schemes, which may not extend to workers in female dominated sectors, such as domestic workers or thosein entertainment. Permission to stay in the country of employment may be severely restricted, especially for women migrant workers in domestic work when their time-fixed contracts end orare terminated at the whim of the employer. If they lose their immigration status, they may be morevulnerable to violence by the employer or others who wantto abusethesituation. If they are detained, they may be subjectto violence perpetrated byofficials in detention centres. 20. Women migrant workers are more vulnerable to sexual abuse, sexual harassment and physical violence, especially in sectors where women predominate. Domestic workers are particularly vulnerable to physical and sexual assault, food and sleep deprivation and cruelty by their employers. Sexual harassment of women migrant workers in other work environments, such as on farms orin the industrial sector, is a problem worldwide (see E/CN.4/1998/74/ Add.1). Women migrant workers who migrate as spouses of male migrant workers or along with family members face an addedrisk of domestic violence from their spousesorrelatives if they come from a culture that values the submissiverole of the womenin the family. 21. Accessto justice maybelimited for women migrant workers. In some countries,restrictions are imposed on the useof the legal system by women migrant workers to obtain remedies for discriminatory labour standards, employment discrimination or sex- and gender-based violence. Further, women migrant workers maynotbe eligible for free government legal aid, and there maybe other impediments, such as unresponsiveand hostile officials and,at times, collusion betweenofficials and the perpetrator. In somecases, diplomats have perpetrated sexual abuse, violence and other forms of discrimination against women migrant domestic workers while enjoying diplomatic immunity. In some countries, there are gaps in the laws protecting migrant womenworkers. For example, they maylosetheir work permits once they makea report of abuse or discrimination andthen they cannotafford to remain in the country for the durationofthe trial, if any. In addition to these formal barriers, practical barriers may prevent access to remedies. Manydo not knowthelanguageofthe country and do not know their rights. Women migrant workers may lack mobility because they may be confined by employers to their work orliving sites, prohibited from using telephones or banned from joining groups or cultural associations. They often lack knowledge of their embassies or of services available, due to their dependence on employers or spouses for such information. For example,it is very difficult for women migrant domestic workers whoare scarcely ever out of sight of their employers to even register with their embassies orfile complaints. As such, women may have no outside contacts and no means of making a complaint, and they may suffer violence and abuse for long periods oftime beforethe situation is exposed.In addition, the withholding of passports by employersorthe fearofreprisalif the women migrant worker is engaged in sectorsthatare linked to criminal networks prevent them from making a report. 22. Undocumented women migrant workersare particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse becauseoftheir irregular immigration status, which exacerbates their exclusion and the risk of exploitation. They maybe exploited as forced labour, and their access to minimum labourrights maybe limited by fear of denouncement. They mayalso face harassment by the police.If they are apprehended,they are usually prosecutedfor violations of immigration laws and placedin detention centres, where they are vulnerable to sexual abuse, and then deported. RECOMMENDATIONSTO STATES PARTIES’ Commonresponsibilities of countries of origin and destination 23. Commonresponsibilities of countries of origin and destination include: (a) Formulating a comprehensive gender-sensitive and rights-based policy: States parties should use the Convention and the general recommendations to formulate a gender-sensitive, rights-based policy on the basis of equality and non-discrimination to regulate and administer all aspects and stages of migration,to facilitate access of women migrant workers to work opportunities abroad, 7 Thearticles listed for each recommendation refer to the articles of the Convention onthe Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. 19