A/61/324 includes protection strategies for those who migrate because of serious socioeconomic and developmental failures, including in their countries of origin. 12 36. A growing proportion of migrants are now women, 13 and a gender perspective is therefore now essential to understanding both the causes and the impact of international migration and many of the issues linked to that theme. There is increasing recognition that discrimination, extreme gender inequality and abuses of social and economic, as well as civil and political rights are central factors in the decision to emigrate, and that this is especially true in the case of trafficking and smuggling of persons. When women find themselves in social circumstances that make it difficult for them to find paid work, they can become easy prey for organized crime groups, and can find themselves victims of trafficking. 14 37. Factors at work in the feminization of migration can include: family reunification; inequities in the countries of origin in respect of the employment and income levels women can aspire to; and women’s entry into the workforce in host countries, which means that migrant women tend to enter sectors such as domestic service, care of the elderly and other unskilled employment. 38. It has frequently been highlighted that owing to their double marginalization as women and as migrants, women migrants may easily find themselves in situations in which they are vulnerable to exploitation, violence and abuse, both at home and at work. 15 Domestic migrant workers, who in the great majority are women, are among the most vulnerable to numerous forms of abuse including restriction on their movements, extremely long working hours, low wages, illegal deductions from their wages and forms of debt bondage, and their situation has often been the object of particular attention for the mandate of the Special Rapporteur. 16 These workers often receive little protection from the law and in certain cases their situation can be considered tantamount to trafficking. 39. Child migrants are another category of migrants who are particularly affected by social, economic and developmental factors. Many families in countries of origin feel forced to send their children abroad to study or work owing to the lack of opportunities in those countries and in some cases to the many advantages offered to heads of household by agencies. Additionally, existing limitations on family reunification can lead parents to take desperate measures, such as resorting to smugglers, in order to be reunited with their children. In numerous cases, these minors are abandoned by agents in transit countries or the host country after the families have paid large sums of money. In other cases, they are detained for prolonged periods, expelled or deported by authorities in receiving and transit countries, many of which do not have adequate protection procedures in place that take into account minors’ unique situation of vulnerability. These minors run the risk of being subjected to very serious abuses, including sexual abuse, degrading and slave labour, and finding themselves in situations of trafficking. 17 __________________ 12 13 14 15 16 17 10 See E/CN.4/2004/76/Add.3, para. 75. See Report of the Global Commission on International Migration, Migration in an Interconnected World: New directions for action, Global Commission on International Migration 2005, paras. 19 and 20, at: http://www.gcim.org/attachements/gcim-complete-report-2005.pdf. See E/CN.4/2005/85, para. 37. See E/CN.4/2000/82, para. 56. See E/CN.4/2004/76 and E/CN.4/2006/73/Add.1. See E/CN.4/2006/73, para. 71. See also E/CN.4/2001/83, para. 62. 06-51782