Reinserción socio laboral de mujeres migrantes retornadas en Quito

Abstract

From a gender perspective, the return migration of women to their countries of origin implies a complex process of social-labour reinsertion. This work presents the barriers and facilitators that influence the social and labour reintegration process of a group of returning migrant women who work in a north neighbourhood of Quito, Ecuador. A qualitative study was conducted on ten returning migrant women in April 2019. In order to collect the information, semi-structured interviews were conducted, recorded in audio and faithfully transcribed. The interviews included questions about characteristics of the migrant's current personal and working life after return, as well as perceived barriers and facilitators. An inductive analysis of the content was carried out using Atlas.ti 6 software, resulting in emerging issues that were categorized into barriers and facilitators. As a result, eighteen barriers and eight facilitators were identified. The main barriers encountered were: labour regulatory restrictions, role of women in culture, the poor support system for returning migrants and the difficulties in the education system in the country of origin. In contrast, the most representative facilitators were family support, positive attitude of the migrant towards the return, support of friends and the constant communication during the migration stage. The results suggest the importance of both, barriers and facilitators, in the design and implementation of government programs or policies in the country of origin to guarantee the correct labour and social reinsertion of returning migrant women.