Gender and Migration in Palestine

Abstract

This paper is concerned with legal rules and institutions in Palestine directly or indirectly affecting migrant women. In particular, this paper sheds light on family reunification, personal status, and nationality laws. Despite the Palestinian Authority’s apparent commitment to rejecting sex discrimination and in combating violence directed against women, there are still social and legal obstacles that hinder full equality. In fact, legal rules and institutions have not always been – and, indeed, are still not – gender-neutral. It is not evident if and how such legal rules and institutions hinder or encourage female migration. It is nonetheless fair to say that this legal context is an important factor in determining women’s decisions to emigrate from, and may affect women’s willingness to immigrate to, Palestine. This is particularly true given that such legal provisions are accompanied by social norms that are often discriminatory towards women. The Palestinian Authority’s lack of sovereign control over borders in the occupied Palestinian territory as much as its population register hinders the adoption of rules, and the implementation of policies, related to migration, including those that target female migrants.