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communities and in countries of employment, experiencing discrimination, prejudice,
harassment or violence based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. LGBTIQ+
migrants are protected under ILO Convention No. 111, which provides for explicit
protection against discrimination based on sex. 9 LGBTIQ+ migrant workers are also
protected under ILO Convention No. 190 from violence and harassment at work. 10
25. Migrant children, especially when unaccompanied, face a higher risk of exposure
to trafficking for sexual or labour exploitation. 11 Children work in transit, which can
add further precarity owing to the temporary and often unregulated nature of the work.
Migrant children often work for less pay and face higher death rates at work. 12
26. Racialized migrant workers face intersecting forms of racial discrimination,
gender-based discrimination and xenophobia in both their work and daily lives. There
is disproportionate policing and surveillance of racialized communities, including
racial profiling by police and other State security service s, and also generalized
racism and xenophobia, which has a clear and directly negative impact on the ability
of migrant workers to live full lives, free of persecution and discrimination. 13
1.
Recruitment
27. Since recruitment intermediaries (i.e., brokers, subagents and personal
networks) remain outside of regulatory frameworks, workers face challenges bringing
complaints against them. While there have been some efforts to address issues
concerning labour recruitment, such as the ILO Fair Recruitment Initiative, 14 the
unregulated nature of the industry means that exploitative and fraudulent recruitment
practices persist, including deception (primarily about working and living
conditions); the charging of unauthorized fees; the r etention of identity documents;
violence, abuse, intimidation and control of workers; wage retention; and debt
bondage or other forms of debt tied to their recruitment. In many instances, workers
rely on unverified information about job opportunities, and private recruitment
agencies can intentionally conceal potential risks associated with the work advertised.
Workers often have inadequate knowledge and awareness of legal migration
pathways, which increases their vulnerability to unethical recruitment prac tices,
including excessive placement fees, forgery of documents, false promises about the
nature and conditions of work and debt bondage from money lenders and recruiters.
The profile and level of education of the majority of migrant women domestic
workers in particular may limit them from accessing (on their own) information on
the legal and institutional landscape. 15
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10
11
12
13
14
15
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ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), art. 1 (1) (a),
contains a list of seven prohibited grounds of discrimination, and under article 1 (1) (b) ratifying
countries are allowed to declare additional prohibited grounds. Many countries have recognized
sexual orientation, gender identity and/or other grounds protecting LGBTIQ+ persons from
discrimination and have reported periodically to ILO on application of the Convention. Available
at www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C111 .
ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190).
ILO, Protecting the rights of migrant workers in irregular situations and addressing irregular labour
migration: A compendium (Geneva, 2021). Available at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--ed_protect/---protrav/---migrant/documents/publication/wcms_832915.pdf.
See www.ilo.org/ipec/areas/Migration_and_CL/lang--en/index.htm.
For example, see Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, Logan v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of
Ontario (see footnote 8).
ILO, “Fair Recruitment Initiative Strategy 2021–2025: taking stock, moving forward”, 2021.
Available at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/--migrant/documents/publication/wcms_817166.pdf.
Women in Migration Network, No Borders to Equality: Global Mapping of Organizations
Working on Gender and Migration (2021). Available at
https://www.womeninmigration.org/map/download/no-borders-for-equality.pdf.
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