COVID-19: Migrant women in Europe resisting increased abuse and precariousness

 

Each webinar will share common experiences of migrant women and girls -refugees, domestic workers, those part of family reunification, undocumented, etc.- coping under COVID measures in Europe. It will highlight how migrant women have worked together to provide essential support, safe spaces, and collective action through campaigning and advocacy. It will outline experiences in Germany, Spain, Serbia and Belgium and Europe, including providing political recommendations, such as for the EU recovery fund.

 

 

 

IWS is an anti-racist feminist group consisting of refugee and migrant women as well as women without this experience. The group was formed during the occupation of Oranienplatz (a square in Berlin’s district of Kreuzberg) and the Gehart-Hauptmann School in Berlin-Kreuzberg. IWS fosters solidarity and cooperation among migrant women, publishes books and organizes campaigns, protests and conferences on the topics of seeking asylum and migrant women’s struggles. In 2017, IWS organized a two-day conference in Berlin "Als ich nach Deutschland Kam” (When I came to Germany). IWS is supporting women in asylum centres, among others, during the COVID pandemic.

 

 

Jauregui, political scientist expert on migration, will present a Spanish-wide political movement, #RegularizacionYa (#RegularizationNow), which is led by migrant and anti-racist organizations and supported by more than 1,300 civil society organizations. The movement has just presented a Non-legislative Motion into the Spanish Parliament for the regularization of 600.000 migrants in irregular administrative situation in Spain, which was backed by 5 parliamentary groups. 

 

 

Thamara Cruz has been working in the field of social gender justice and promoting the artisan sector in the development of rural, community and design projects. In Mexico, she was the founder of Development of Crafts Projects and Design (DEPROART A.C.). In Belgium, Cruz is founder of the organization SIEMPRE. The aim of this organization is to make women from Latin American and the Caribbean living in Belgium visible, promote their participation and offer activities to support the well-being of migrant women.   

 

 

In this webinar Marcela de la Peña Valdivia will present conclusions from her recent study on migrant women in care chains under the COVID19 pandemic. Based in Belgium, De la Peña Valdivia is a consultant in different capacities (research, training, management, etc.) on gender issues, especially working with migrant women.