International Organization for Migration
Background
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. While not part of the United Nations system, IOM maintains close working relations with United Nations bodies and operational agencies, as well as with a wide range of international and non-governmental organizations. In addition, IOM is the designated cluster leader for camp management in humanitarian settings for natural disasters. Through its gender equality policy adopted in 2015, IOM is committed to ensuring that a gender perspective is mainstreamed throughout all IOM policies, activities and programming.
Areas of Focus
IOM’s main focus, with respect to violence against women, is on counter-trafficking, violence against women migrants, including women migrant workers and reduction of HIV vulnerabilities. It also addresses traditional practices such as female genital mutilation. The Organization is particularly attentive to violence against women in the context of complex emergencies and natural disasters, where women and children are disproportionately targets of abuse.
In this regard, it undertakes prevention activities; provides assistance to those affected by violence and/or trafficking; and provides assistance to trafficked victims for their voluntary return to countries of origin and their reintegration. IOM also facilitates access to voluntary counselling and testing of HIV and referral for treatment where needed for rape victims and for migrants to ensure universal access to HIV prevention, AIDS treatment, care and support.
Resources
Exploratory Assessment on Trafficking in Persons in the Caribbean: The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, the Netherlands Antilles, St. Lucia, Suriname (June 2005); Trinidad and Tobago (December 2006)
Who is the next victim? Vulnerability of young Romanian women to trafficking in human beings. IOM, 2004
In line with commitments made to the global Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies (Call to Action), IOM has started the development of its first institutional framework in GBV in Crises (GBViC). The framework will articulate IOM’s approach to GBV in crises, define the scope IOM’s GBV response, and help IOM missions to operationalize commitments to protect populations crisis-affected populations from GBV. The development of the framework represents a major step to institutionalize GBV prevention, mitigation and response as standard component of IOM’s humanitarian programming, resonating also on other IOM institutional frameworks – including the Migration Crisis Operational Framework (MCOF), and key institutional policies on PSEA and Protection Mainstreaming.