Research on empowerment of women with a migration background

Antwerp is a diverse city in all its facets, including gender and origin. To generate more equal opportunities, the city wants to put all its efforts into increasing the participation of women with a migration background (=VMMA) in society. This is not only about participation in the labour market, but also about social and civic participation. That is why the city wanted to examine which thresholds in society (discrimination, childcare, etc.) and which thresholds in their own environment (restrictions on self-determination, gender roles, etc.) are present as a result of which women with a migration background do not participate or participate below average. Equally, the city wanted to gain a better insight into the levers that strengthen that social and societal participation.
This research was conducted by the research institute HIVA (KULeuven) and Avansa region of Antwerp. HIVA was responsible for the individual interviews with women with a migration background and the analysis of the offer that already exists today for this target group. Avansa brought the women together and supervised thematic group discussions that resulted in input for the study and in a video production with testimonies.

A total of 135 women participated in this study. Together, they looked back on their life stories, the extent to which they were able and allowed to shape their own stories, and the impact that their own decisions, but also external decisions, had on the course of their lives. By drawing their own biography, women were given the opportunity to discuss what stops them and what stimulates them to participate socially and in society, but also to explain what that participation means to them and how, throughout their lives, a series of events and decisions interconnect.