MIGRATION FLOWS AND THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS

In the last decades, migrant women’s organizations and civil society actors have mobilized to call for greater gender-responsiveness in international migration governance. Such voices have drawn attention to the growing “feminization of migration” – a term coined as a consequence of the massive numbers of women migrating as independent economic actors from the 1970s to the 1990s –, the contributions of migrant women to development, and the myriad ways in which gender influences migration routes and experiences, often with disproportionately deleterious outcomes for women (for example, heightened risks of exploitation, gender-based violence, harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriage). These efforts have produced positive outcomes also at the international level. Indeed, the role of gender in migration has increasingly become part of the interest of various international organizations – both at the universal and regional levels –, which have highlighted the importance of mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programs and promoting full participation and empowerment of women. In addition, scholars have deeply investigated to what extent the broad variety and number of rules governing the movement of persons across borders is well-placed to respond to the gendered disadvantages faced by migrant women. The present contribution aims at assessing the significance of gender in three specific areas of law relating to international migration, namely refugee law, migrant smuggling and migrant workers. The choice of the said areas is justified by the fact that, in the absence of a universally accepted definition of an international migrant, only some groups of non-nationals – refugees, smuggled migrants and migrant workers – fall under the protection of specific international legal frameworks. In addition, on a general level, international migration is a phenomenon governed by a vast network of general conventions that remain plainly relevant. Their continuing applicability underpins, enriches, and shapes the more specific conventional regimes. From this systemic angle, general treaties adopted in the broader field of international human rights provide a common legal framework that is applicable to all migrants regardless of race, sex, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, or any other legal status. In light of the above, this contribution will first provide a brief overview of the gendered drivers of female migration. Then, moving to the international legal dimension of the phenomenon, the analysis will focus on the relevance of gender in the regimes relating to refugee law, migrant smuggling and migrant workers. Finally, among the relevant treaties pertaining to international human rights law, particular attention will be devoted to the legal regime charged with eradicating discrimination against women, namely the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).