Health inequalities and female migrant domestic workers: accessing healthcare as a human right and barriers due to precarious employment in Greece
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15648/Coll.2.2019.5Keywords:
Healthcare; inequalities; women; migration; human rights; Greece.Abstract
Inequalities in access to health services comprise a complex problem faced predominantly by third-country nationals (TCNs) in all European Union countries. One of the main indicators for examining the degree of integration of TCNs in Greek society is their access to healthcare services, both at the level of institutional framework and in the problems they face during demand and utilization of health services. In Greece, female migrant workers come not only from the Balkan countries but also from Asian and African countries, with a completely different epidemiological profile than that of Greeks and other Europeans. One of the greatest challenges Greece is currently facing is the existence of significant disparities in coverage of the population for health services. In the framework of human rights, this article revisits the legal context and examines the policy responses with reference to health, in order to reveal the weaknesses of the Greek institutional context, and present data concerning
female migrant workers’ access to healthcare services. The research experience in Greece emphasizes that services which are open to third-country nationals are included in an elliptical system of health and social policy which fails to address significant claims and aspects of social protection. The sketchy nature of the system restricts the ability to respond effectively to the specific needs that result from the presence of third-country nationals
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