Labour and migrant workers

This research advanced a gender-sensitive understanding of the interaction between economic and socio-cultural drivers of labour migrations and the experiences of work and living  in different cities: Erbil in Kurdistan-Iraq; Beirut in Lebanon; Islamabad in Pakistan; and Istanbul in Turkey. While migration remains a key issue globally, relatively little work has been done on gendered migrations in the Global South, and what has been done has largely focussed on domestic and care work.

The project addressed this gap by interviewing approximately 25 women and NGO workers in each city, designed to go beyond domestic work by looking at a range of labour sectors where women play active roles. In doing so, this research contributes to a better understanding of the global circulation of gendered labour that is occurring, the drivers of this movement, women’s rights and agency, and how migrant women use urban spaces within these contexts.

In each of the four countries there are discriminatory practices and patriarchal norms that influence the women’s migration, this includes but is not limited to sexual violence, domestic violence, discriminatory employment practices because they are women, discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, and no legal rights to divorce.

Migration is diverse in terms of educational level, occupations, nationalities and rights and includes migrant women from the Global South and North. Women from diverse backgrounds faced distinct forms of discrimination based on their intersectional identities. For example, in Turkey, cultural capital is important. Women from North America, in particular those who are educated with university degrees are often able to find good work as teachers, journalists, or translators. In contrast, the women interviewed from the former Soviet Union, who are also educated, go through a process of de-skilling after migration – now working as cleaners or live-in carers. This happens in-part because they have less cultural capital in the Turkish context. Despite relatively high levels of education, many of the women still face significant hurdles in finding commensurate employment opportunities.

Most women show agency in their choice to migrate away from their home countries and in their efforts to improve their life conditions. However, women’s agency in these contexts is strained by structural inequalities and violence that inhibit and mould their ability to participate in the labour market. For example, two of the Syrian women interviewed in Lebanon describe how they ended up in sex work, despite this not being their choice or aspiration.

Interviews reveal that rather than relying on formal trade unions or collective forms of organising, many women use personal networks based on nationality to build community and advance their working conditions and livelihoods. Recruitment agencies shape who migrates because they have bilateral agreements with agencies in countries of origin. They can influence and shape the flow of who and under what conditions migrants are allowed to enter the country. This is particularly the case in Lebanon where they have blocked changes to the Kafala system.

In each of the four countries there are discriminatory practices and patriarchal norms that influence the women’s migration, this includes but is not limited to sexual violence, domestic violence, discriminatory employment practices because they are women, discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity and no legal rights to divorce. Women face distinct forms of discrimination based on their intersectional identities.

Most women show agency in their choice to migrate away from their home countries and in their efforts to improve their life conditions. However, women’s agency in these contexts is strained by structural inequalities and violence that inhibit and mould their ability to participate in the labour market. For example, two of the Syrian women interviewed in Lebanon describe how they ended up in sex work, despite this not being their choice or aspiration.