Gendered dynamics of international labour migration: migrant women in Greater Beirut, Lebanon

The historical and turbulent migration processes of Lebanon are reflected in a dynamic and composite country demography, including gender and labour features of migration. Currently, the number of migrant workers and refugees are exceptionally high in the country. Most migrants and refugees are women who live and work in unprotected conditions, making them vulnerable to abuses and exploitation. Additionally, women migrants’ situation worsened due to the conjunction of the three crises (the economic, the port blast, COVID-19) that hit the country between 2020 and 2022. Against this framework, this study set out to elaborate a gender-sensitive understanding of women migrant workers in Lebanon, within the framework of a larger multi-country research project ‘Gendered Dynamics of Labour Migration’, also involving Pakistan, Turkey, and KRI. Twenty-one in-depth interviews with migrant women and three interviews with third-sector practitioners in the greater Beirut urban area were conducted. Participants were for the most part low-skilled, aged between 21 and 41 years, migrated from Ethiopia and Syria, and spent in Beirut between 1 and 20 years. The interviews explored participants’ drivers of migration, their living and working conditions, the public access and urban spatial mobility, their agency and coping strategies, and their experiences of the Lebanese triple crisis. Thematic analysis of the interviews indicated that women were willing to leave their country of origin and exhibited high levels of agency in pursuing their migration project. Leaving behind discriminating gender norms and/or gender-based violence, poverty and other conflict-related hardships was perceived as emancipatory and empowering by participants. Financial independence and being able to help their families were a source of pride for the migrant domestic workers under the kafala system and the undocumented sex workers, who all perceived their stay in Lebanon as temporary. The hope to return home, staying in regular contact with their families, and seeking support from local charities were some of the coping strategies identified. The five Syrian professional migrants were instead permanently integrated in the Lebanese society, but as second-tier citizens, suffering from structural discrimination. While they were well educated, had a good job, built a life full of activities and hobbies – that the triple crisis heavily impacted – these women described being victims of forms of institutional racism. Despite the fact that Lebanon continues to be an important destination in South-South migration circuits, its legal and societal unpreparedness to respect and protect the rights of female migrant workers and refugees, and to cater for their support needs, urgently calls for improved policies, legal tools, and international and local services of assistance.

Funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) - UKRI - grant ID AH/S004025/1.

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