08/12/2010 Migration, International Protection and Economic Co-operation
Participants at a round table on the rights of migrant women, organised by the PACE Migration Committee in Paris today, have called for reinforced protection through legal means and improved practices. “214 million international migrants are women. Whereas earlier the presence of women was attached to family reunification, the current trend shows that women are migrating independently,” the rapporteur Pernille Frahm (Denmark, UEL) stressed.
“However, for far too many women, and notably those working in poorly regulated sectors such as domestic service, migration presents risks of exploitation and harsh conditions. It is therefore important to recognise domestic work as work under labour law and to allow more flexibility for domestic workers to change employers or type of employment as well as to promote decent, dignified and remunerative employment of migrant women in general,” the rapporteur concluded.
Participants said it was crucial to provide migrant women, who may be victims of trafficking, but also of discrimination, abuse, exploitation and violence with access to the legal and judicial system. They agreed that migrant women entering Council of Europe member states should be granted an independent and autonomous right of legal residence as well as the right to a work permit independently of their family situation. Migrant women in irregular status should also have full access to their fundamental rights, including to healthcare and education, fair working conditions, exposure to and ability to report violence and exploitation.
Participants finally called for the recognition of gender-based forms of asylum. A report on the need for reinforced protection of rights of migrant women is due to be presented at the PACE April 2011 session.