India Migration Report 2015: Gender and migration 9780415570183, 9780415664998, 9780415634052, 9780415828536, 9781138788190, 9781138926530, 9781315683232

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
List of figures
List of tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of contributors
1 Gender-based immigration visa? On rationality of a legislative innovation
2 Migrant women at the discourse–policy nexus: Indian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia
3 Stepping into the man’s shoes: emigrant domestic workers as bread winners and the gender norm in Kerala
4 Economic migration of women: challenges and policy with reference to Indian emigration to the Gulf
5 Addressing the missing link: women domestic workers migrating from South Asia to the Gulf
6 Vulnerability of women in international marriage migration
7 International mobility of skilled women: overview of trends and issues
8 Indian international students: a gender perspective
9 Gendered mobilities: negotiating educational strategies in Kerala
10 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’: cross-border migration experience within South Asia
11 Adivasi women in India’s migration story
12 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India
13 Confined to the margins: female migrant workers in urban areas
14 Understanding female migration pattern in India: exploring the driving forces
15 The missing men: sex ratios and migration
16 Survival, struggle and the promise of a new future: living and working conditions of migrant workers in Kerala
17 Health-seeking behaviour among the interstate migrant labourers
18 From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf: emigration experiences of return emigrants
19 Transnational flows: extent, patterns and implications for Gujarat
20 Wage differentials between Indian migrant workers in the Gulf and non-migrant workers in India
21 The disposable people: irregular and undocumented migrants
Index

Citation preview

“The 2015 edition provides a collection of case studies on migration and gender, exploring themes of huge current significance, such as the wellbeing impacts of feminised migration streams into precarious occupations. It is a unique resource for anyone with an interest in migration in India.” Priya Deshingkar, University of Sussex, UK “A much needed scholarly analysis of Indian migration dynamics addressing some of the key research and policy questions in the field. Highly recommended to experts, researchers and also policymakers.” Anna Triandafyllidou, European University Institute, Florence, Italy “The 2015 India Migration Report draws our attention to the feminization of migration in the Indian context. By highlighting both the historical and contemporary trends, this volume provides a comprehensive understanding of [a] complex phenomenon.” Usha George, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada “[This] is a seminal work that will contribute immensely to the building of knowledge on the contribution of international female migrant workers to their family, community as well as local and national economies.” Tasneem Siddiqui, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

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India Migration Report 2015 India Migration Report 2015 explores migration and its crucial linkages with gender. This volume: •

studies important issues such as irregular migration, marriage migration and domestic labour migration, as well as the interconnections of migration, gender and caste; • highlights the relationship between economics and changing gender dynamics brought about by migration; and • documents first-hand experiences of migrants from across India. Being part of the prestigious annual series, this work will be useful to scholars and researchers of development studies, economics, migration and diaspora studies, and sociology. It will also interest to policymakers and government institutions working in the area. S. Irudaya Rajan is Chair Professor, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Research Unit on International Migration at the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

India Migration Report Editor: S. Irudaya Rajan, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala This annual series strives to bring together international networks of migration scholars and policymakers to document and discuss research on various facets of migration. It encourages interdisciplinary commentaries on diverse aspects of the migration experience and continues to focus on the economic, social, cultural, ethical, security, and policy ramifications of international movements of people.

Also available: India Migration Report 2010: Governance and Labour Migration 978-0-415-57018-3 India Migration Report 2011: Migration, Identity and Conflict 978-0-415-66499-8 India Migration Report 2012: Global Financial Crisis, Migration and

Remittances

978-0-415-63405-2 India Migration Report 2013: Social Costs of Migration 978-0-415-82853-6 India Migration Report 2014: Diaspora and Development 978-1-138-78819-0 Forthcoming India Migration Report 2016: Gulf Migration

India Migration Report 2015 Gender and migration

Edited by S. IRUDAYA RAJAN

First published 2016 by Routledge 1 Jai Singh Road, New Delhi 110001, India by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 S. Irudaya Rajan The right of S. Irudaya Rajan to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-1-138-92653-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-68323-2 (ebk) Typeset in Charter by Apex CoVantage, LLC

Dedicated to the inspiring memory of Professor Graeme Hugo

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Contents List of figures List of tables Preface Acknowledgements List of contributors 1

2

3

4

5

xi xiii xvii xxi xxiii

Gender-based immigration visa? On rationality of a legislative innovation Binod Khadria

