The Female Face of Migration in Sub-Saharan Africa
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Open University of Tanzania
Abstract
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This paper examines the female face of migration in sub-Saharan Africa.
In the last two decades, there has been an increasing amount of research on
feminization of migration, which has begun to fill the gap created by the earlier
focus on male labour migration. Women in earlier migration research were seen as
companions to men, passive non-decision-makers in the migration process.
Currently, Sub-Saharan Africa market demand influences who migrates. The article
seeks to put in perspective the recent developments in female migration and to readdress the question of stereotypical female migrants. To understand the dynamics
of these female migrations, the paper focuses on causes and changing
configurations of emerging female migratory flows. More women are now
migrating independently and as main income-earners instead of following male
relatives. Further, women’s migration experiences often differ significantly from
men’s. Female migrants are disproportionately young and single. There is less
availability of work for women. Women particularly the younger ones from rural
areas are migrating to work as domestics. Service jobs such as domestic work, child
care, elder care, health care, are female-coded jobs in sub-Saharan Africa. Their
wages are low and not subject to regular laws of supply and demand. The
majorities are clustered in certain types of industry – particularly manufacturing
and empirical evidence seems to indicate that some move into this sector from the
domestic service and the informal sector. Women migrants are found to have more
social and economic ties to places of origin. The paper suggests that Sub-Saharan
African governments should pursue policies that empower migrant women, promote
pro-poor employment strategies that favour informal and formal labour markets
and those which take into account women’s changing role in migratory flows and
reflect the needs and priorities of migrant women
Keywords
Feminization of Migration, Sub- Sahara Africa