How Migration Experiences Shape Gender Relations - Essay Example

Explain how migration experiences shape gender relations among migrants Introduction Migration both internal and international has had a tremendous impact on gender relations over the past decade. The world migration index suggests that the number of international immigrants is at least 3.5 percent of the world population which is at least over 175 million people (Chant & McIlwaine, 2009). The greater proportions of these individuals are women. This has made a formidable impression on the gender relations and the balance of gender affairs. The term gender since the early 1970s has been used to refer to the culturally constructed femininity and masculinity as opposed to the actual biological and morphological differences in human beings. In the context of social relations, gender is not a replacement of the term sex but rather a collective description of sexual differences that do not concern biological determinism (Wright, 2011). Gender relations are the rules of interaction and participation in society of men and women that have been generally accepted as appropriate within society and social roles as well as the division of labour (Chant, 2007). These rules differ in nature and extent depending on the culture of the persons concerned. Gender is therefore in this context perceived as an organising principle due to the socio-cultural attachment that the society accredits the participants of the particular gender. Argument The main bodies of literature on the subject of migration have a common trend that is geared toward the feminization of migration motivated by concepts such as single female breadwinners, single female breadwinners as well as low skilled women from urban backgrounds (Momsen, 2010). The issue of gender violence motivated migration has seen women flee to areas of friendlier societal values and attributes. Migration serves to pollute in various ways the properly constructed social relations by introducing different roles motivated by the different cultures and social origins. It also causes an imbalance in the composition of society reducing the number of individuals available to perform a particular allocated social role (Momsen, 2010). Most of the migrants result to moving in response to socio-economic and political pressures and incentives. These pressures and incentives are motivated by inequalities in the countries concerned that create a need for or a promise of money or a better life. As such migration is mostly voluntary and in other cases involuntary if the migration is as a result of trafficking and response to political instability, natural disaster or armed conflict. It is still not clear as to who on behalf of the family makes the decision to migrate to different countries. The interaction between the family hierarchies and the decision to migrate is a highly interactive relationship that determines where the family migrates to and for how long (Bouta, Frerks & Bannon, 2004). In other cases forced migration has nothing to do with the family relations. An English boy who flees his home to avoid harassment and sexual abuse or a Somali girl who crosses the border at night due to the hostility in their country do not have the time to consider the strictures of family attachments and relations. In cases of political and social hostilities such as the case of the Somali migrants the women suffer immensely through the migration journey from the harsh conditions of little food and water and extreme temperatures(Bouta, Frerks, & Bannon, 2004). The interaction with the potentially dangerous and harmful conditions as well as the use of false identification documents leads to imprisonment of the women and children or restriction to refugee camps that have extremely poor social arrangements. Further the proportion of women and children who are not recruited and used as soldiers are left to endure multiple rapes and associated injuries and infections incurred during war (Afshar & Eade, 2005). Gender relations are built on the foundation of proper social facilities that allow individuals in society to willingly and effectively participate in the completion of societal tasks. Natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes and droughts, destroy the necessary facilities for social interaction and actualisation of social responsibilities and roles. Families are therefore required to unprepared move to safer grounds on a short notice (Cockburn & Dubravka 2002). The women and children in militia camps and refugee stations run the risk of sexual violence during the displacement process which keeps the migrants in continuous fear of each other and of the society in general. This cripples the level of gender interaction and participation among the immigrants. An example of this form of gender relation pollution is the case of sexual violence in cases where the women who became pregnant out of rape fear to report the same due to the resultant stigma (Chant, 2007). Despite the fact that the sexual violence raids were perpetrated by the host communities, none of the refugee victims were willing to disclose. The inequality in the job opportunity structure presents serious exploitation concerns among the women who are made to work as sex workers, nannies and entertainers since the men take up the more defined and regulated jobs such as masonry, mining and construction. This defiles the balance of social relations as the women gall victim of the segregated job market that reduces the work opportunities and money earned by the women. Women are motivated by the favourable revenues promised upon migration. As such they are more willing to abandon their responsibilities in their home state or country in favour of the promise of a good job that allows them to make remittances home depending on the actual remuneration and conditions presented by the job (Momsen, 2010). Migration makes a fine difference between members of the various genders by treating women as dependants (Molyneux & Razavi, 2005). As such, the status one is allowed to move into the country in for