1

Migrant women at the discourse–policy nexus: Indian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

9

Stepping into the man’s shoes: emigrant domestic workers as breadwinners and the gender norm in Kerala Praveena Kodoth

26

Economic migration of women: challenges and policy with reference to Indian emigration to the Gulf Basant Potnuru

44

Addressing the missing link: women domestic workers migrating from South Asia to the Gulf Smita Mitra

62

6

Vulnerability of women in international marriage migration 73 Renuka Mishra

7

International mobility of skilled women: overview of trends and issues Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

8

Indian international students: a gender perspective Gunjan Sondhi

9

Gendered mobilities: negotiating educational strategies in Kerala Sara Lång

80 104

120

x    Contents

10 Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’: cross-border migration experience within South Asia Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

137

11 Adivasi women in India’s migration story Indrani Mazumdar

157

12 Gender dimensions of migration in urban India Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

176

13 Confined to the margins: female migrant workers in urban areas Neetha N

191

14 Understanding female migration pattern in India: exploring the driving forces Sandhya Rani Mahapatro and K. S. James

206

15 The missing men: sex ratios and migration Chinmay Tumbe

221

16 Survival, struggle and the promise of a new future: living and working conditions of migrant workers in Kerala S. Irudaya Rajan and Sumeetha M.

240

17 Health-seeking behaviour among the interstate migrant labourers Sreejini Jaya and Ravi Prasad Varma

256

18 From Kerala to Kerala via the Gulf: emigration experiences of return emigrants 269 K. C. Zachariah and S. Irudaya Rajan 19 Transnational flows: extent, patterns and implications for Gujarat Biplab Dhak

281

20 Wage differentials between Indian migrant workers in the Gulf and non-migrant workers in India S. Irudaya Rajan, B. A. Prakash and Arya Suresh

297

21 The disposable people: irregular and undocumented migrants 311 Bernard D’ Sami Index

319

Figures 4.1 4.2 4.3 7.1 10.1 10.2 12.1 13.1 13.2 14.1 14.2 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.7 15.8 15.9 15.10 15.11 17.1

ECR clearance granted to women migrant workers by Protector of Emigrants (POE) Office, 2008–2009 46 ECR clearances granted to women migrant workers by major destinations, 2008–2010 47 Average monthly wage of housemaids by destination country and sex, 2010 48 Overqualification rate (%) of employed population 90 aged 25–54, EU-27, 2008 Types of violence and perpetrators at Indo–Nepal  route 151 Types of violence and perpetrators on the Indo–Bangladesh route 153 Percentage of migrants, India, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 179 Distribution of migrant workers across broad industrial sectors 195 Proportion of migrant and non-migrant women across 196 status of employment Labour force participation of female migrants by migration status (less than five years) 209 Labour force participation status of female reporting marriage and family moved as reason for migration 210 Sex ratios across age groups, global scenario 222 Sex ratios across age groups, India and Kerala 222 Out migration for work in India 224 Correlations between migration variables and age group sex ratios across districts 226 Sex ratio of child mortality rates and juvenile sex ratios 229 Migration and sex ratios in Kerala’s districts 230 Migration and sex ratios in Kerala’s taluks 230 Migration and sex ratios in Tamil Nadu districts, 2001 232 Migration and sex ratios in Tamil Nadu districts, 1901 232 Sex ratios for India and selected districts, 1901–2011 233 Sex ratios for Italy, 1861–2009 234 ROC curve predicting pattern of health care seeking using duration of stay 264

xii    Figures

19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5

Rate of immigration by districts in Gujarat Emigration rate by rural–urban in Gujarat Emigration rate by regions in Gujarat Rate of sending remittance by duration of emigration Average amount of remittance (in rupees) an emigrant sends by duration (in years) of emigration 20.1 Monthly salaries of UAE emigrants 20.2 Monthly salaries of Saudi Arabian emigrants

285 285 286 290 291 304 305

Tables 3.1 3.2 4.1 5.1 6.1 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 7.9 7.10 7.11 10.1 10.2 10.3

