4.2 Non-communitarian immigrant women in the work market in spain  (Page 14/18)

Although the adjustments transnational maternity requires are not exclusive of domestic service, is not less true that the peculiarities of this remunerated activity (mainly the modality of “intern,” one of the most demanded in Spain as it has been said previously) promote the physical separation of the mother-employee from their children (Hondagneu-Sotelo, Avila 1997). Lamentably, neither the legislation or from different institutions of the receiving society take into account the family rights of these immigrant workers who are employed in the domestic service, nor the impact of the families who, meanwhile, remain in the origin countries.

Are there other labor opportunities beyond the domestic service? the labor mobility of immigrant worker

Sexual work constitutes another form of the labor that exits for the immigrant woman, although there is no statistical data on this matter. The association immigrant/prostitute woman is a binomial loaded of ideological and moral stigmas (Colectivo Ioé 2001b). Prostitution, not recognized as work in Spain, condemns these women to the irregularity and prevents the regularization of a work contract. In agreement with Casal and Mestre (2002:163), “it is in this scope where the trafficking perspective of migration stands out without shades, with perverse effects on the migrants.” These same authors indicate that not all prostitutes travel to Spain by means of mafia networks, nor have been forced to carry out prostitution as sexual slaves. It is more of a “voluntary” strategy for women, that makes migration and labor insertion possible, in a context of restrictive migratory policies and restriction of labor opportunities for immigrant women (Oso 2002). In spite of the impossibility of a legal entrance and the certainty to have to work in badly remunerated jobs and of little social consideration – domestic service –, sexual works can convey a route to obtain economic advantages, to be able to gain higher amounts of money to send to their families, and to reduce therefore the dwell time abroad. Often, the main form of recruitment is through other compatriots who are already working as prostitutes. The sexual commerce isn’t always the first option. Often the women who choose to exert prostitution describe themselves as being tired of working in the domestic service, with long labor days and low remuneration. But not everything is as simple; prostitution is a high-risk activity in Spain, in terms of social stigmatization and impunity on behalf of those who abuse the vulnerability of these women (Casal, Mestre 2002). In the present debates on prostitution, it the proposal of recognizing it in all its forms as a legal job is gaining strength, with the aim of protecting those who dedicate themselves to it.

The possibilities of occupational mobility out of domestic service are reduced for immigrant women. As Mary Romero recognizes (2002), the domestic service, far from constituting as an instrument to obtain mobility, it is elevated into an occupational ghetto . Even so, a survey made by the University Institute of Studies on Migrations states a slight reduction of the participation of the immigrant women in the domestic service throughout its labor trajectory, which suggests an incipient mobility towards other jobs (Anguiano 2001). In the same line, the evolution of the percentage of immigrant women who are inserted in the domestic service throughout time, sample that the participation of foreign women in the Special Regime of Employees of Homes (REEH) is diminishing (of the total foreign women in discharge, the domestic service represents 24.5% in 2003 and 19% in 2004). Nevertheless, the diminution in the percentage of home employees is not equal for all groups. Latin American women – especially Colombian and Ecuadorian – and those coming from Eastern European countries that easily leave the domestic service, accede to other type of works. On the other hand, Peruvian and Dominican women are who more commonly remain in the domestic service (CCOO-CERES 2004).