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Fair recruitment and decent work for women migrant workers in South Asia and the Middle East - Regional Component - Final Evaluation
- eval_number:
- 2350
- eval_url:
- https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/eval/2350
- lessons_learned:
- themes:
- theme:
- Vulnerable groups
- category:
- Conditions of work & equality
- comments:
- Women in domestic work are hard to reach, and highly vulnerable. Therefore, outreach strategies must be particularly suited to the needs of this group, especially for women kept in conditions of captivity within their employers’ households. WIF’s research on the abusive practices of employers (e.g. Intertwined study, videos and studies prepared by KAFA, etc.) show that restrictive practices such as withholding of the workers’ passport and restrictions on their mobility are widely legitimised at the systemic level by employers. This is linked to a lack of knowledge of the law and contracts, but also to the social and cultural downgrading of domestic work and migrant workers. These employer attitudes are reflected within the legal framework: in Lebanon, Article 7 of the labour code excludes domestic work from its duties and protections.
This lesson can be used by governments in countries of origin and destination, NGOs, CSOs, unions and donor to reduce women migrant vulnerability.
- challenges:
- • Lack of coordination between countries of origin e.g. Bangladesh and countries of destination. The governments do not monitor the data on the workers migrating from one country to another.
• Despite the demand for domestic work in the destination countries, the countries of origin do not have the capacity to bargain for higher wages or better work conditions for their women migrant workers.
• Despite the demand for domestic work in destination countries, domestic work is still not recognised as work.
• Employer attitudes are a constraint, with many employers perceiving domestic workers as ‘slaves’.
• If a WMW conceives during her employment then neither the government of origin nor of destination provides support during pregnancy, but instead criminalise her.
• A child born to a WMW at destination is at risk of being separated from the mother, and of being denied nationality by both governments.
• Women migrant workers are not assured of health care at destination; the mandatory insurance covers only post-mortem repatriation. Employers are known to put pressure on medical professionals to record MDWs mentally ill, which accelerates the process of repatriation of the worker. This results in a higher incidence of MDWs exhibiting mental troubles comparatively to national patients presenting the same pathologies (Kerbage-Hariri 2017, Zahreddine and al. 2014). The relation between labour and health is a widely under-evaluated aspect in the Middle East and could be studied further.
- success:
- The WIF project has prepared movies and jingles that challenge the current perception of domestic work. This has contributed to considering the work respectful and the worker as having rights.
WIF has also taken up advocacy for skill trainings, and the government has started mandatory training programmes before migrant women workers leave the country, which has a positive impact in terms of preparing the workers for the job and environment ahead.
- context:
- In countries of origin the society stigmatises those who go for domestic work, and suspects or accuses them of doing sex work at destination. They are further disadvantaged by a lack of work-related skills and knowledge of Arabic. This lack of capacities leaves the migrant women workers vulnerable to verbal, physical and sexual abuse at destination. Rural communities and migrant domestic workers typically lack awareness about the working conditions and risks at countries of destination. Countries or origin typically lack awareness-raising programmes at the community level.
In destination countries, Jordanian and Lebanese women, especially from middle and high classes, do not engage in domestic work partly due to their increasing social mobility and partly because of the stigma attached to domestic and care work. Domestic work is therefore externalised to migrant workers from South Asian and African countries. Outside the main urban areas (Beirut, Amman), domestic work may also be assigned to Syrian women who may also be employed for care of children and elder persons.
- description:
- The shame and stigma attached to domestic work impacts negatively on initiatives in both countries of origin and destination. In source countries, women are looked down upon if they migrate for domestic work, because the community associates the work with sexual exploitation or sex work and perceives it as menial work. In destination countries too, domestic work is externalised to workers. The lack of dignity associated with domestic work contributes to it being undervalued and underpaid. In many societies, domestic work is not perceived as real work, and is therefore excluded from labour laws, as in Lebanon. Interventions to raise the dignity of domestic work are critical to changing the negative perceptions of such work in all the project countries.
- administrative_issues:
- -
- url:
- https://webapps.ilo.org/ievaldiscovery/lessons/201109
- location:
- country:
- Bangladesh
- region:
- Asia and the Pacific
- country:
- Lebanon
- region:
- Arab States
- country:
- India
- region:
- Asia and the Pacific
- country:
- Nepal
- region:
- Asia and the Pacific
- country:
- Jordan
- region:
- Arab States
- country:
- Inter-Regional
- region:
- Inter-Regional
- eval_title:
- Fair recruitment and decent work for women migrant workers in South Asia and the Middle East - Regional Component - Final Evaluation
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