Migrant networks and gender in Congolese and Senegalese international migration

Sophie Vause, Université catholique de Louvain
Bruno D. Schoumaker, Université Catholique de Louvain

The influence of social networks on international migration has been shown in a variety of settings. But research integrating both social networks and gender issues in the analyses of migration processes has remained rare. In this paper, we use recent and original longitudinal data collected to assess the impact of social networks on African international migration and to evaluate gender differences in the role of social networks. We further investigate differences between two sub-Saharan African countries with different migration histories and cultural backgrounds. The quantitative data for this study comes from the international MAFE-Project (Migration between AFrica and Europe). It mainly consists in life histories collected both in origin (Senegal DR Congo) and European destination countries (France, Spain, Italy and Belgium).