Women’s overseas migration from Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, 1980s to 2000s 30 Estimates of the scale of migrant domestic workers in the GCC by gender and scale of Indian domestic workers 31 ECR clearances granted to women migrant workers by occupation and major destinations, 2010 47 Migrant domestic workers in Gulf Cooperation Council countries 64 Summary of findings from the Primary Survey Among Married Women, 2014 76 Female migrants as percentage of international migrants 86 Occupation of employed foreign-born civilian workers aged 16+, 2011 87 Key employment sectors for women aged 25–54, EU-27, 2010 88 Percentage of women in highly skilled occupations 89 aged 15–64, selected OECD countries, 2004 Highly educated migrants by gender 89 Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary education, 2000: physical, mathematical and engineering science professionals 91 Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary education, 2000: life science and health professionals 93 Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary education, 2000: teaching professionals 94 Migration profile, India 95 Occupations of Indian migrants in the USA and Canada by gender, 2006 97 Percentage of principal female applicants from India to New Zealand 98 Locations across two mobility routes 138 Percentage of female and total number of respondents 140 Percentage currently married 141

xiv    Tables

10.4 Percentage of married respondents not living with spouse 142 142 10.5 Education: destination and source countries 10.6 Entitlements at place of work comparison between impact and control strata 144 10.7 Working conditions at destination: comparison by gender 145 147 10.8 Creating an enabling environment: source 10.9 Number of individuals whose experiences were documented 148 10.10 Percentage of cases addressed 154 11.1 Distribution of women migrant workers by type of migration 166 12.1 Distribution of migrants in urban India by age group, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 179 12.2 Distribution of migrants in India by streams of migration, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 180 12.3 Distribution of migrants in urban India by reasons for migration, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 180 12.4 Percentage of migrants in urban India by social groups, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 181 12.5 Percentage of migrants in urban India by education level, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 182 12.6 Percentage of migrants in urban India by MPCE, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 182 12.7a Percentage of male migrants in India by MPCE according to current work status, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 183 12.7b Percentage of female migrants in India by MPCE according to current work status, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 183 12.8 Changes in work status of migrants in pre- and post-migration period in urban India, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 184 12.9 Odds ratios of factors influencing the migration in urban India for age group of 15–59, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 186 13.1 Proportion of migrants across status of employment 193 13.2 Profile of migrant workers 197 14.1 Percentage of female migrants across level of education 211 14.2 Percentage of female migrants across MPCE classes 212 14.3 Results of multivariate analysis for female migrated

Tables    xv

15.1 15.2 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8 16.9 16.10 16.11 16.12 16.13 16.14 17.1 17.2 19.1 19.2 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6 20.7 20.8

in the last five years and for life time migrants, 2007–2008 213 Migration variables descriptive statistics 226 Pairwise correlation coefficients of key variables 228 Sample distribution across sectors and districts, 2012 243 Caste profile of migrant workers, 2012 244 Family size of the migrant workers, 2012 245 Educational profile of the migrant workers, 2012 245 Language skills of migrant workers, 2012 247 Mode of recruitment 248 Accommodation facilities of the migrant workers, 2012 248 Housing arrangements of the migrant workers, 2012 249 Frequency of visits home by migrants, 2012 250 Monthly income of migrants across sectors, 2012 251 Mode of remittances used by migrants, 2012 252 Benefits at work reported by migrants, 2012 252 Migrants with health insurance, 2012 253 Communication with local population by migrants, 2012 253 Association of independent variables with poor pattern of health care seeking 263 Multivariate model on poor pattern of health care seeking 265 Distribution of emigrants by destination countries and religion 287 Percentage of households of emigrants receiving remittances and the corresponding average amount received in the last year 289 Average weekly wages 301 Weekly earnings of the intending migrants 303 Annual household savings in Kerala 303 Savings of emigrants per month 305 Remittances sent by emigrants 307 Wage rates for Indian labour in the Gulf, 2012 308 Cost migration to and living in the UAE 308 Monthly remittances and annual household savings 310

