Invisible Travelers Women Migrants in the Central American Region Ana Silvia Monzn San Salvador, Jul

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Invisible Travelers Women Migrants in the
Central American Region Ana Silvia MonzónSan
Salvador, July 19, 2007
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Why the Gender Perspective to Look at Migration?

• Because migration has different impacts on women
  and men
• Because more women are migrating
• Because lives of women who leave or women who
  remain in their countries of origin are changing
  as a result of migration.

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Why do Women Migrate?

• Patriarchal mandate
• Political reasons (wars, exile)
• Employment and economic motives
• Family and/or Community Stigma
• To escape from violence
• Because they exercise autonomy

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Various Aspects of One Reality

• Multiple/diverse migration
• Migrants and human rights
• Citizenship
• Impact on the lives of women

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Diverse/Multiple Migration

• Internal, temporary, and permanent
• Migration across borders
• Trans-Migration
• International Migration

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Women Crossing Borders
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Internal, Temporary and Permanent Migration

• Historically a demand for female labor has
  existed to do housework in the homes of
  employers.
• Women as agricultural workers for export crops
  since the 19th Century (coffee, sugar cane,
  cotton, new crops).
• More women than men migrate from rural areas to
  urban areas
• Guatemala 57 women, 43 men
• El Salvador 54 women, 46 men
• Honduras 54 women, 46 men.

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Internal, Temporary, and Permanent Migration

• Girls and young women coming from poor homes in
  rural areas
• A high percentage of indigenous populations
  (Guatemala, Chiapas)
• Low education level or illiteracy, many of them
  only speak one language
• Little knowledge of urban environments
• Work as houseworkers, agricultural workers, and
  in assembly plants.

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Migration Across Borders

• Between countries with shared borders
• Nicaragua/Costa Rica
• 49 of Nicaraguan migrants are women.
• Guatemala/Mexico
• 90 of houseworkers in Tapachula are
  Guatemalans.
• Guatemala/Belize

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Guatemalans in the South of Mexico
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Nicaraguan Migrants
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Trans-Migration

• Flows of persons who enter a territory with the
  aim of reaching a third country
• Guatemala and Mexico as the route to reach the
  United States.

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International Migration Feminization of Migration

• Quantitative aspect More women are migrating.
• Qualitative aspect Ways, forms, and motives
  have become more diverse.

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Women Crossing Borders
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Facing Danger.
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International Migration

• A growing exclusion from the labor market
  (structural adjustment measures/ globalization)
• A demand for cheap labor
• Global care networks (women as caretakers and
  houseworkers in homes in the United States)
• Perpetuating gender inequality / separation of
  the public and private sphere.

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United States The Primary Country of
Destination

• Migration flows have significantly increased
  since the 80s and even more in the 90s,
  paradoxically after Peace Accords had been signed
  (El Salvador and Guatemala)
• Changes in ethnic and gender profile during the
  80-90s
• Approximately 360,000 migrant Guatemalan women in
  the United States in 2004.

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Migration of Women Quantitative Trends
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El Salvador Migration to the US
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Remittances Sent by Women

• Monetary
• Social (more women)
• Intra- and international
• Individual and collective (less women)
• According to IOM in Guatemala remittances were
  sent in 2004 by
• 299,185 women (53 to urban areas and 47 to
  rural areas)

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Migrant Women and Human Rights

• In the country of origin / on the journey / in
  the country of destination
• Domestic violence and abuse force them to
  migrate
• Migrant smuggling and trafficking in girls
  and women
• Detention and deportation
• Sexual abuse
• Racism / labor discrimination
• Human rights protection instruments.

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Female Asylum Seekers in the United States due
to Intra-Family Violence,1999-2005
Source Morales T., Hilda (2005)
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Abuse during the Journey
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An Environment of Rejection, Racism,
Discrimination
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Citizenship / Women Migrants

• An environment of hostility, more restrictive
  laws since the 90s have limited the rights of
  undocumented women migrants (health care
  services, education, transportation)
• However, a strong trend exists of more women
  gaining citizenship and more cases of
  regularization of the situation of women.

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Impacts of Migration on the Lives of Women

• Changes in partner and family relations, womens
  expectations
• Transnational families who travel back and forth
  between two or more countries
• Psycho-social impact Feelings of being
  abandoned/stress
• Contradictory changes regarding the notion of
  rights
• More responsibility.

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Impacts

• More autonomy and participation at different
  levels
• Women migrants have become involved in
  entrepreneurial, political, and social spheres
  in the United States.

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Women Demonstrating in the United States
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Guatemalan Women in the United States

• Norma Torres Julia Gabriel

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Female Workers in the US
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Women Demonstrating in Favor of Migrants
Guatemala, 2006
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Maxims on MigrationAna Ardón
I To migrate is to accept being an
orphan. II Tell me in which country you
are, and I will tell you who did not want
you... III When opportunities are far away,
exodus rules. IV The American Dream is the
Latin American nightmare. V To be exiled is the
punishment of executioners for the
oppressed... VI Internal exile is the resource
of survivors.