Struggling for Rights: African Women and the "Sanspapiers" Movement in France

Abstract

This article considers the political impact of recent migration of women from West Africa to France in the context of draconian controls (the Pasqua Laws). It outlines the main characteristics of both the migration and the legislation, and analyses the principal features of the eighteen month dispute for the legalization of undocumented workers which has become known as the "lutte des sanspapiers."