instance as a refugee or asylum seeker or as an occasional visitor, determines the level of responsibilities that the individual is entitled to perform and as a consequence the amount if earning that they can actually take home. The norms of the host country may also make it difficult for the emigrants to fit into society and perform their duties effectively. For instance, the police may be more likely to arrest the immigrant male while the society will readily discriminate against the woman in the allocation of duties and labour. It is common among the foreign born North American women to be excluded from regular employment based on their origins and nationality or skin colour. As such the definitions of gender and origin presents the migrants with hostility from the hosting state (Moser, & Clark, 2001). Another serious concern for the migrants in as far as social relations are concerned is the separation from their families. Depending on the reason of migration the participants of the process admit that the greatest cost to them is the disconnection in family relations due to the distance and inconveniences in communication (Kabeer, 1994). Further, some of the migrants find it quite difficult to come back home before the actual retirement period and are held hostage in the foreign country in fear of revocation of the travelling papers should they return home. Those who leave their families behind therefore literally abandon their family responsibilities (Kabeer, 1994). As such the duration of migration greatly defines the effect of the migration on gender and relational issues. A husband will therefore not be present if his one of his children gets into drug addiction or if the young wife has been misusing the remittances sent home for private agenda. The requirement by the family or dependants to the migrants to make remittances also varies based on the gender of the migrant. The remittance from a husband in support of the wife and children is expected to be higher and more frequent in fulfilment of the social responsibility and duty to the family. The migration process also creates room for transition of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS due to the long periods of separation between sexual partners which causes thee parties to seek intimacy elsewhere. This risk increases if the partners are married and do not get to visit frequently. The infections are also spread through the lack of proper contraception mechanisms at the various post war refugee camps creating an emergency and crisis (Jacobs, Jacobson, & Marchbank, 2000) The migrant’s gender relation status is also affected by the conflict between the migrants and the host communities. This occurs if the host communities perceive the migrants as a threat. The migrants are caught in the middle of the ethnic wars that constantly cause fear and threaten the livelihood of the migrant (Momsen, 2010). It is common for host communities to feel invaded by the immigrants and as such treat the immigrants differently from all other members of the community. In other cases the social values of the host communities are motivated by bias and discriminative values such as chauvinism and discrimination of the female gender. For instance in a Muslim community, women are oppressed and treated as lesser servants of the man. In effect female migrants into Arabic and Muslim countries are treated with sheer disregard and discrimination. Conclusion Undeniably the migration process has dire consequences on the capacities and abilities of the migrants to ably socialize and participate in the roles of society like any other functional members. It is therefore important for any such individual to evaluate these effects before making a decision to migrate. The migration process also by passes social security concepts such as insurance and family planning that creates a family management concern for the migrating community. Women are the main caregivers of the victims of migration problems as well as the casualties of war and as such they have defined caregiver roles that include parental care and responsibilities especially in cases of single parents (El Jack, 2006). The after effect of such a post war transformation of duties is that the social roles take long to reverse even after the end of the civil, social or political strife. It is clear that the housing of gender issues as under the gender equality debate has not only insulated the concerns of justice and human rights but also issued a power ceiling for the effects of the social constitution of difference. References Afshar, H. & Eade, D., 2005, Development, Women, and War: Feminist Perspectives. OXFAM, Oxford. Bouta, T., Frerks, G. & Bannon, I., 2004, Gender, Conflict and Development, The World Bank, Washington D.C. Chant, D. & McIlwaine, C., 2009, Geographies of Development in the 21st century, Edward Elgar, London. Chant, S., 2007, Gender, Generation and Poverty: Exploring the Feminization of Poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America, Edward Elgar, Massachusetts, Cockburn, C. & Dubravka Z., 2002, The Postwar Moment: Militaries, Masculinities and International Peacekeeping, Lawrence & Wishart, London. El Jack, A., 2006, Gender and Armed Conflict. BRIDGE, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, Brighton. Jacobs, S., Jacobson, R. & Marchbank, J., 2000, States of Conflict: Gender, Violence and Resistance, Zed Books, London. Kabeer, N., 1994, Reversed Realities: Gender Hierarchies in Development Thought, Verso. London. Molyneux M, & Razavi, S., 2005, Gender Justice, Development and Rights, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Momsen J. H., 2010, Gender and Development, Routledge, London. Moser, C. & Clark, F., 2001, Victims, Perpetrators or Actors? Gender, Armed Conflict and Political Violence, Zed Books, London, Wright, K., 2011, Conceptualising Human Wellbeing from a Gender and Life Course Perspective: The case of Peruvian migrants in London, in McIlwaine, C. (ed.) Latin American Migration across Borders: European Perspectives from the UK and beyond. Palgrave Macmillan, London. Read More