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Preface It is time to present the sixth report in the annual series of India Migration Reports (IMRs), which focuses on the gender aspects of migration. With contributions by noted academics, policymakers, scholars, and activists, the IMRs have compiled studies from diverse perspectives on specific themes for a holistic understanding of complex phenomena. Devoting each report to a specific topic related to migration, the IMRs have been instrumental in disseminating findings critical to informing policy. The first report, namely, IMR 2010, critically analysed the institutional and policy framework, specifically deriving the linkages between policy measures and migration trends while providing a history of emigration and mapping both skilled and unskilled labour flows. It also highlighted the importance of remittances and the impact of workers’ remittances on consumption, investment and growth. The second volume in the annual series, IMR 2011, focused on the implications of internal migration, livelihood strategies and recruitment processes and also provided a district-level analysis of the various facets of migration, highlighting employment networks and migration development linkages. The IMR 2012 consisted of a collection of articles dealing with various dimensions of the global financial crisis and its economic and social impacts in terms of governance, emigration, remittances, return migration, and re-integration. It analysed the impact on the outflow of emigrants from the countries of origin and inflow of remittances to the countries of destination. The fourth report, IMR 2013, underscored an often-neglected space in migration research – the social costs of migration – social, psychological and human costs for both migrants and their families, based on both quantitative and qualitative research. The fifth report in the series, IMR 2015, systematically analysed the contribution of diasporas in development, both in the countries of origin as well as destination, emphasizing how diasporic human and financial resources can be utilized for economic growth and sustainable development, especially in education and health. It offered critical insights on migrant experiences, transnationalism and philanthropic networks, indigenization and diaspora policies as well as return of diasporas. The sixth IMR, organized in 21 chapters, examines the various facets of migration and gender. Chapter 1 discusses issues related

xviii    Preface

to gender-based immigration visa, the consequent chapters examine the problems of domestic workers, based on our field work in Saudi Arabia, at the destination country against their role as breadwinners and (Chapter 2) prevailing gender norms in the country of origin or, in this case, in the context of Kerala. (Chapter 3) considers the challenges faced by women migrants and Chapter 4 the policy regime in the context of Gulf, where domestic workers are supposed to leave for work only after emigration clearance is provided by the protector of emigrants functioning at the nine offices throughout India working directly under the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), Government of India. Chapter 5 extends the policy issues further in the context of South Asian countries as one block as the sending region against Gulf as the receiving region. Vulnerability related to the international marriage migration is an emerging topic, and the MOIA through its handbook cautions prospective parents about international marriages. At the countries of destination, they also provide legal support (Chapter 6) to guide spouses of migrants. Chapter 7 examines the migration of skilled women workers, international student migration and how female students navigate their future educational plans. Cross-border mobility and its vulnerability is the focus of the (Chapters 8 and 9) based on the field work done between India and Nepal and India and Bangladesh. Migration of adivasi women in India is the theme of the subsequent (Chapter 10), followed by three chapters examining the patterns and Chapter 11 characteristics of female migration in urban India. The last chapter in the theme deals with missing women (Chapters 12, 13 and 14) using both historical and contemporary data (Chapter 15). Two subsequent chapters discuss the health-seeking behaviour and working conditions of the interstate migrant workers based on a large-scale survey conducted by the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) as well as a smaller survey conducted among migrants. The next chapter is based on the work done by the CDS on return ­(Chapters 16 and 17) migrants funded by the MOIA, Government of India, which is followed by a chapter on emigration in Gujarat, funded by the MOIA and Government of Gujarat and conducted at the Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad. Yet another study sponsored by the MOIA carried out by the CDS (Chapters 18 and 19) on wage differentials between Indian migration workers in the Gulf and non-migrant workers in India based on the field work done in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia is also included in this report (Chapter 20). Finally, we have included

Preface    xix

a chapter on a neglected area in the migration research, focusing on undocumented migrants. Before signing off, I would like to inform the readers that the IMR 2016 will focus on issues facing Gulf migrants based on field work done both in Gulf and India and the IMR 2017 is expected to examine the problems of Indian migrants in Europe. S. Irudaya Rajan

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Acknowledgements The annual migration reports have received overwhelming acceptance from readers, including development practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and activists. I wish to thank all the contributors in making each report in the series a must read and in particular, the IMR 2015, a valuable collection of important and thought-provoking articles on the gender aspects related to migration. I would like to acknowledge the continued support received from the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), in particular, Mr Sunil Soni, Secretary, MOIA; T. K. Manoj Kumar, Joint Secretary, MOIA, Renuka Mishra, Joint director, MOIA; and Roulkhumlien Buhril, Protector General of Emigrants. I would also like to thank three former secretaries of the MOIA whose unwavering help was indispensable to the running of the migration unit at the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) – S. Krishna Kumar, K. Mohandas and A. Didar Singh. At CDS, Bimal Jalan, Chairman; Amit Shovon Ray, Director; P. Suresh Babu, Registrar; V. Sriram, Librarian; and S. Suresh, Finance Officer as well as my colleagues, administrative and library staff have encouraged, guided and supported me in all academic endeavours. My own research team members, Sreeja K., Sunitha Shyam, Mini, and Lini, have also put in a lot of effort to bring out this report. I also gratefully cherish the emotional support, patience and understanding provided by my wife, Hema, and our children, Rahul, Rohit and Catherine. I would also like to record my appreciation for the hard work done by the editorial and sales teams of Routledge, New Delhi, in bringing out this report on time. S Irudaya Rajan

