This publication is the result of a three-day event “ Equal Rights, Equal Voices – Migrant women in the European Union ” organised by the European Women’s Lobby in Brussels. A European public Seminar, gathering women leaders within migrant communities across Europe and other actors active in the fi eld of immigration, took place on the 19th of January 2007. This was followed by workshops in closed sessions where the migrant women had the full opportunities to debate around key integration issues (20-21 January).
1817 BR en MP01LR The issue of immigration is a critical area of concern in Europe particularly for women as not only is this policy being pursued in the framework of security and border control, it is above all an issue that is gender neutral. The human rights dimension of migration policy in Europe is seriously lacking. Women now account for more than 45% of the migrant population in the European Union. Despite their contribution to economic and social development in EU Member States, they experience high levels of poverty, social exclusion and violence and still tend to be invisible in the European debate in the field of integration/immigration.
