How has the pre-existing gender division of labor and gendered state policies affected Saudi Arabia’s women workers in their demand for equal opportunities and fair treatment? What are some of the factors involved in disempowering migrant workers in host countries and what happens when these workers start asking for their rights?
Given the global economic restructuring and the shifting international division of labor, regions like the Middle East have become salient destination sites for many sub-Saharan African and South East Asian migrant workers. While past scholarship has focused on men-dominated migration patterns, current scholarship reports the increasing presence of women among migrant workers, particularly in the Gulf region (Martin Baldwin). In “Domestic Workers: Little Protection for the Underpaid,” Gloria Chammartin maintains that the number of migrant women have come to equal or outnumber men in recent years. Female migrant workers now constitute larger percentages of migrant workers in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. (470) For instance, data shows that more than 90 percent of Indonesian workers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates consisted of women workers in 1997-1998. In 2001, between 85 and 94 percent of Sri Lankan workers in Jordan, Kuwait, and Lebanon were women. The increase in international labor demand across this region is mostly attributed to the oil boom of the 1970s.
The oil boom of the 1970s created a demand for both skilled and unskilled labor in the Gulf region. In its early stages, demands for the labor construction sector were met mostly by male workers. (Munira Ismail) Later, as construction proj...
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Gender issues in labor migration governance: The Importance of considering Gender Issues in Migration. International migration branch.http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/areas/gender.htm
Martin Baldwin-Edwards. “Migration in the Middle East and Mediterranean.” http://mmo.gr/pdf/news/Migration_in_the_Middle_East_and_Mediterranean.pdf
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Christian-Filipino-migrants-forced-to-convert-to-Islam-17478.html
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Saudi-Arabia-to-drive-out-all-Indonesian-migrants-21994.html
"The conditions of Overseas filipino workers in Saudi Arabia."http://www.scribd.com/doc/49819988/The-Conditions-of-Overseas-Filipino-Workers-in-Saudi-Arabia
http://www.booz.com/media/uploads/Womens_Employment_in_Saudi_Arabia.pdf
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/25/saudi-arabia-migrant-mistreatment
The place of women in Saudi society is determined by a deeply conservative culture, vindicated by a narrow interpretation of religion, and enforced by law. That place it would appear is at home, subservient to and legally dependant on their male guardian. Saudi society suffers from pervasive segregation along gender lines and women's freedom of movement is impeded, forcing them to rely on male chaperons.
...e Do Females Stand In The Saudi Labour Market?" Ahfad Journal 25.2 (2008): 57-84. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
This United States of America is not fond of undocumented immigrants, especially women. Cruel anti-immigrant laws, policies, and practices have had especially dramatic impact on immigrant women and their families. These measures force immigrant women to choose between the threat of an abusive husband and the threat of deportation if they call the police. Immigration policies can also make women sit in detention, thus leaving their children. During this time, some of the women might be raped by officers. This is because detention lacks sexual abuse prevention policies. These women who are in the detention centers are not dangerous, instead they are placed behind bars because of small crimes such as driving without a license or they are charged the civil crime for violating immigration laws.Women are faced with the emotional burden of separation from their families.
Middle Eastern women need to stand up for their rights and get educated to reverse the notion that they are servants and properties of their men. Furthermore, they need to rise up to their potentials and prove beyond doubt that they are equal to men. This practice would lead the path for future generations to follow and protect the inalienable rights of women. Finally, these women need to break the cycle of oppression by addressing these deeply rooted beliefs, gaining the tools to fight back, and joining forces to make lifelong changes.
In the early 1970’s, by examining profit rates globally, it was determined that a falling rate of profit existed. The chief method to counter this problem was to seek out cheaper labor. Global factories were then created as the solution to this problem of falling profit rates. With the birth of these global factories, came not only transnational corporations but also transnational migrant workers. Therefore, why is there so much debate concerning migration when it was basically conceived and in many cases continues to be, a solution to a problem?
In addition to the countries of origin and destination, some Asian countries are discovering a new role as transit migration countries. Without having to implement migration policies, they face significant challenges arising from the presence of people who, in their migratory path, reside in its territory before heading to its final destination in another country. Resurreccion explains (in Devasahayam, 2009,p. 31) that women are playing an increasingly important role in this context. Some of the reasons are the emergence of job opportunities for women in the services sector and tourism industry in the region, as well as their employment in garment and textile industries across national borders (ibid).
...ese deeds may be, the women of these two great nations will always be treated like second class citizens. Progress has been made to change this mindset, but change is slow in the Middle East, and when it comes to changing women’s rights, this will always be the slowest of changes to occur.
... words of Princess Sultana about the many abuses of women in Saudi Arabia. Women in Saudi Arabia's only purpose is sex, and the production of male children. Other than that they are seen as invisible and incompetent. They are given no identity at birth and their deaths are unaccounted for. Saudi women are also forced to cover up their beautiful faces with veils and abaayas. Women of royalty also get treated just as horribly as the lower class women. Jean Sasson did an excellent job of conveying Princess Sultana's pain, aggravation, and grief. Through this book readers will know of Princess Sultana's hopes and dreams of equal treatment for Saudi women. Princess is a well supported and informative book that will teach it's readers the mistreatments of women in Saudi Arabia.
Nowadays governments, NGOs and other organizations try to limit the migration, but it isn’t possible as successfully as it is expected, because the main causes of migration are rooted in the society and it is hard to uproot them. The main migration aims can be divided into two aspects- economic and social aspects. Economic aspect includes mainly problems with money and desire for better job and salary. Migration to achieve better job and salary is only chance for women to gain poverty, because then they can be economically independent from their husbands and families. For men it is easier to get better job whit better salary and better working conditions. Unfortunately for women it isn’t so easy. Mostly they get works that is connected with entertainment, manufacturing, social works or education. But not always the conditions are good. The job could be illegal, irregular, with lower incomes and with poor working conditions. But ...
Human Rights Watch. (2004, July 15). Saudi Arabia: Foreign Workers Abused. Retrieved August 20, 2008, from Human Rights News: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/15/saudia9061.htm
This report draws from many publications written over the last twenty years exposing the unique situation in Saudi Arabia, while also utilizing recent headl...
Women all over the world have been fighting for decades to be equal to men, and they've been able to gain what they want in many countries, but Saudi Arabia is not one of those countries. According to the book Cultures of the World: Saudi Arabia by Hunt Janin and Margaret Besheer, the reason why Saudi Arabian wom...
Brazilian women’s economic opportunities are affected by such factors as gender inequality, violence from men, and racial inequality. Health is affected by reproductive rights, maternal mortality rates, domestic violence and sexual violence. This paper will examine health and economic opportunities available to women in the countries of Saudi Arabia, the United States and Brazil.
The term ‘feminization of migration’ is being used frequently in recent years. The term misleads as it suggests a complete increase in proportion of women migrants. In current scenario women are migrating independently to take a job instead of depending on family dependents. In 1960s and 1970s migration studies found that most of the migrants
bank, W. (2010). Migration and Skills: The Experience of Migrant Workers from Albania, Egypt, Moldova, and Tunisia. World Bank Publications.