Migrant women in Galicia: a reality that demands comprehensive responses
Migration is part of Galicia’s social, economic, and demographic reality. Every year, many women arrive in our community seeking safety, stability, employment, opportunities for their daughters and sons, or the chance to rebuild a life project. However, that journey does not always begin on equal terms.
For many migrant women, arriving in Galicia is not simply a matter of adapting to a new territory. It also means facing complex administrative procedures, language barriers, difficulties accessing decent employment, housing problems, a lack of family networks, an overload of care responsibilities and, in some cases, situations of violence, isolation, or economic dependence.
Talking about migrant women in situations of social vulnerability does not mean talking about women without abilities. On the contrary: many of them arrive with work experience, education, skills, family responsibilities, and enormous resilience. Vulnerability appears when those abilities lack real conditions in which to develop. When a person cannot regularize their status, have their studies officially recognized, access a job interview, understand a digital procedure, or balance caring for their children with training, inequality stops being an abstract idea and becomes a daily barrier.
Vulnerability is not just one thing: it accumulates
One of the main mistakes when analyzing the situation of migrant women is to think that there is a single cause of exclusion. In practice, vulnerability is often cumulative.
A woman may face administrative difficulties while also caring for her children alone. She may have professional experience in her country of origin but lack a qualification officially recognized in Spain. She may know her rights but lack the digital means to submit an application. She may need psychological support but not know how to access the system. She may be willing to work but find herself in informal jobs, with incompatible schedules, or abusive conditions.
This accumulation of obstacles directly affects personal autonomy, emotional health, economic stability, and social participation. It also affects family life, especially when there are dependent children.
That is why partial responses are insufficient. It is not enough to provide one-off information. It is not enough to hand over a list of resources. It is not enough to refer someone elsewhere without accompanying them. Migrant women in situations of particular vulnerability need responses that are close, coordinated, understandable, and adapted to their real circumstances.
Employment, care, and precariousness: an unequal relationship
Employment is one of the main routes to inclusion, but it is also one of the areas where inequalities are reproduced most strongly. Many migrant women find their first job opportunities in feminized and precarious sectors, such as care work, domestic work, cleaning, hospitality, or personal services.
These sectors are essential to sustaining everyday life and to the functioning of many families and businesses. However, they do not always offer stability, recognition, adequate pay, or safe working conditions. Lack of documentation, limited knowledge of employment rights, urgent income needs, or the absence of support networks can increase the risk of exploitation or informal work.
The social and employment inclusion of migrant women cannot be limited to “finding any job.” It should be geared towards decent jobs, with rights, social security contributions, and prospects for continuity. It should also take into account training, skills development, self-confidence, and the ability to navigate an increasingly digital labor market.
The digital divide also excludes
The digitalization of public administration and the labor market has created new opportunities, but also new barriers. Today, many essential tasks are carried out online: making an appointment, submitting documents, checking a case file, looking for work, sending a résumé, enrolling in training, or communicating with a public authority.
For a woman who does not speak the language well, has no computer, shares a mobile phone with her family, or has never used an electronic office, these procedures can become a wall. The digital divide is not just a lack of technical knowledge. It is also a lack of access, support, confidence, and security.
Reducing this divide is key to enabling migrant women to exercise their rights with greater autonomy. Digital inclusion, when addressed in a practical and tailored way, improves access to employment, training, information, and public resources.
Emotional health, loneliness, and migrant grief
Migrating means starting over. And starting over can be an opportunity, but it can also be a process of loss, uncertainty, and emotional exhaustion.
Many migrant women experience migrant grief: separation from family, loss of reference points, cultural changes, financial pressure, fear of the future, or a feeling of not belonging. In many cases, this is compounded by the responsibility of providing emotional and financial support to others.
Mental health and emotional well-being cannot be left out of inclusion policies. Anxiety, stress, sadness, loneliness, or trauma affect the ability to look for work, learn, build relationships, make decisions, or sustain a lengthy administrative process.
Supporting migrant women also means creating safe spaces, listening without judgment, recognizing their life paths, and strengthening their self-esteem, autonomy, and decision-making capacity.
Violence, dependence, and the need for protection
Migrant women may also face specific forms of violence or control. Economic dependence, lack of support networks, limited knowledge of the protection system, fear of reporting, or their immigration status may make it difficult to leave a violent or abusive relationship.
In these cases, intervention must be especially careful. The priority must be safety, confidentiality, clear information, and coordination with specialized resources. Protection from gender-based violence and other forms of violence against women must be part of any serious work with women in vulnerable situations.
The importance of community networks
No inclusion process can be sustained by procedures alone. Networks matter. Having someone to ask, someone to talk to, somewhere to go, or someone to offer support at a difficult time can make the difference between moving forward and becoming stuck.
Social organizations, community social services, women’s information centers, educational centers, health resources, neighborhood associations, and the wider community network all play a fundamental role. When these resources work in a coordinated way, women do not have to repeat their story again and again or navigate an institutional maze alone.
Real inclusion is built through proximity. Through knowledge of the local area. Through trust. Through the ability to adapt responses to each situation.
VALÍA: SenValos’ commitment to migrant women’s autonomy
In this context, the NGO SenValos will implement the VALÍA project in Galicia, approved by the Xunta de Galicia, with the aim of contributing to the social inclusion, personal autonomy, and improved opportunities of migrant women, returning emigrant women, and refugees in vulnerable situations.
VALÍA is based on a clear conviction: migrant women do not need welfare-based responses, but real opportunities, professional support, and recognition of their abilities. The project is geared towards reducing the social, administrative, employment, digital, and psychosocial barriers that hinder their full participation in Galician society.
At SenValos, we understand that supporting migrant women also means strengthening Galicia. Because a fairer, more cohesive, and more inclusive society is one that enables all people to develop their life plans with dignity, rights, and autonomy.
Project funding
The VALÍA project is developed by the NGO SenValos in Galicia and has public funding under the grants aimed at non-profit social initiative organizations for programs intended for women in situations of particular vulnerability.
Action subsidized by the Department of Social Policy and Equality of the Xunta de Galicia and co-financed by the European Union under the ESF+ Galicia 2021–2027 Programme, within the objective of promoting a more social and inclusive Europe, active inclusion, equal opportunities, non-discrimination, and improved employability for groups facing the greatest vulnerability.
