At the macro or policy level, the WiF-2 program worked with state and non-state actors (including government agencies, NGOs, and workers' and employers' organizations) to bring about policy changes to create a 'sustainable situation' in which women in the countries of origin and destination are less vulnerable to human trafficking and forced labor. This analysis provided insight into the key risks, triggers and drivers of the vulnerability of women migrants in the migration channel from South Asia to West Asia.
Introduction
Our hypothesis was that women's empowerment in their country of origin affects their decision to migrate as well as their migration experiences. We confirmed our hypothesis that social capital and networks can reduce the vulnerability of migrant women in the South Asian to West Asian migration corridor.
The intervention
While the program also operated in India – focusing on internal migration and India as a destination country for migrants from Nepal – the ROAD migration project focused on migration from Bangladesh and Nepal to Jordan and Lebanon. As WiF-1 and WiF-2 are broadly similar – the main change being a shift of activities towards destination countries – some results are likely to be due to the full WiF timeframe.
Technical design
What is the impact of WiF-2 activities on freedom of association in Jordan and Lebanon. Based on work streams 1-6, what are the final lessons for WiF-2 and other programs focused on reducing forced labor and trafficking.
Results
ROAD process, KIIs and literature reviews
KIIs and literature review to inform the WiF-2 theory of change
This suggests that governments are not involved in the early stages of the migration process, except that training is required before departure. COVID-19 has increased the vulnerability of female migrants in the South Asia to the Middle East corridor, reflecting some of the weaknesses of the Kafala system.
ROAD process: Key actors in the migration pathway
Migrant participants in the workshop in Bangladesh had only average influence (score 3 out of 5) in the network. In Nepal, in addition to migrants and the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MoLESS) and the Foreign Employment Board (FrEB), actors such as the Migrant Network (FFaC), the ILO and civil society organizations have a central place in the network. The participants of the workshop in Lebanon submitted a list of 29 stakeholders in the country's temporary labor immigration sector.
Inequality in the network is great, as the most influential actor has as many as 20 connections, while some actors are connected by only one connection. The most influential actor in the network has as many as 18 connections, which indicates high inequality in the system. The English workshop drew attention to the role of the private sector and the ministries of labor in the countries of origin.
Two of these actors were from the country of origin—the ministries of labor and the ministry of foreign affairs—and six were from the countries of destination.
ROAD process: Causal risk maps
Recognizing that stakeholders' goals and functions often overlap in the migration system, we derived separate causal models for the countries of origin by dividing the stakeholders into several groups depending on the availability of the participants. Regarding the driving force of the lack of economic opportunities, each group focused on different sets of WMWs across the migrant pathway. Female migrants sometimes want to return because of the extreme consequences faced in the host countries and end up being trafficked.
Are all key aspects of precarious migration covered by causes, drivers and consequences. As the random hazard models show, each of the groups identified, on average, a similar number of controls and mitigators. Mitigating M2 (Appendix B4.2), identified by Group 2 participants, is described as regular monitoring of the human rights situation in the destination country and is perhaps the most difficult to implement in destination countries.
Many of the controls and mitigation measures identified in Nepal were similar to those in Bangladesh.
Systematic review: Health of women domestic migrant workers
Both studies found high rates of undiagnosed obesity among migrant workers (Sulaiman et al., 2018; Shah et al., 2017). The article from Nepal provides an exploratory overview and policy analysis focused on South Asian migrant workers in the Middle East, particularly identifying risk factors for cardio-metabolic diseases (CMD) (Mishra et al., 2019). Mishra et al. present a systems map of the social determinants of CMDs that impact the health of MDWs, including working conditions and environmental factors.
In general, the articles avoid the need for more thorough research into the health status of migrant workers and addressing factors affecting their well-being (Mishra et al., 2019; . Sulaiman et al., 2018; Shah et al., 2017). Three articles on migrant worker deaths in host countries were discovered in the review – the three are not specific to female migrant domestic workers but include FMDWs (Vidua et al. Aryal et al., 2016; Jayasuriya, Wijewardena & Pathirana, 2012). Two articles were written by a first author from an institute in an origin/return country (India and Sri Lanka) (Vidua et al Jayasuriya, Wijewardena & Pathirana, 2012), and one from an institute in New Zealand, focusing on migrant workers from Nepal (Aryal et al., 2016).