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Contributors R. B.  Bhagat, Professor and Head, Department of Migration and Urban Studies, International Institute for Population Sciences, ­ ­Mumbai. Nabesh Bohidar, Regional Monitoring and Knowledge Manager, based at CARE India in Delhi. Rupa Chanda, Professor of Economics, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. Bernard D’ Sami, Professor, Loyola College, Chennai. Biplab Dhak, Assistant Professor, A. N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna. Sudeshna Ghosh, Research Associate, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. K. S.  James, Professor and Head, Population Research Centre, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore. Sreejini Jaya, Doctoral Fellow, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram. Jolin Joseph, Doctoral candidate, York University, Canada. Navneet Kaur, Team Leader in the EMPHASIS project of CARE India in Delhi. Kunal Keshri, Assistant Professor, G. B. Pant Social Science Institute, University of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Binod Khadria, Professor of Economics, Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Praveena Kodoth, Associate Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. Sara Lång, Doctoral candidate, Department of Social and Economic Geography, Uppsala University, Sweden.

xxiv    Contributors

Sumeetha M., Doctoral Fellow, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. Sandhya Rani Mahapatro, Senior Research Officer, International Institution for Population Sciences, Mumbai. Indrani Mazumdar, Senior Fellow, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi. Renuka Mishra, Joint Director, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Akbar Bhavan, New Delhi. Smita Mitra is with the UN Women Office for India, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka, located in New Delhi. Neetha N Professor, Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi. Basant Potnuru, Head of Projects Division, India Centre for Migration, New Delhi. B. A.  Prakash, Professor, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. S. Irudaya Rajan, Chair Professor, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Research Unit on International Migration, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. Nishikant Singh, Research Scholar, Centre for the Study of Regional Development, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Gunjan Sondhi, Post-doctoral Fellow, York Centre for Asian Research, York University, Canada. Arya Suresh, Research Associate, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Research Unit on International Migration, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram. Chinmay Tumbe, Assistant Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. Ravi Prasad Varma, Department of Community Medicine, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Thiruvananthapuram. K. C.  Zachariah, Honorary Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram.

1

Gender-based immigration visa? On rationality of a legislative innovation BINOD KHADRIA The context A lot has already been written towards establishing the gendermigration relationship, whether in general or particularly in Indian context. It is not my purpose, in this chapter, to contribute anything further in consolidating the state of this relationship, involving the cross-border mobility of women whether predominantly as domestic workers, nurses, care givers, entertainers, brides, wives, and so on, or also in other professions and occupations that primarily comprise men. Instead, assuming this relationship as already established and given, let me propose a small but far-reaching innovation in the domain of immigration legislation that ought to have followed. Before I do so, let me, however, introduce the context by quoting two observations on the gender-migration relationship itself: While men once formed the majority of migrants, with women remaining at the place of origin or accompanying spouses as secondary migrants, women from developing countries such as . . . India now engage in migration for work purposes. Gender permeates every aspect of migration, from the decision to migrate to the process of migration and its eventual consequences. A gender perspective is essential for understanding both the causes and consequences of international migration. (Centre for Social Research, http://www.csrindia.org/index.php/ gender-dimensions-of-migration). Political change or policies may affect men and women differently, resulting in gendered patterns of migration; laws regarding both emigration and immigration often have gendered outcomes; and policies that affect the integration, or re-integration, of migrants into societies may also affect men and women differently. This has implications for male and female migrants’ livelihoods, rights and entitlements. (Piper, 2008, p.1).

