EU Fundamental Rights Agency finds that migrant women are often doubly disadvantaged

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Migrant women in the EU still face a wide range of challenges both in education and employment. Discrimination linked to their migratory status, ethnic background and gender means that their full integration into European society is not always easy. A newly published report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), which focuses on migrant women, offers interesting new information about this issue.

The report analyses the findings of the Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey, conducted in 2017 among immigrants and descendants of immigrants in 19 EU member states*. The figures presented in the report can help EU member states and international organisations in designing gender-sensitive measures targeting the different needs of women from diverse immigrant backgrounds, including combating factors that prevent migrant women from completing their education.

The data show that a high number of young migrant women (aged 16-24) are not in work, education or any kind of training. In this context, the report draws attention to the fact that women are 50% more likely to migrate for family reasons and are therefore often dependent on the male members of their family. Furthermore, the FRA notes that in many countries the lack of affordable and accessible childcare services prevents migrant women attending lessons to learn the language of the host country.

ETUCE and its member organisations promote the educational integration of migrant and refugee children, young people and adults at all levels of education, with an intersectional approach to potential risks of discrimination and exclusion. Education trade unions also demand the provision of relevant training and support for education personnel and school leaders on building inclusive teaching and learning environments.

*Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia and the United Kingdom