LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.2 Literature Review .1 International migration .1 International migration
2.2.3 Incorporating gender into transnational migration
Incorporating gender dimension into transnational migration is an essential element that cannot be ignored due to the fact that gender affects the migration patterns of people. This is because it shapes the process of migration along the transnational space. Hondagneu-Sotelo (2003:1) advances the significance of bringing gender into transnational migration by arguing that gender is crucial because it informs different sets of social relations that organise immigration and social institutions (eg. family, labour markets) in both migrant’s place of origin and place of destination. In South Africa and across the globe, gender plays a key role in determining who migrates, type of employment they get in the host country and rationale behind migration. Male and female migrants have different reasons for coming to South Africa. While female migrants move to South Africa seeking employment, Dodson (1998:1) observes that, economic factors play a key role in motivating female migration. The female migrant’s destinations in South Africa are town centres that give them access to informal sectors opportunities whereas males focus their interests on formal employment in industries (Dodson, 1998:1). Although international migration has developed over the years in terms of decision making process, the movement of female migrants into South Africa is still tied to their males on decision and motives to migrate. Thus, in South Africa, female migration, should be viewed as a communitarian endeavour organised by the household rather than an individual affair (Dodson, 1998:1).
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According to Shafer (2012) women could make their own decisions about migrating by settling in the host countries, and choosing the occupations they intend to undertake in order to make a living. Despite gender roles rearrangements that result from political instability in Somali, Bushra & Gardner (2004:18) point out that males are still the decision makers among Somali communities. In South Africa on the contrary, Somali women are able to make their own choices which they could not enjoy if they were in Somalia (Shafer, 2012:91).They have migrated and provided for their families independently without the support of males.
However, the transnational migration of females in Africa has received little attention compared to male migrants because most of the researches are economically oriented.
Women, argues Adepoju (2006) are stereotyped as migrants who accompany their male counterparts during the migratory journey and have no place in economic affairs.
This obscurity happens in spite of a huge number of women migrants. Gows (2010:1) points out that huge population of women, pulled or pushed by varying factors are migrating independently, yet literature on female migration still remains limited.
Traditionally, literature on migration was highly focussed on the gender neutral questions on the motivations of migration, remittances and experiences of migrants without addressing gender-specific questions. This phenomenon of not bringing gender into studying international migration made it hard to explain women’s decision to migrate, the circumstances that lead women to move and why women predominate in particular jobs because there were no gender theories underpinning the study of their experiences. Androcentric biases are assumptions that women are too traditionally and culturally bound, or they can only migrate as family followers, also association migrants for family reunion, weigh heavily on literature (Sotelo &
Cranford, 2006:105).
Gradually, gender and migration is receiving attention by scholars as they seek to understand how migrants renegotiate different existing migration male power
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structures within the transnational space. Within the transnational space are gender hierarchies and gender relations that societies have socially constructed which reinforce subordination of women. Grieco & Boyd (2003) point out that it is within the family that their roles are defined and resources to migrate are distributed, in this light, the decision to migrate is largely affected by the patriarchal structure.
Nevertheless, her status in such a society cannot be underestimated because if for instance she is educated, financially stable, family status will play a part in her ability to make her own decision, even though there are cultural influences. Muthuki (2013) examines the place of feminism today in addressing inequality among African migrant professionals, claims that most of African cultures have a patriarchal system which governs gender relations between men and women with men having position of authority over women. This remains the case in varying degrees as women migrate from one place to another especially within African context. Thus, patriarchal structures have also percolated into migrational law, making it hard for women to migrate. For instance, these migration policies often consider women in relation to their spouses that is, the accompanying spouses visa. For such a visa to be granted by the South African Department of Home Affairs, the applicant must prove to the South African Embassy that she is married to the person residing in South Africa or if she is a spouse by customary law. In which case, she has to produce documents which prove marriage. They are required to produce the certificate of marriage or prove of their cohabitation. Such policies assume that women cannot be independent and that their movement must comprise a male person with whom they can rely on while undertaking migration. Muthuki (2013:104) however, argues that migration experience and constant negotiations in different cultural contexts is expected to present migrants with an opportunity for changing their perspectives of gender and challenging unequal gender relations.
Aderanti Adepoju (2000:5) observes that due to the large number of professional women migrants who migrate independently, the traditional pattern of migration is
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rapidly becoming feminised. This independent movement is determined by social cultural and political factors that either discourage or facilitate migration. According to Reed, Andrzejewski & White (2010:776), the more the migrant women are educated, the more they have the possibility of migrating than those that are not educated. Also, the existing female networks of the family and their acquaintances enhance their migration through supplying them with information, resources and security assurance. Women that are not in networks are less likely to migrate than those that are within those female networks (Curran et.al, 2005; Reed, Andrzejewski
& White, 2010).
In interrogating the experiences of migrants within the transnational space, there is a tendency to paint the picture of women as helpless migrants who, faced by the challenges are incapable of navigating the discriminatory environment. Kihato (2009) interrogates the dynamics of urbanization, gender and migration in contemporary Johannesburg through the voices and images of immigrant women from the rest of African content. He argues that literature on gender and migration problematically present migrant women as their victims or heroines. Her work reveals that women have agency in the migration process, that they actively participate in order to make decisions that could assist them to move and forge a relationship that have strategic benefits. These agencies have the capacity of enabling migrant women realize their rights through pushing policies that are gender sensitive, as well as advocacy.
Nevertheless, effective emancipation of migrant women could only happen if such agencies applied feminist theories that would help them analyze the nature of the problem within a particular power structure before making any strategic interventions.
The work of Kihato (2007:107), titled Invisible lives, inaudible voices? seeks to provide alternative ways of seeing and understanding migrant women and their experiences in the migration process. It challenges existing migration literature which treats migrant women as passive participants in the whole process of migration.
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According to Pessar (2005), the common assumption that women migrants role within the transnational space are to accompany men or join their male counterparts facilitates the poor wages by the employers who use the myth to legitimize the exploitation. Nonetheless, as a result of the rising education rates among immigrants, women are now able to move on their own in search of better livelihood opportunities.
Through education, migrant women are not only able to negotiate their way out in decisions towards beginning migration journey, but are optimistic about the possibility of getting a job that will require their skill.
The transnational migration has the potential of either reinforcing or addressing gender inequalities. For instance, when migrants enter into a host country which have policies that advocate for equal rights, they give women opportunity to access their rights, albeit transgressing their cultural norms. Forbes (2004:27) points out that transnational migration could be a platform to reinforce cultural and religious norms that buttress oppression of migrant women. On the other hand, migration could have some gender related consequences that could lead to their oppression. Women are subjected to social and economic deprivations, discrimination, and sexual abuse. They face these complexities because of their status as women and as non-citizens.
Although international communities are calling nations to respect the dignity of women and heed the rights of women migrants, the policies agreed upon remain rights on paper that are hardly implemented (Forbes 2004:27). Most migrant women have no legal status that could shield them from discrimination, abuse, and the facilitative accessibility to many opportunities in the host country (Forbes, 2004:27). The work of Shaw (2007) focuses on the economic literature among 10 African countries, he observes that women and children abuse, and economic exploitation happen frequently in those countries. Due to lack of proper documentation, women migrants that have entered into the country illegally may be subjects of abuse and exploitation and suffer silently without calling for any help from the public that would question their right to be in the country. Even when they seek help in the homes for the abused,
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Shaw (2007:14) observes that most of those homes will require the abused to have a South African identity card or at least an immigration document before they can admit any woman into their premises.