139^th IPU Assembly

Geneva, 13-18 October 2018

Forum of Women Parliamentarians

Item 3                  Contributing to the work of the 139 th Assembly from a gender perspective

Group 2      "Migrant women: Inclusion, work and rights in the host countries"

Senator Silvia-Monica Dinică

                                                                                                     Romanian IPU Group

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for the opportunity to intervene. My name is Silvia Dinică, and I am a member of the Senate of Romania.

I chose to participate in this group because, as you may have already seen, our delegation proposed a number of amendments to the draft resolution. These include a new paragraph which focuses on the rights of women migrant workers, particularly domestic workers.

The denial of human and labour rights has been a reality experienced by many Romanian and other East European migrant women, who left their country in search for a better life for their families.

Domestic women workers are extremely vulnerable. In the privacy of households they are often invisible, isolated, underpaid, sometimes undeclared - and therefore not covered by labour legislation. In addition, they face a high risk of abuses and violence.

For parliaments, the first step in order to uphold the rights of women migrant workers is to strengthen the national legal frameworks in line with the ILO Conventions and Recommendations and the relevant international and regional instruments for human rights, labour rights, including in the context of migration, and gender equality.

In this respect, I want to remind you, for instance, that according to the data provided by UN Women, women make up more than 70% of international migrant domestic workers, but only 22 countries have ratified the ILO Convention on Domestic Workers, a key instrument which protects the rights of all domestic workers, while recognizing the additional vulnerabilities of women.

And, speaking about the rights of migrant women, let me draw your attention to the fact that the draft Global Compact for a Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration makes no reference whatsoever to maternity-based discrimination and the need to ensure maternity protection in the sphere of work for migrant women.    

I think that this aspect must not be overlooked, and I invite you to take it further during the drafting of the resolution and in our future debates on migration.

Thank you!