Our resources

This is a general, introductory teaching module on women and migration that can be adapted and incorporated by lecturers for inclusion in their courses. This module can be taught in any introductory course on migration, gender, globalization, or several other topics of relevance.

The powerpoint can be downloaded here and includes discussion questions and exercises. 

You can download all of the case studies from this site here.

The Women and Migration project collaborated with UN Women on the policy brief, From evidence to action: tackling gender-based violence against migrant women and girls. This brief provides an overview of the experiences of gender-based violence faced by women and girls and provides recommendations to governments and key stakeholders on how to prevent violence, strengthen services, and improve data collection and awareness. 

Learn more about women and migration

How migration is a gender equality issue: This page by UN Women explores the impacts of migration on women. We particularly recommend the sections on COVID-19 and migrant domestic workers.  

Our team member, Marina de Regt, was a Principal Investigator on the Time to look at Girls Project. Check out their final reports on Ethiopia, Bangladesh and Sudan and read their book Adolescent Girls' Migration in The Global South.

Sine Plambech, Sofie Henriksen & Ahlam Chemlali unpack the images of female migrants in this piece: Victims or heroines? Images of women migrants in global migration. 

The International Labour Organisation provides an overview in A portrait of female migrant workers. This piece shows a breakdown of female migrant workers' education and employment, highlighting a striking gender pay gap for migrant women. 

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report, Abused and neglected - a gender perspective on aggravated migrant smuggling and response, details the different types of violence male and female migrants experience during smuggling. 

Take action

Being informed is a huge first step. Thank you for visiting this website and educating yourself about the experiences of women in migration. 

Share and discuss with your friends. You could start a reading circle with some great books about female migrants such as We are displaced: my journey and stories from refugee girls around the world by Nobel Peace Price recipient Malala Yousafzi, or A hope more powerful than the sea by Melissa Fleming, the global spokesperson or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 

The best actions start at home, so reach out to a resource centre in your community to find out how they support female migrants and what you can do to help. Support refugees in your community and help female migrants feel welcome. 

Support Walk with Amal – an artistic journey bringing attention to the plight of refugee children. 

Resources for researchers 

The Palgrave Handbook on Gender and Migration edited by Claudia Mora and Nicola Piper is a fantastic resource for more information on this subject. The introductory sets out an important research agenda and overview. 

The World Bank Gender Data Portal provides guidance on quantitative indicators to use for researching gender-based violence. 

The Bridges-Migration H2020 project, Guidelines on how to include the gender perspective in the analysis of migration narratives, provides an overview of how gender should be placed throughout the migration research process. 

We recommend following the GBV-MIG project, led by Jane Freedman, which analyses sexual and gender-based violence experienced by refugee and other migrant women and girls.

Resources for Policy Makers

UN Women has created an excellent guide for policy and practice on a gender-responsive implementation of the Global Compact on Migration. The online guide provides guidance and a checklist for each of the 23 objectives of the Global Compact on Migration.

The Gender and Migration Hub provides guidance to policy makers, governments and other stakeholders on creating gender responsive policies. Check out their quizzes as well.

As the global champion for gender equality, UN Women has several other important resources that offer recommendations for policy makers and states to improve policies and support for female migrants. Check out this Guidance note on Addressing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women migrant workers and this report from the Secretary General on Violence against women migrant workers: Report of the Secretary-General.