The "Year of the Woman" Comes to ASEAN: New Reports and Declarations Speak Up for Migrant Workers

Author: John Krich

2017 has been the year of the woman. In the U.S. and Europe, at least, the highest reaches of power-in government and media, Capitol Hill to Hollywood - have been rocked by the brave females just recognized by TIME as emblematic of a new era when female victims of harassment and discrimination can no longer be silenced.

Women work on a tea plantation in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand. Photo: UN Women/Pornvit Visitoran

But what about in ASEAN, that fast-developing region of 10 nations which has promised benefits to both sexes from its 2015 economic integration to a combined citizenry of 650 million? And, especially, who is breaking the silence when it comes to migrant workers, at least half women?

Capping their year, as recently as November 14, at a meeting of ASEAN heads in Manila, the organization adapted three new declarations related to the right of women, including the most extensive and enforceable Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers.

"Not only this, but we are the only region with a full plan of action to eliminate violence against women and have added new initiatives on a culture of prevention," says ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee. While recognizing critics who have said the ASEAN Economic Community, a free-trade zone initiated in 2015, is too focused on high-end professionals, the Secretary insists, "We have tried to stress more empowerment and entrepreneurship. Migrants have benefited indirectly through increased investment, job opportunities and awareness of rights."

The folks who should know, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, have just recently offered their assessment in the form of several reports, released as the culmination of a three-year study where five publications were produced on women migrants in time for December 18 - International Migrants Day. Their conclusions call for more whistleblowing to be heard over the ceaseless din of condo construction.

Not too surprisingly, women in the ASEAN countries - who are often forced by poverty into leaving their homes and home nations and supporting families under difficult conditions, often at the mercy of employers and recruiters, to the point of being nearly half of all migrants, far more than half in the wealthier countries like Singapore and Thailand - are largely employed in domestic work, agriculture and construction. They are surprisingly young, a third or more between 15-24, and while some with educational achievement are forced to accept low-wage work, the majority possess only basic schooling - and few receive specialized training, even when promised by recruiters, that could help them advance to higher-paid employment.

Already earning less due to their low-end professions, studies specific to Malaysia and Brunei, indicate migrant women earn 30 percent less than migrant men and 50 percent less than male workers in general. Falling largely into the category of "informal" work, many women labour in unsafe conditions, under unscrupulous arrangements bordering on forced bondage and with little knowledge or legal recourse when things go wrong. And this doesn't even take into account hours of unpaid work, where women do six times more than men in countries like Japan and South Korea.

Among their recommendations for improving the situation: extending legal aid and education, enforcement of existing laws, the rights accorded to other workers, like collective bargaining, a "gender-based" approach that recognizes the additional burdens of child-rearing put on women and changing the focus of an ASEAN plan centered on the highly-skilled workforce and the macro movement of goods and services.

"A region-wide call to arms in needed," says Jenna Holiday, an independent gender and migration specialist who has worked in Southeast Asia.

If anything, Inequality in the boardrooms and management circles of ASEAN is statistically worse in terms of what, in the jargon of the day, is called "gender blending.". But Deputy Secretary-General Vongthep cites specific progress for migrants in countries like Thailand, where they are extended full health care, or Singapore, where transparency in workers' contracts is best enforced.

While ASEAN is focusing efforts on a new emphasis toward "harmonious societies" and is praised by Sinapan Samyodai, for aiming to create a "more people-oriented and people-centered community," Mr. Sinapan, a Convenor-Consultant for the Task Force on ASEAN Migrant Workers, sees the key to progress in extending to all 10 million migrant workers "core labor practices, labor contracts and health and safety standards."

What's still long overdue is a recognition not merely of the untapped potential of ASEAN's women, but of the contribution they already make to existing economies. UN Women cites one study suggesting a current 14 per cent boost to economies for the work achieved, as well as less measurable gains such as how much others are freed to work from migrants' childcare and domestic work.

"These women are so creative and resilient, imagine what they could do with full equality and greater legal protection," argues Jenna Holiday. "For now, all we can measure is that women's investments are more sustainable. Where male migrants put their money in the bank, women contribute to the health and education of other family members."

It's well-known already that domestic helpers working abroad generate around 10 percent of the GDP of the entire Philippine nation. And a whopping USD 62 billion dollars is sent back to the ASEAN region by migrants working beyond its own borders, according to a 2015 World Bank Study. Much more stunning figures were arrived at by the McKinsey Global Institute. They state that USD 28 trillion, equivalent to the economies of the U.S. and China combined, could be generated by 20205 in a world where men and women were entirely equal in the realm of work. Within ASEAN, GDP's could increase to USD 1.2 trillion, 30 per cent more than the number without women's full participation.

As for the connection between Hollywood and the maids of Hong Kong, Deputy Secretary-General Vongthep praises the "HeForShe" initiative fronted by actress Emma Watson and says a similar campaign is being planned to change the consciousness of Asian men. So far, Southeast Asians' nations number of online commitments are universally rated as "low." But declares the Secretary, "We need to acknowledge the problem wherever it is in the world and the profile of the issue of harassment in the workplace has been raised through social media everywhere."

Adds Jenna Holiday, "So far, Asian women migrants have demonstrated their voice in a different way. They only need to become more educated and have more means to connect to one another."

Maybe next year it's not just producers and Senators but cheating Indonesian employers and Burmese recruiters who will be on the run and losing their privileges. And the migrant women of Southeast Asia, stars of the household, will be honored and heard just the same as movie stars.