Protection Designed for the North: South-South Migration as a Blind Spot in Women's Labor Rights in the Global South

Context: The international migration regime was historically forged from the experiences and interests of the Global North, resulting in a selective architecture that renders flows between developing countries invisible. Hypothesis: The article starts from the premise that, although South-South displacements represent a significant portion of contemporary mobility, they occur precisely where international human rights protection is most rarefied. Objective: The article investigates the asymmetries of the international human rights protection system and their disproportionate effects on racialized women from the Global South within these flows. Methodology: The research adopts a deductive method and qualitative approach for a narrative review of the interdisciplinary literature on migration and a critical analysis of the normative instruments for the protection of migrants. Results: The analysis identifies three gaps that disproportionately affect racialized women on intra-South routes: (a) the rigid distinction between refugees and labor migrants places those who move through mixed flows in a normative limbo; (b) existing binding treaties suffer from low ratification rates and deficient implementation; (c) recent global governance has preferred flexible instruments under the logic of migration control of the Global North. Conclusion: The article proposes shifting the central axis of migration regulation from border control toward a protection framework that, rather than being designed for the North, is built from the South, especially by migrant women