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With the increasing feminization of labor migration, women
hold the majority of migrant work permits in Israel. However, this
overrepresentation of migrant women in Israel is mostly reflective of
the caregiving sector. In contrast, the population of migrant agricultural
workers comprises a small number of women compared to men; as
agricultural work requires hard physical labor, it is a male dominated
industry with a much smaller female presence. There are approximately
22,000 migrant workers employed in the agriculture sector in Israel, the
vast majority from Thailand. Out of that figure, around 2,000 – roughly
10% – are female migrant agriculture workers.
Like the migrant labor force in the agricultural sector in general, most
of these women are Thai. Many of the particularities of their situation
in Israel place these Thai women at increased risk of confronting
various labor violations, such as illegal work conditions, forced labor,
debt bondage, coercive work arrangements, sexual harassment and
trafficking. This is due to a variety of factors, which will be explored in
this report, followed by recommendations for the Israeli authorities to
locate and protect victims, as well as to prevent violations in the future.