Coordinated Quality Services for Ending Violence against Women Migrant Workers

While the ASEAN region has seen advances in addressing violence against women, much more needs to be done to effectively prevent and respond to violence against women migrant workers. In practice, it is necessary to change cultural norms around violence against women in the context of migration, and strengthen rights-based and gender-responsive approaches and services to prevent and respond to violence against women migrant workers, in order to ensure that labour migration is safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region. States are encouraged to implement the recommendations and priorities outlined below in order to eliminate violence against women migrant workers and enhance their access to coordinated essential services.

This policy brief is based on regional and national priorities and recommendations identified during the three-day “Regional Dialogue on Coordinated Quality Services for Ending Violence against Women Migrant Workers in ASEAN”, which took place in Bangkok, Thailand, from 10 to 12 July 2019. The meeting was hosted by the Safe and Fair Programme implemented by the ILO and UN Women, in collaboration with UNODC, under the Spotlight Initiative to Eliminate Violence Against Women and Girls, a global multi-year initiative between the European Union and the United Nations. The Safe and Fair programme delivers technical assistance and support to national and regional stakeholders with the overall objective of making labour migration safe and fair for all women in the ASEAN region.