And the main causes of death occurring among Indian migrant workers in the Middle East and Africa were accidents, suicides and homicides (Vidua et al.
Quantitative survey to measure impact of WiF-2 interventions in districts with high
As a result of the WiF-2 intervention, we expected that treated women would think more than their counterparts in the no-intervention zone. In other words, relatively poorer respondents in the intervention area were less likely to choose it. A limitation of the study stems from the assumption used for the sampling strategy that suggests living in the intervention area means minimal exposure to the program.
While we recognize the overall contribution of the WiF-2 program, our research also identified potential biases in the program results. The remaining 10 percent of women in the sample worked in other factories, restaurants, and as housekeepers. It is striking that a significant proportion of women whose last job was in the clothing industry belonged to the youngest cohort (18 to 25 years).
Eighty-seven percent of female returnees reported having to pay for their migration, with the average cost of migration in the sample being $684. Although the absolute number is lower, 51 percent of women working in Lebanon said they had chosen to return to the country where they worked. Finally, we note that almost 61 percent of women had a friend or social network in their destination country.
Qualitative evaluation of the role of women’s empowerment
However, we were able to conduct all FGDs and most of the KIIs in person. There is also an element of not wanting to miss out when they observe “the better lifestyle or economic improvement of the returning migrants” (KII03). In Nepal, most men do not support women's migration and are averse to the idea.
The costs vary and depend on the willingness of the migrant to pay and their prior knowledge of the costs. The biggest problem they face is the uncertainty of the migration process and the job itself. During this time, they may lose contact with their children and the rest of the family.
Many of the women interviewed in Bangladesh had access to training from NGOs and the government program.
Although the contract does not mention the worker's passport, it requires payment of full wages at the end of each month and a full day's rest per week. Of those who give a female worker a day off, less than half allow her to go out on her own. Almost a quarter of employers reported that they sometimes or always lock the worker in the house.
Participants who recruited a worker through personal contacts, rather than through a recruitment agency, were more likely to respect the worker's right to receive a full day of rest and to go out on her own (Table 4.3) . The dependent variable in model 4 locks the worker inside sometimes or all the time. Contract knowledge was not associated with the two employer practices that violate the worker's freedom of movement but which are omitted and not mentioned in the contract.
Results also confirm that the mode of recruitment is associated with practices that violate the worker's freedom.
Qualitative Study to Assess the Role of Social Networks for Elderly Care Workers
Four focus group discussions were conducted with aged care providers who all identified as migrant domestic workers. In total, we were able to talk to 24 female migrant domestic workers who provide care for the elderly for their employers. For more evidence of migrant domestic workers' negative experiences with recruitment agencies, see Amnesty International (2019).
Even migrant domestic workers who had experience in providing care to an elderly person noted certain difficulties. Members of the Alliance for Migrant Domestic Workers who participated in this study reflected on the eight years of work the Alliance has done to support migrant domestic workers in Lebanon. Several recommendations can be made regarding possible interventions that could improve both migrant domestic workers' and elderly care recipients' and employers'.
Create spaces for mobile home workers providing aged care and aged care recipients to talk directly to each other.
Qualitative evaluation of the WiF-2 freedom of association intervention in (Jordan
We recruited two groups of WMDWs for this study: 9 co-researchers who underwent training in research methods and PAR; and 24 participants who were invited to complete in-depth interviews by the co-researchers. The recruitment of participants was carried out by the AUB research team to safeguard against peer pressure from fellow researchers or other women in their communities. The participants did not need to know English and/or Arabic, as the interviews were conducted in their own language and by one of the co-researchers from their own national community.
The co-researchers were then informed about the project and the PAR method. Subsequently, members of the research team and the co-researchers brainstormed prompts that they would use to enrich the interviews. With constant support and encouragement, the co-researchers completed the transcription of most of the 24 in-depth interviews they conducted.
This section describes the findings of the analysis conducted by the AUB research team, given that data analysis by co-investigators is ongoing.
Recap and Recommendations