2    Binod Khadria

Both these observations testify that lately scholars have paid greater attention to gender in migration analysis than earlier. Policymakers too have started recognizing the issues of gender involved in international migration. However, the policy measures have remained limited to either being protective against exploitation and discrimination, or at best welfare enhancing for women migrants. Neither has any scholar vouched for nor have the policymakers cared to consciously introduce any follow-up measures in immigration legislation to accommodate these dimensions in a proactive way. Reflecting on the rationality of introducing gender-based positive discrimination in immigration – say, in terms of introducing quotas or numbers set for giving a different kind or class of visa to women workers and students, i.e. as human capital and ‘semi-finished human capital’ (Majumdar 1994). I have, in this chapter, proposed the introduction of such gender-based quotas of visa over and above all other classifications of immigrant admissions in various destination countries where Indian migrants go. Two questions would arise here: 1. What are the rationales for introducing this, from the point of view of India and from the point of view of the destination country? 2. What further data and research are required to strengthen the case? Usually, most destination countries have immigration quotas for issuing visas based on the requirements of the labour market. These are based on points system about which I need not elaborate here. In the affirmative-action debate, one does not come across an adequate or intellectually satisfying defence of positive discrimination favouring women over men even in education or employment (Khadria 2000); immigration quotas for women in that context would perhaps be a far cry. Nevertheless, the underlying rationale for introducing gender-based quotas in immigration for women is that it would yield unique results when compared with visa quotas based on occupational groupings. There is a unique justification in accessing even the family unification target through positive discrimination aimed at women rather than generally through general family relationships like parents, children, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, and so on.

Turning points in the OECD and Indian perspectives The focus of gender studies in the field of international migration and diaspora has generally been on the downside – highlighting marginalization, discrimination and exploitation of women in the low-paying unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in the non-OECD

Gender-based immigration visa    3

(Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. There is, however, likelihood of a role reversal coming up between the high-skill attracting and low-skill absorbing countries: the discourse with respect to Indian emigration to the OECD countries, in contrast to that directed towards the Gulf and South-east Asia has of late provided a new connotation to the term ‘3D’. In the past, these were jobs not in demand from the native population. From being engaged in these ‘dirty, difficult and dangerous’ jobs, the Indian migrants in the OECD countries are expected to demand – over the next two decades – other jobs which would be more likely to be called, ‘demanding, desirable and diasporic’. This would happen not because these jobs are not in demand from the native citizens but because the indigenous supply of skilled labour or human capital – whether high-skilled ‘knowledge workers’ or low-skilled ‘service workers’ – would not be adequate to meet the requirements in the OECD countries. At the same time, contrary to the distinguished futurologist Peter Drucker’s forecast, the divide between the high mobility of high-skilled ‘knowledge workers’ and low mobility of the low-skilled ‘service workers’ may not sustain because, with jobs even in agriculture and recycling becoming more and more ‘demanding, desirable and diasporic’, the OECD would attract large number of low-skilled immigrants. These will be the sectors where – in the wake of the ongoing climate change, which is leading to the emergence of a global ‘green economy’ – too few green jobs would be created, as an International Labour Organization (ILO) report of 2008 has predicted (ILO 2008). The report said that the global market for environmental products and services is projected to double from the present US$1,370 billion per year to US$2,740 billion by 2020. Half of this burgeoning market would be in the energy efficiency sector and the balance in sustainable transport, water supply, sanitation, and waste management. By 2030, employment in alternative energy sector may rise to 2.1 million in wind power and 6.3 million in solar power, as renewable energy would generate more jobs than fossil fuels do. Projected investments of $630 billion by 2030 will translate into 20 million additional jobs in the renewable energy sector, leading to newer dimensions of migratory flows in directions so far unanticipated, it has been predicted. Lately, therefore, India has emerged as the most sought-after source country for the supply of all skill types of workers in the developed OECD host economies. Immigration trends are thus changing over time. While individuals and families once migrated permanently from one place to

