UN agency criticizes countries for ignoring plight of women migrants

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Wednesday criticized countries for not exerting enough effort in dealing with the plight faced by women migrants.

UNFPA country representative to Zambia, Deji Popoola, said the plight of women migrants has remained outside public laws and policies of most countries.

"For a long time, the issue of women migrants has been low on the international policy agenda. Migrant women face double discrimination all over the world, as women and as migrants," Popoola said here at the launching of the State of the World Population 2006 report "Women and International Migration".

He said many migrant women were facing discrimination throughout the migration experience as they face unequal access to jobs and wages.

The enslavement of women, he said, in the form of trafficking, sexual servitude and the gross exploitation as domestic workers, is an abomination that needs to be dealt with.

According to UNFPA figures, the number of women migrants stands at 95 million. The statistics also show that about 800,000 women, men and children are trafficked across borders every year with 80 percent being women and girls.

Source: Xinhua