Gender and MigrationBy: Oriana Marsh, Vera Mirhady, and Yvonne Su

OutlineIntroduction: What is gender?

Gender in the Migratory Process - Helma Lutz

Feminisation of Migration and the Social Dimensions of Development: the Asian case - Nicola Piper

Short Film

Discussion Groups

Conclusion

Introduction: What is GenderPOP QUIZ QUESTION #1

Gender vs. SexAccording to the World Health Organization:

“Sex” refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women

“Gender” refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women

Gender in Migration Scholarship

Until the 1970s, most research focused exclusively on male migrants.

In the 1970s and 1980s, scholarship began to focus on the experience of female migrants.

Initially, the introduction of the concept of gender into migration studies meant simply adding women to the male bias.

Gender as a Concept“Gender is not simply a variable to be measured, but a set of social relations that organize immigration patterns. The task, then, is... to begin with an examination of how gender relations... facilitate or constrain both women’s and men’s immigration and settlement.” - Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo

Gendered Geographies of Power

A framework for examining gender across transnational spaces.

Composed of three fundamental elements: geographical scales, social locations, and power geometries.

Geographical ScalesGender operates simultaneously on multiple spatial and social scales across transnational terrains.

When looking at gender and migration, think about the impact on the macro-, meso-, and micro- levels.

Ex. the body, the family, the state

Social LocationsPerson’s positions within interconnected power hierarchies created through historical, political, economic, geographic, kinship-based, and other socially stratifying factors.

Imagine a social location continuum from most disadvantaged to most privileged and locate people in different sites along it, roughly identifying the places and predicaments from which they may take action.

Compare and Contrast

Intersectionality

POP QUIZ QUESTION #2: Define Intersectionality

Intersectionality

Intersectionality examines how various socially and culturally constructed categories such as gender, race, and class interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels, contributing to systematic social inequality.

Intersectionality holds that the system of oppression reflects the intersection of multiple forms of discrimination.

Power Geometries

The types and degrees of agency people exert given their social locations.

People’s social locations affect their access to resources and mobility across transnational spaces, but also their agency as initiators, refiners, and transformers of these locations.

Gender in the Migratory Process Helma Lutz

Male/Female Dichotomy and the Agency Debate

Female migrant: Victim or Agent? Voluntary or involuntary migrant?

Male migrant: Victim or Agent? Voluntary or involuntary migrant?

POP QUIZ QUESTION # 3

What are some female dominated labour markets?

What are some male dominated labour markets?

The Labour MarketLabour markets are gendered

“Feminized” domains of work (domestic, entertainment, care work, prostitution)

“Male dominated” domains or work (trucking, construction)

Different and similar experiences for male and female migrants

Care PracticesRich families “outsource...the three c’s” to migrant women

Effects of “female breadwinners” on families

Example: Mohamed Mansaray, 25 years old, deported from Winnipeg

Burden of care falls on women

Discourses and Transnational Parenting

“The absence of migrated fathers is more widely accepted than the absence of mothers” (Lutz, 1653)

‘“Euro-orphan”

Transnational Parenting

“Bhutanese children are often left temporarily fatherless due to migrant work, leaving families under the care of mothers and older brothers.” - Benjamin Graham

Feminisation of Migration and the Social Dimensions of Development: the Asian Case

Nicola Piper

Gender and Migration

Linking Migration & Development

Shift from the economic to the social

women use migration as an escape route

Asian women migrate “for the sake of the family”

Pros and Cons

Research on earlier intra-Asian migration found that:

On the one hand women benefited from higher levels of independence and decision-making power;

but the strain of the increased workload and responsibilities was in some cases found to have had negative implications.

Feminisation of Migration in Asia

Asia as a whole is one of the two regions in the world where there were still slightly more males than females migrants by the year 2005.

The bulk of women comes from Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

POP QUIZ QUESTION #4

VisibilityThe out-going flows of women from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines make up 65%-75% of workers who are deployed legally on an annual basis.

International marriages are not included in official statistics

Marriage

It was recently impossible for a female professional migrant to bring her husband as ‘accompanying spouse’ (although this has always been possible for male professionals).

Feminisation of Migration in Asia cont.

women dominate in jobs connected to social reproduction (eg child care, domestic work) or work which requires “nimble fingers” (eg textiles)

women also migrate in response to the great demand for sexual labour

POP QUIZ QUESTION #5

What does “de-skilling” mean?

Migrant rights“Issue of de-skilling”

well educated women doing low-skilled work due to the relative inability to access legal channels

Restrictive migration policies and legally unrecognized work of migrants pose serious limitationsto women’s migrants’ chances of personal socioeconomic empowerment.

Increasing trends

Aiming to improve their livelihoods and that of their families in the face of rising male un- and under- employment, increasing numbers of women seek work in foreign countries in different types of occupations.

On the Move: Nepal’s Women Migrant Workers

Discussion QuestionsDo you think the stereotype of the ‘lone, rugged male’ migrant worker has persisted? If not, what is the stereotype of a ‘typical’ migrant today?

How do you react to the following statement?

“Female migration seems to be seen as unproblematic as long as it is restricted to unmarried, young and single females, but it is seen as a threat for social coherence where it concerns mothers of young children.” (Lutz, 1656)

Discussion Questions

Are men and women different in their ability to contribute to the local and global economy and a country’s development?

What are the social consequences of the feminisation of migration in receiving countries? Will their attitudes towards migrants become less hostile as females are seen as less threatening than men?

Discussion Questions

Compare and contrast the migratory experiences of the two Nepalese women in the film. How does this relate to the concept of social location?

Is the femnisation of migration a positive force for women’s rights in sending countries or does it play a negative role in reenforcing gender divisions of labour?

Final Thoughts“Gender is not simply a variable to be measures, but a set of social relations that organize immigration patterns. The task, then, is... to begin with an examination of how gender relations...facilitate or constrain both women’s and men’s immigration and settlement.” - Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo

Migrant RightsRights are one of the most important ways in which to address the fundamental root causes of migration.

Restrictive migration policies and legally unrecognized work of migrants pose serious limitations to female migrants’ chances of personal socioeconomic empowerment.

Discourse and Policies

It’s important to look at the discourse and policies in both sending and receiving countries in relation to gender and gender inequality in migration and migrants lives.

THANKS FOR COMING TO CLASS AND

LISTENING TO US!

Gender and MigrationBy: Oriana Marsh, Vera Mirhady, and Yvonne Su