Commissioner Pizarro warned about the state of vulnerability suffered by Venezuelan migrants

The presidential commissioner for the United Nations (UN) Miguel Pizarro, warned about the state of vulnerability suffered by Venezuela female migrants, according to an investigation published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“IOM conducted a study on Venezuelan migrant and refugee women in 11 host countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Until November 5th, 2020, there were 5,448,440 Venezuelan refugees and migrants living in these countries,” said Pizarro through his Twitter account.

According to data from the IOM report, obtained from official figures from the Great Integrated Household Survey in Colombia and cited by the senior official of the Legitimate Government, “in 2018 the population of migrant and refugee women was 47.6%, in 2019 48.7% and in 2020 it reached 50.2%.”

Furthermore, the study specifies that the age of the respondents ranges from 18 to 54 years. Therefore, the majority are of a productive and reproductive age, so it underscores their need “to access sexual and reproductive health services, involvement in educational and technical projects, and to access to decent work is essential.”

Likewise, IOM assures that Venezuelan migrant and refugee women have been victims of discrimination. “Several pregnant women said that health providers mistreat them with phrases such as ‘they come to take advantage of our resources and then they go back.’

IOM affirmed that 34% of Venezuelan migrant and refugee women have a higher level of education, so they count with valuable skills and eventually contribute significantly, which should imply greater and better paid access to the labor market.

On the other hand, the research warns that 41% of Venezuelan migrant and refugee women do not have access to health services despite having urgent needs such as contraception, prenatal and maternal healthcare, care for gender violence, malnutrition, dehydration, sexual diseases among others.

“IOM talks about the mental health conditions to which women are subjected. These are due to factors such as insecurity, (lack of) emotional support work, exposure to sexual harassment, xenophobia, labor exploitation that they live daily, among others things,” said Pizarro, citing the report.

The study revealed that the highest priority needs of Venezuelan migrant and refugee women are: “income/employment (28%), legal support (19%), assistance in documentary procedures (16%) and medical aid (16%).”

“In turn, the four main difficulties during the trip reported by the women interviewed were the following: lack of resources (67%), lack of food/water (35%), lack of means of transportation (33%) and lack of of information (33%),” affirmed the IOM.

IOM conducted a study on Venezuelan migrant and refugee women in 11 host countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Until November 5th, 2020, there were 5,448,440 Venezuelan refugees and migrants living in these countries. https://t.co/6MjVmTbVLJ

– Miguel Pizarro (@Miguel_Pizarro) February 21, 2021