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Discrimination by Default?: Gender Concerns in South African Migration Policy
- Africa Today
- Indiana University Press
- Volume 48, Number 3, Fall 2001
- pp. 73-89
- 10.1353/at.2001.0051
- Article
- Additional Information
This paper presents a gender analysis of the South African government's proposed new policy on international migration, identifying a number of areas of implicit gender discrimination. Such "discrimination by default" is of more than academic relevance, having important implications for national and regional development. Research undertaken by the Southern African Migration Project indicates a growing "feminization" of migration to South Africa from the Southern African region, as well as gender-specific motives and patterns of migration. If migration is to be effectively managed, such realities must be taken into account. The paper concludes by advocating a development-centered, "household strategies" approach, both in understanding international migration to South Africa and in the further development and implementation of legislation.