Feminization of Labor Migration as Violence Against Women

Abstract

International labor migration has emerged as an increasingly regionalized phenomenon, with flows within East and Southeast Asia having gained great momentum. An expanding number of women are taking part in these cross-border movements in the search for work, to the extent that migration scholars have been referring to this development as the "feminization of labor migration." This article examines the debates and issues concerning intersections between women migrant workers' experiences of specifically gender-based violence and violations of their more generalized workers', human, and citizenship rights. This is explored by investigating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their advocacy networking activities in response to states' (non)policies. Preliminary interviews with NGO representatives and migrant women in Japan were conducted in 1996. The article, however, raises more questions than offers answers. It, therefore, should be read as setting a future research agenda. Show more