Philippines - Female Overseas Workers' Risks Scored

MANILA, Philippines — A migrant workers’ welfare group Thursday said Thusday, during the celebration of International Women’s Day, that “forced migration has become the worst cause and manifestation of all forms of abuse, oppression and exploitation of Filipina migrant workers all over the world."

Migrante International said Filipina migrant workers are vulnerable to “sexual discrimination and other gender-specific abuses, exploitation and violence — and also in the sorts of work where they tend to predominate.”

“This is especially the case when Filipina OFWs migrate for work that is in line with their traditionally-defined reproductive roles in society — domestic workers, nurses, caregivers, etc.,” the group said in a statement.

The global economic and financial crisis further intensifies abuses and violations faced by Filipina migrant workers, Migrante International claimed. “The global crisis makes them more vulnerable to illegal recruitment, human/ sex trafficking, criminalization of the irregular and undocumented, and tolerate abuses at work. The worsening crisis conceives for them more desperate conditions, locally and abroad.”

In the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region, the group said women are forced to choose “between a rock and a hard place.”

“To either flee the conflicts or face unemployment and poverty in the Philippines, or to stay at risk of their well-being and lives in exchange for income. In these conditions, Filipina migrant workers become victims not only of violence and war but also of labor and human rights abuses,” the group said.

“In strife-torn Syria, for instance, almost 100 percent of OFWs are women domestic workers. Of the estimated 17,000 Filipino population there, more than 95 percent are irregular or undocumented, with reports of more being trafficked into the country despite the escalating conflict. A mere six percent of Filipina migrant workers have so far been repatriated by the government while the death toll is now dangerously close to 6,000,” Migrante International said.

Vice President Jejomar C. Binay, concurrent Presidential Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers’ Concerns, assured that the Aquino government is taking steps to ensure the protection of women in the Philippines and abroad.

“On the occasion of Women’s Day, allow me to reiterate my personal commitment to ensure the protection of Filipino women here at home and overseas. Allow me also to assure our women that your government is taking concrete measures to alleviate poverty, provide basic services, guarantee protection from exploitation and abuse, and harness their full productive potentials,” Binay said in a statement.

“For this year’s observance of International Women’s Day, the United Nations has chosen the theme, ‘Empower Rural Women — End Hunger and Poverty.’ This theme comes at a most auspicious time, as our government seeks to widen, as the UN theme implies, the base of women who have access to basic social services — health, protection, housing, and most importantly, education. It is a sad reality that women from rural areas are one of the most vulnerable sectors in society, often falling prey to human traffickers,” the Vice President said.

“While women make up a sizeable percentage of our OFWs, the United Nations Development Programme has noted their remittances only amounted to 60 percent of the remittances from male OFWs, indicating that they are employed in lesser skilled and unprotected lower-paying jobs,” he added.

Migrante International said the “feminization” of labor migration was most marked in the decade and a half since 1990, driven by the rise in number of domestic workers and caregivers going abroad due to the intensification of the labor export policy by past and present Philippine governments.

“By 1995, according to the National Statistics Office’s Survey of Overseas Filipinos, there were 91 female OFWs for every 100 male OFWs. This figure steadily increased to a peak of 102 female OFWs per 100 male in 2006. To date, Filipina OFWs still make up more than half (around 60 percent) of the stock estimate of OFWs, outnumbering male OFWs especially in the service sector, with 135,168 female new hires to 19,367 to male new hires in 2010,” the group said.

JC BELLO RUIZ

mb.com.ph

Business & Investment Opportunities

YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Consulting, Investment and Management, focusing three main economic sectors: International PR; Healthcare & Wellness;and Tourism & Hospitality. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programs. Sign up with twitter to get news updates with @SaigonBusinessC. Thanks.