Identifying Vulnerabilities of Women Migrant Workers During the Pandemic
摘要
Feminization of labor migration, meaning the continuously dominant presence of women in the global migration has been observed and discussed for decades. Concerns have evolved around the topics on inequalities and vulnerabilities throughout the migration process. The COVID-19 pandemic has not only exacerbated the challenges faced by women migrant workers, but also increased their vulnerabilities. Despite the fact that policies have been made to respond to the pandemic, most countries are lacking an instrument which specifically ensures the safety of migrant workers, addresses the challenges they are facing, and most importantly, addresses the safety and vulnerability issues faced by women migrant workers. Departing from the belief that policies can become both the cause and the solution for vulnerabilities of women migrant workers, depending on how they are formulated and implemented, this paper aims at proposing how pandemic-related policies can actually address the vulnerabilities of women migrant workers. It uses the concept of intersectionality and structural vulnerability to argue that pandemic-related policies need to acknowledge the specific needs and conditions of women migrant workers and ensure that equality is highly considered, which unfortunately are still lacking.