Gender and the contemporary migrant journey
PROJECT Migrating out of Poverty
DATE 7/19/2015
AUTHOR(S) Dorte Thorsesn and Kate Hawkins
From the 30 June – 2 July 2015 a group of researchers, policy analysis and civil society representatives met in Singapore to debate and discuss how gender roles and expectations influence the factors leading to migration, male and female migrants’ different experiences of migration and its impact on migrants, their families and communities. Our analysis does not equate gender with women and girls but aims to unpack how changes to occupational niches and flows of female migrants shape relationships with employers, families and friends, how they shape society and change our notions of gender and age appropriate behaviour. This conference was also an important opportunity to see men and boys as gendered persons. This brief provides a summary of some of the ways that gender shapes and is shaped by contemporary migrant journeys. Our work focuses on migration within low- and middle-income countries as a strategy to overcome poverty and build a brighter future for migrants, their families and their communities.