A/HRC/44/42 Trade unions 57. Barriers to migrant workers’ organizing may sometimes stem from trade unions themselves, particularly in places where the dominant narrative suggests that migrant workers are “stealing” jobs from local workers or driving down wages and labour conditions. Trade unions may consider that they do not have the resources or expertise to take on migrant-specific issues, resulting in poor outreach to migrant workers or an unwillingness to form strong coalitions with migrant-led organizations. Trade unions may also consider that outreach is likely to return few rewards as migrant workers leave the country. 58. Cultural barriers may also constitute an obstacle between national trade unions and migrant workers, particularly where a migrant’s home country is one where trade unions are non-independent or quasi-State institutions or where trade union affiliation has a reputation of being dangerous or is demonized by the Government. Moreover, some trade unions fear that reaching out to migrants, especially undocumented workers, could open them up to government accusations of promoting illegal employment or trafficking in persons. 59. Where migrant worker participation in trade unions has faltered, other forms of association – some beneficial, some detrimental – may emerge in response to migrant concerns. On the positive side, migrant workers’ centres that holistically address the unique issues faced by migrant workers can enable them to collectively organize to defend their interests. Conversely, Governments and employers may attempt to replace independent trade unions with alternative association structures such as joint employer-employee committees or welfare committees that purport to support migrant workers’ rights, but in practice simply replace independent unions with weak associations led by employerselected representatives without the power to negotiate binding legal agreements. For example, Thai law requires medium-sized and large companies in most sectors to facilitate the establishment of employee committees and welfare committees, which some employers try to use as a substitute for genuine engagement with a trade union. 27 Particularly among migrant workers and in labour sectors dominated by migrant workers, these committees are often treated as a substitute for unions without serving equivalent functions. 3. Additional challenges faced by migrants with vulnerabilities 60. Migrant women may find it acutely difficult to exercise their freedom of association because, in addition to the common barriers facing all migrants, they may also encounter patriarchal pushback from their own community members who consider that women should remain in domestic spaces or that it is inappropriate for them to organize to advocate for their own interests. Sexual harassment or gender-based violence can also serve to quiet women’s voices, and such methods may be strategically deployed against women as a means of discouraging their collective action. Migrant women may particularly struggle with a lack of knowledge and information about existing opportunities to organize, or about the political system and institutions of the destination country. Outside of textile and agricultural work, female migrant workers tend to work in the domestic, caregiving or other informal sectors. The isolation and lack of formality in these areas often means that migrant women lack the support networks available to male migrants, which poses yet another obstacle to their organizing. 61. However, migration can offer migrant women new opportunities to associate and organize, especially when they move from traditional, patriarchal and rigid spaces where their activities are tightly controlled to communities with greater respect for women’s rights. Migrant women also stand to reap additional benefits from exercising their freedom of association; for instance, group action can provide migrant women with a collective response to societal problems or offer protection to migrant women in transit. Particularly with respect to issues of sexual harassment or gender-based violence, where the stigma attached to individual victims can make remedy through legalistic means such as lawsuits or grievance procedures difficult, collective organizing can help migrant women change crucial social norms and obtain redress. Migrant women’s organizations have proved themselves a potent advocacy force. For example, in Argentina an effective campaign 27 10 Thailand, Labour Relations Act, chap. 5; International Labor Rights Forum, Time for a Sea Change.