Addressing the trafficking of women migrant workers in poorly regulated sectors | Publications

Women migrant workers are disproportionately affected by trafficking in persons, a crime and form of gender-based violence rooted in systemic discrimination, restrictive migration policies and exploitative labour markets. For migrant women working in poorly regulated sectors such as domestic work, agriculture, hospitality and garment production, they face coercion, debt bondage, sexual violence and other forms of exploitation in contexts where oversight is weak and traffickers act with impunity. Produced as part of UN Women’s Making Migration Safe for Women project, this policy brief examines how intersecting inequalities—combined with unregulated recruitment systems, tied visa schemes and exclusion from labour protections—heighten women’s vulnerability to trafficking. Through sectoral analysis, it highlights the lived realities of women migrant workers and exposes how systemic drivers sustain cycles of abuse across multiple industries. By drawing attention to these dynamics, this brief aims to equip policymakers, advocates and practitioners with evidence and insights needed to advance human rights-based, gender-responsive approaches that ensure safer migration pathways and protect the dignity of women migrant workers.