4    Binod Khadria

another, more and more of today’s migrants engage in temporary or cyclical migration patterns. Let me take the OECD countries as the destination for Indian migrants. While talking of international migration from India to the OECD, it is important, however, to keep in mind that the OECD is neither a homogenous region nor limited to the so-called traditional ‘north’ geographically. Based on the historical and contemporary nature of this migration, the OECD can be classified into six broad groups of countries: the United States and Canada in North America; United Kingdom in Europe; Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific; West European countries in the European Union (EU); Japan and Korea in East Asia; and East European new members of the EU. Almost 80 per cent of the highly qualified migrants from India have continued to choose the United States as their ultimate destination for more than a decade. Canada is the second-best choice, and also as a route to move to the United States. The United Kingdom has always been a preferred destination, except that migration to the United Kingdom was overtaken by the United States in the 1970s because of downturn in the British economy followed by restrictive immigration policies. Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific are another group of destination that attracts Indians. All the OECD countries in these three groups of destinations are primarily English-speaking and that is one major factor behind these flows being large, as compared to the other three groups of OECD countries which are non-English speaking. Western Europe is still a slight exception because of its historical links (Dutch, French and Portuguese) with the Indian subcontinent, and also because of its contemporary initiative in starting tertiary-level education in the English language to cater to (and to capture the clientele of) the overseas students from India (and China). Japan and Korea have dominated in attracting more of the semi-skilled and unskilled migrants from India because of their Asian culture and Buddhist values. East European countries (e.g. Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, and so on) have themselves started experiencing emigration to the West-European EU countries, and to fill the vacuum there labour is being imported from India (and the other two South Asian countries, viz., Bangladesh and Pakistan). Also, one has to keep in mind that although efforts are on within the EU to harmonize policies, migration is one area where immigration in the EU from any third country or countries is still a sovereign turf of the EU member states, and therefore guided more by bilateral agreements with the source countries. There is also some amount

Gender-based immigration visa    5

of competition among the EU countries to attract the highly skilled workers and tertiary-level students from India, despite the introduction of a EU-wide ‘Blue Card’ along the lines of the American Green Card, to attract an estimated 20 million high skilled workers by 2020, large proportions of them from India. In the 1990s, the policy reform in India focused on removing the barriers to the world markets. Around the same time, in the migration sphere too, the centre of focus showed signs of shifting from source-country determinants of migration to destination-country determinants. In the 21st century, as the trend shows today, it has been speculated that in the years to come over the current decade till 2020, migration flows would be driven by the global demand for human capital – an excess demand for 54 million workers in the developed countries, met mostly by a surplus supply of 47 million workers in India (US Census Bureau, BCG 2002–2003, cited in GOI 2008). As migration has been largely looked at as a one-sided game of loss or gain, there are talks about emergence of turning points in Indian emigration – from ‘brain drain’ of the 20th century to that of ‘brain gain’ in the 21st century. These expectations are fired by the Indian diaspora abroad remitting increasing volumes of money to India and/or themselves returning home with enhanced skills and huge investible savings that would help India’s stride towards becoming a ‘super power’. The expectations are high because remittances and return migration are ‘seen’ to be growing on a linear trajectory with increasing degree of transnationalism that the diaspora acquires through formal and/or informal memberships of more than one nation – i.e. either through naturalized citizenship/dual citizenship of destination and source countries, and/or through legal permanent residency and acculturation in the destination country. However, there are ‘unseen’ caveats that make this linearity less predictable in the future than meets the eye.

Two social implications of temporization of migration OECD had observed a decade ago that while growth of permanent settler admissions in the developed northern countries from Asia grew slowly, temporary worker entrants grew rapidly in the initial years of the 21st century (OECD 2004). This temporization of immigration has promoted return migration of workers to homeland or a third country after a stay of, say, 5–7 years in that country of destination. In 2010, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

6    Binod Khadria

observed that in recent years return migration had acquired the thrust of policy by many northern governments (IOM 2010). Most of this happens under the new name of ‘circular migration’ rather than return migration. This has its own social implications that I had pointed out elsewhere (Khadria 1999, 2009, 2012). Let me mention just two of these – one in the OECD destination countries and the other in a developing origin country like India. The implication in the destination country arises from a corollary that although the size of a diaspora in the labour market of a destination country can keep rising with temporary or circular immigration, because the individual human faces that comprise it keep changing with the continuous return of some of them to their homeland, the element of racial conflict in the destination society could be expected to come down to a low level of equilibrium. An explicitly stated policy of promoting return migration, involving only temporary stay rights for foreigners would thus allay the fears, in the minds of the native citizens, of being competed out by them. If so, it could naturally be a welcome preference for the strife-prone destination countries. Socio-psychologically speaking, this acts like a ‘safety valve’ that would suit the interest of those OECD host countries where racial xenophobia against the foreigners’ presence in the labour market is often a political headache for the state, and would be welfare-enhancing. On the other hand, the social implications of temporary migration on the migrants and their family members in a developing origin country like India could be welfare-reducing as the benefits of return migration would be pre-empted by the welfare loss taking place during emigration. Not only India, but also other countries in South Asia, like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka get overwhelmed by the bandwagon of promoting return migration benefitting them at the macrolevel. So far, these developing countries of origin have been complacent about the microlevel interests of their people being adversely affected by these key trends. For example, a natural corollary of any individual migrant’s decision to return home – when inherent in the decision of onward migration itself – would be the question of the spouse joining or not joining abroad in the first place: Whether to resign when leave would not be commensurate with the emigrating spouse’s engagement abroad? Under the circumstances, temporary migration would entail a compulsory separation among the members of the family, leading to splitting of the family and its nomadization, so to say, and making the return of the worker too a type of ‘forced migration’, although all

