Feminization of migration

Source: Labour news from UNI global union - for trade unions in a global services economy.

As the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Manila comes closer, women’s groups such as The World March of Women Pilipinas (WMW) and the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) held a forum on 24th October,2008 near the PICC, Manila ,site of GFMD, to bring to light the exploitation suffered by women looking for work. The Women’s groups were joined by victims-survivors of sex trafficking to condemn the Philippine government's labor export policy and the lack of local full employment program.

WMW-Pilipinas is part of an international feminist action movement connecting grassroots groups and organizations working to eliminate the causes at the root of poverty and violence against women."We struggle against all forms of inequality and discrimination directed at women. Our values and actions are directed at making political, economic and social change," said Jing Geaga,of WMW-Pilipinas.

Andrea Luisa Anolin, Executive Director of Batis Center described the continuing increase of Filipino women overseas, despite government data to the contrary. "More and more of them are leaving as undocumented migrants," says Anolin. She elaborated that marriage channels have been exploited more by traffickers both in Korea and Japan. According to Anolin, in 2007, deployed Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are 1,077,623 and 811,070 are land based and 266,553 are sea based.

Female OFWs out number male OFWs in Middle East and Asia. In the Middle East,118,393 are female OFWs and 89,217 are male OFWs. As for Asia, 52,336 are female OFWs and 22,297 are male OFWs.

Deployed female domestic workers (2007) are:

Hong Kong -22,127

Italy---------- 4,951

Kuwait------- 4,806

UAE --------- 3,149

Saudi Arabia - 2,581

Qatar ---------- 1,912

Cyprus -------- 1,763

Singapore ----- 1,568

Deployed Overseas Female performing artists in 2007 are: Japan -4,592, Korea -1,350, Hong Kong-113, UAE -100 and Saipan-45.

The exploited migrants who testified came from the urban poor, labor and peasant sectors, illustrating that the poorest of women are pushed to the edge, leave their families, given the lack of local job opportunities. Ms. Marites Bagasala, an overseas worker who sought the help of Kaisa-Ka,aWMW member testified that she is one of eight women who came back from Kuwait. "One of us was sold and sexually exploited and another's spine was broken because of her employers' violence" cried Bagasala.

Sarilaya, another WMW member, was similarly approached by Mila, who was trafficked to Singapore. Mila said since she has no work in the Philippines she was recruited by a women recruiter promising good job and high salary which she can never dream here in the Philippines. When she arrived in Singapore, she found out that all her dreams were shattered because she was put in a night club serving customers. She said there were plenty of Filipino women working in bars.

Anna, a woman who approached CATW-AP, on her part, narrated how she was brought to Dubai and then transferred to Syria. "There, I was held hostage by my agency, made to work without pay and slept in the kitchen," testified Anna. All these cases point to the fact that the demand remains high for women to be exploited abroad.

Why do most Women migrate?

The answer is most women see migration as a strategy for a better life, not just for them but primarily for their families. Migration is brought about by a combination of socio-cultural, economic and political factors in the Philippines that push women to migrate. The unequal and unjust divide between the rich and the poor; the colonial culture ingrained by years of colonisation by the west; the Philippine government's failure to address decisively the problem of poverty and its policies that encourage labour migration and the low value of women's work in the Philippines.

Like other migrant women, Filipino women also experience racism, social exclusion and sexual discrimination. In spite of the high level of education, most Filipinas are employed in low paid "reproductive work", receive low salaries, suffer deskilling, intellectual stagnation, unrecognized educational level, and are often confronted by language difficulties. Driven to leave their homeland, they struggle not just to alleviate the poverty of their own insecure social status abroad but the poverty of their families in the Philippines.

We have to remember that "Women and migrants are not commodities to be bought and sold!" We have to convince the general public, other social sectors and social movements to support and institute the changes necessary for improving the status and living conditions of women and women's quality of life all over the world.

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By Ms. Marlar H. Sabado, President UNI-PLC Women's Committee