Refugee crisis: Women & children now outnumber men headed to Europe

World Today

Hour by hour, more and more refugees stream to the Greek border with Macedonia, hoping to make it to northern Europe.

But for more than a day, the border has been closed. The majority of those trapped, for the first time, are women and children.

CCTV’s Natalie Carney reports from Idomeni on the Greek Macedonian border.
Follow Natalie Carney on Twitter @NatalieCarney77

Women and children are now driving the migration wave into Europe. For the first time since the beginning of the refugee and migrant crisis, women and children are now outnumbering adult men.

According to the European commission on Human Rights, almost 60 percent of refugees and migrants flooding Europe are women and children. They also make up a third of the 360 people who lost their lives making the dangerous journey to European shores in January alone.

The trend has shifted dramatically since the first wave of refugees last fall when men made up about 70 percent of the refugee and migrant population.

Currently many of these women are traveling to join their male relatives now established in European countries.

Women need to stay both physically and emotionally strong to survive for their families. Most of these women, like their male counterparts, are escaping war and destruction. Some are also fleeing cultures where they were subject to persecution and gender-based violence.

Sadly that abuse has followed many, with violence increasing towards women and girls reported all along the route.

Many also argue that more services directed towards women are needed to keep them healthy and safe until they make it to their final destination.