Approach to the situation of immigrant women in the host country

Abstract

The number of immigrant women coming to Spain has considerably increased on the last past years. Each one of these women has also brought different profiles, according to their countries of origin. There are lots of changes going on through every immigration process which will affect each woman depending on her personal situation: if she comes by herself; if she is a legal or an illegal resident in the destination country; if she is a self-sufficient worker or if she depends on her husband for sustention; if she has developed a positive mourning process or if she suffers an emotional affection which is causing her stress symptoms, anxiety or depression; if she has positively adapted to the new culture or if she shows herself resistant to change. The SAIR (attention service for immigrants and refugees)has been working with immigrants by offering linguistic formation to immigrants and with job placement, to help them have a positive social adaptation and therefore preventing social conflict. During the immigration process, women’s role in economy as in social integration, acting as union points between the two cultures, is becoming more important every day. However we must consider that the immigrant woman suffers of a double discrimination: gender discrimination and immigrant discrimination.