This research report mainly builds on data collected between June and October 2017 through the Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4Mi) including 1,062 surveys collected by 4Mi field monitors. The 4Mi data includes interviews with women from Afghanistan, Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo and Somalia. It is the first piece of research drawn from 4Mi that compares women’s migration experiences across different regions as it compares Afghan women on the move with women from East and West Africa. The 4Mi data is complemented with 29 in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in December 2017 with Afghan women and secondary research on West and East African women.
This report examines women’s migration experiences in origin, transit, and destination countries. The focus is on Afghan women who are in the process of migrating from Afghanistan, in transit in Serbia or who have settled in Germany as their destination, and who have travelled along the East Mediterranean route. The research also examines, through primary data from 4Mi, the experiences of Afghan women, in India and Indonesia; and East and West African women who migrated along the Central Mediterranean route through Libya. It draws on secondary literature to contextualise women’s migration experiences. The aim of this research is to act as a pilot for gaining a better understanding of women’s migration experiences compared across regions, their protection needs along the way, and how their journeys may or may not differ. This report contributes to filling gaps in knowledge about women’s migration journeys, suggesting further areas where research is needed, and offers analysis that may inform current and future programmes to assist and protect those on the move.
