The Empowerment of Migrant Women as Social Inclusion Strategy in the EU Framework

The essay aims at analysing the migratory phenomenon from a gender perspective. Adopting the gender perspective allows us to better understand the specific needs of a particular category of migrant, that of migrant women. In this perspective, we underline the importance of bringing the gender issue to the centre of the investigation, in order to understand and overcome the double discrimination suffered by women and, at the same time, to identify possible tools and models to ensure effective inclusion of migrant women. In this regard, particular attention is paid to the challenges faced by migrant women in accessing the labour market as well as on the ways to assure equal opportunities for women. A potential way of overcoming the discrimination and of fostering the active role of migrant women should be the promotion of female empowerment and entrepreneurship, with the aim at balancing the “dual discrimination” that women face and at enhancing the raising of their economic and living conditions. In this context, inclusive financial systems and access to micro-credit could represent a key element of the integration path with positive effects on women’s intra-family relationships and on economic growth and productivity. As a consequence, financial inclusion as one of the main factors of a multidimensional and integrated approach could represent an inclusion model aimed at enhancing “citizenship paths” for the beneficiaries and, at the same time, “governing” a phenomenon not easily addressable by institutions.