Panel: Challenges and opportunities for women in migration contexts: the influence of migration policies on women’s work and integration prospects

Abstract

A growing body of research is beginning to uncover much needed insights into the gendered nature of migration, and its impacts on women. This panel looks at the impact of migration on migrant women living in Italy, the United Kingdom, Lebanon and Turkey. Based on a comparative case analysis of data collected from in-depth interviews with women from Pakistan, Syria and Zimbabwe, the panel addresses the gendered impact of different migration policies on their ability to work and integrate in host societies.

The selected host countries have differing positions regarding the 1951 UN Refugee Convention; with the UK and Italy having fully ratified the convention, while Turkey conditionally ratified it and Lebanon has not. The outcome being diverse policies that generate different challenges and opportunities for women migrants in these respective contexts that will be discussed in this comparative analysis.

Analysing the findings from a subaltern perspective and insider researcher positionalities, the panel highlights the asymmetrical dependencies produced and reinforced by migration policies. Of particular interest to the panel is how differences in acknowledging refugee rights translate into varied refugee experiences in as far as the right to work and integration prospects are concerned.

By highlighting these lived realities, the panel draws attention to some overlooked (yet important) gendered aspects that can be considered in migration policy creation or amendment to inform gender-responsive policies and programs in migration contexts.

in-person event