CEDAW/C/GC/37
factors for migration, in particular among women. 30 In several regions, climate
change and disasters are contributing to an increase in the migration o f women, on
their own, into sectors of work done predominantly by women, for the purposes of
supporting family members who no longer have local livelihood opportunities.
75. Women migrants face a heightened risk of gender-based violence, including
trafficking in persons, and other forms of discrimination in transit, in camps, at
borders and in destination countries. Women may also face specific human rights
violations during migration and at their destination, owing to a lack of adequate
sexual, reproductive and mental health services and discrimination in gaining access
to employment, social security, education, housing, legal documents such as birth or
marriage certificates, and justice. Migrant women and girls are frequently subject to
intersecting forms of discrimination. Women who migrate may also be vulnerable to
the impacts of climate change in destination areas, in particular in urban centres in
developing countries.
76. In many contexts, however, women are impeded from leaving regions that are
at high risk of disaster or migrating to re-establish their lives in the wake of extreme
climatic events. 31 Gender-based stereotypes, household responsibilities,
discriminatory laws, lack of economic resources and limited access to social capital
frequently restrict the ability of women to migrate.
77. Women who are left behind when male family members migrate may also find
themselves having to take on non-traditional economic and community leadership
tasks for which they have had little preparation or training, s uch as when disasters
occur and women must assume primary responsibility for coordinating mitigation,
recovery and adaptation efforts.
78. In accordance with the Convention and general recommendation No. 26
(2008) on women migrant workers and general recommendation No. 32, States
parties should:
(a) Ensure that migration and development policies are gender responsive
and that they include sound disaster risk considerations and recognize disasters
and climate change as important push factors for internal displacement and
migration. That information should be incorporated into national and local plans
for monitoring and supporting the rights of women and girls during migration
and displacement;
(b) Facilitate the participation of migrant women, including those who
have been displaced as a result of disasters and climate change, in the
development, implementation and monitoring of policies designed to protect and
promote their human rights at all phases of migration. Particular efforts must
be made to involve migrant women in designing appropriate services in areas
including mental health and psychosocial support, sexual and reproductive
health, education and training, employment, housing and access to justice;
(c) Ensure gender balance among the border police, military personnel
and government officials responsible for the reception of migrants and train
those groups on the gender-specific harm that migrant women may face,
including the increased risk of violence;
(d) Integrate human mobility-related considerations into disaster risk
reduction and climate change mitigation and adaptation policies, taking into
__________________
30
31
18-03824
Ibid. See also general recommendation No. 26 (2008) on women migrant workers.
Asian Development Bank, Gender Equality and Food Security: Women’s Empowerment as a Tool
against Hunger (Mandaluyong City, Philippines, 2013), p. 12.
23/24
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