a new constitution in the Dominican Republic through which the citizenship would be based not on the place of birth but on the parents’ citizenship.
The dialogue concluded with a lively discussion and exchange of ideas in which citizenship issues, empowerment and gender equity were discussed by panelists and the attending public at the event.
Links
Visit the IOM website (International Organization for Migration-Dominican Republic) Visit the FLACSO website (Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales) |
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