CEDAW/C/2009/WP.1/R 5. Although both men and women migrate, migration is not a gender-neutral phenomenon. The position of female migrants is different from that of male migrants in terms of legal migration channels, the sectors into which they migrate, the forms of abuse they suffer and the consequences thereof. To understand the specific ways in which women are impacted, female migration should be studied from the perspective of gender inequality, traditional female roles, a gendered labour market, the universal prevalence of gender-based violence and the worldwide feminization of poverty and labour migration. The integration of a gender perspective is, therefore, essential to the analysis of the position of female migrants and the development of policies to counter discrimination exploitation and abuse. Applying principles of human rights and gender equality 6. All women migrant workers are entitled to the protection of their human rights, which include the right to life, the right to personal liberty and security, the right not to be tortured, the right to be free of degrading and inhumane treatment, the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, cultural particularities, nationality, language, religion or other status, the right to be free from poverty, the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to equality before the law and the right to benefit from the due processes of the law. These rights are provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the many human rights treaties ratified or acceded to by States Members of the United Nations. 7. Women migrant workers are also entitled to protection from discrimination on the basis of the Convention, which requires States parties to take all appropriate measures without delay to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and to ensure that they will be able to exercise and enjoy de jure and de facto rights on an equal basis with men in all fields. Factors influencing women’s migration 8. Women currently make up about one half of the world’s migrant population. Various factors, such as globalization, the wish to seek new opportunities, poverty, gendered cultural practices and gender-based violence in countries of origin, natural disasters or wars and internal military conflicts determine women’s migration. These factors also include the exacerbation of sex-specific divisions of labour in the formal and informal manufacturing and service sectors in countries of destination, as well as a male-centred culture of entertainment, the latter creating a demand for women as entertainers. A significant increase in the number of women migrating alone as wage earners has been widely noted as part of this trend. Sex- and gender-based human rights concerns related to migrant women 9. Because violations of the human rights of women migrant workers occur in countries of origin, countries of transit and countries of destination, this general recommendation will address all three situations in order to facilitate the use of the Convention, further the rights of women migrant workers and advance substantive equality of women and men in all spheres of their lives. It is also recalled that migration is an inherently global phenomenon, requiring cooperation among States in multilateral, bilateral and regional levels. 4 08-63558