E/CN.4/2005/85 page 12 C. Migrant women and unaccompanied minors 35. Migration is usually represented as a gender-neutral phenomenon, and as a result migrant women tend to remain invisible as a group. The Beijing Platform for Action, adopted by the 1995 Fourth World Conference for Women, recognized that movements of people have profound consequences for family structures and well-being and have unequal consequences for women.9 The Special Rapporteur is therefore of the view that account must be taken of the make-up of international migration flows if women are to be better protected against potential danger and abuse during migration. Yet insufficient attention continues to be paid to the make-up of these movements (E/CN.4/2000/82, para. 66). Statistics on international migration are far from providing universal coverage and are often published without a classification by sex or age (see A/59/287 and Add.1). The dearth of data makes it difficult to assess the full consequences of international migration for women. 36. Despite the difficulty of obtaining data of this kind, it can nevertheless be asserted that feminization is a fundamental characteristic of international migration. The already high percentages of women represented in migration flows are steadily rising in some Latin American countries such as Ecuador and Mexico, and in Asian countries such as the Philippines and Sri Lanka, in particular, whose population abroad chiefly comprises women. In accordance with Commission resolution 1999/44 and subsequent resolutions developing her mandate, the Special Rapporteur has always taken into account a gender perspective when requesting and analysing information, and paid special attention to the occurrence of multiple discrimination and violence against migrant women. A gender perspective is fundamental to an understanding of both the causes and the consequences of international migration. 37. Several factors are at work in the feminization of migration: 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. The Special Rapporteur has also analysed the impact of this phenomenon on the communities of origin, emphasizing the consequences of the break-up of families and the problems that women’s families have in tracing them when they emigrate by irregular routes (E/CN.4/2003/85/Add.2, paras. 48-49; E/CN.4/2002/94/Add.1, paras. 41-46). 38. Immigrant women tend to be employed in the shadow economy and in less skilled work than men, even though some are better qualified. They are more dependent on their employers, which puts them at greater risk of abuse and exploitation. The Special Rapporteur has looked particularly closely at the living, working and employment conditions of migrant workers employed in domestic service (E/CN.4/2004/76); in her view, the situation of this group illustrates three of the most important challenges of international migration in modern times: the extent and feminization of migration; the difficulty of obtaining recognition of the human rights of immigrants, particularly those with irregular administrative status; and the need for rights-based migration management (A/59/377, para. 11). 39. The Special Rapporteur has noted that globalization has had the effect of increasing poverty in certain regions, and many women see international migration as the best - or the only - way to improve their social and economic situation. Those who decide to leave contribute