Feminisation of Migration: Reflections from the SIHMA Public Lecture at UWC
Migration has long been framed as a predominantly male phenomenon, shaped by narratives of labor mobility and economic survival. However, the trends and patterns of migration has shifted over the centuries with more women migrating as the economic providers of their families. Building on the relationship that the Scalabrini Institute for Human Mobility in Africa (SIHMA) has with the University of the Western Cape, and bringing non-academic setting experience, SIHMA delivered a lecture on “Feminisation on Migration” providing a powerful shift in perspective, one that centres the experiences, challenges, and agency of women on the move.
The lecture unpacked how gender influences migration and how migration patterns are increasingly shaped by women. The narrative that women are no longer just accompanying migrants, they are leading migration journeys, often as primary breadwinners for their families was strengthened. The lecture gave insight to ways in which many of these women are concentrated in low-skilled and undervalued occupations reflecting the duality of opportunity and vulnerability.
During the lecture emphasis on care work was given bringing out the role of migrant women as care workers and how their contribution is largely undervalued and not protected but yet important especially in ageing populations. Emphasis on the need for policies that recognize and protect these contributions, rather than rendering them invisible was given. The students were encouraged to use the intersectionality lens (layered identities) when looking at the experiences of migrant women migration which is crucial for developing inclusive migration policies and support systems.
The students were mostly interested in understanding the support structures that are available for migrants women in South Africa especially with the rising anti-migrant narratives. A need for stronger collaboration between academic institutions, civil society, and policymakers to address these challenges holistically was identified during the lecture. The lecture reinforced the importance of centering gender in migration discourse and reminding the students that behind every migrant is a story of courage, struggle, and resilience.
Categories:
Tags:
- Migration And Resilience
- Gender-Centered Migration Discourse
- Women On The Move
- Care Economy Policies
- Layered Identities In Migration
- Labor Protection For Migrants
- Human Rights Based Migration
- Migrant Women Protection Laws
- Inclusive Migration Policies
- Social Integration Of Migrants
- Civil Society Migration Advocacy
- Refugee Rights South Africa
- Anti-Migrant Sentiment Africa
- Migrant Support Structures South Africa
- Domestic Worker Rights South Africa
- Informal Sector Care Work
- Undervalued Labor In Migration
- The Global Care Chain
- Migrant Care Workers
- University Of The Western Cape Lectures
- Gendered Migration Narratives
- Migration Policy Analysis
- Human Mobility Africa
- SIHMA Research
- Intersectionality In Migration Studies
- Female Labor Mobility
- Migrant Women Breadwinners
- Gender And Migration Africa
- Women In Migration
- Feminisation Of Migration