Gender-based immigration visa    7

the decisions within the concerned migrant’s family would seemingly remain ‘voluntary’. This would entail a loss of welfare in the country of origin, because, for instance, the largest barrier to accepting an international post is family consideration (62%) (Hindustan Times, Shine supplement, page 3, September 23, 2008). Other barriers come far later, like language (13%), difficulties returning to country of origin (8%), security (5%), cost (5%), and living standards (4%). This is an issue, which despite being largely uncharted so far, would perhaps be important enough to be included in the agenda of social policy responses towards neutralizing the adverse effects of international migration on the migrants.

Would immigrant quotas for women reduce racial strife and unite the families? Apart from the macrolevel engagement of the policymakers, migration researchers across the world ought to increasingly endeavour observing and analysing the day-to-day life of the individual migrants and communities because of the hope that migration would be recognized as applied human discipline one day. An immediately relevant space for collaboration between researchers and policymakers could be in seeking answer to a question: Why should there be quotas for women migrants within other quotas? Would more women immigrants reduce racial strife in destination countries and would they unite the families in destination and/or home countries? The answer may lie in seeking answers to a series of follow-up questions: Are women more tolerant of strangers than men? Who influences the migration and/or return decisions within families the most – men or women? Who has a dominant vote in taking decisions to stay on in the destination country – men or women among the high-skill and low-skill migrants? We have the data of male and female Indian students studying abroad; why are these not highlighted? What are the stay rates of Indian women students; are they higher than those of boys? Why are spouses (read wives) of H1B visa holders now being allowed to work in the United States? Is it because of gender equality or is it because there is a shortage of workers that is being met? Will a gender-based positive discrimination bring the migrant’s family to centre stage of migration policy? Lately, at different points of contemporary history, migrants and diasporas have been looked at for their effects, allegorically, either as bane or boon in the host countries, and either as traitors or angels in the motherland (Lal 2006). How would women migrants figure

8    Binod Khadria

in this – as bane or boon in the host country, and traitors or angels in the home country? Gender-based quotas would perhaps provide some clues to the answer.

References Centre for Social Research, http://www.csrindia.org/index.php/genderdimensions-of-migration (accessed 7 September 2014). GOI. 2008. Eleventh Five Year Plan 2007–2012, vol. I. New Delhi: Planning Commission, Government of India. ILO. 2008. Green Jobs: Towards Decent Works in a Sustainable, Low-Carbon World. Geneva: International Labour Organization. IOM. 2010. World Migration Report 2010. Geneva: International Organisation for Migration. Khadria, Binod. 1999. The Migration of Knowledge Workers: Second-generation Effects of India’s Brain Drain. New Delhi: Sage Publications. Khadria, Binod. 2000. ‘Gender-based Positive Discrimination: Is There A Case?’, in Mary-Louise Kearney (ed.), Women, Power and the Academy: From Rhetoric to Reality, pp. 21–27. New York: UNESCO and Berghahn Books. Khadria, Binod (ed.). 2009. India Migration Report 2009: Past, Present, and the Future Outlook, International Migration and Diaspora Studies (IMDS) Project, Jawaharlal Nehru University. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press India. Khadria, Binod (ed.). 2012. India Migration Report 2010–2011: The Americas. India, New York: Cambridge University Press. Lal, Brij V. (ed.). 2006. Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet. Majumdar, Tapas. 1994. ‘Old World is the New World’. The Telegraph, 8 August. OECD. 2004. Trends in International Migration. Annual Report 2003 Edition. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Piper, Nicola. 2008. ‘International Migration and Gendered Axes of Stratification: Introduction’, in N. Piper (ed.), New Perspectives on Gender and Migration: Livelihood, Rights and Entitlements, pp.1–18. New York: Routledge.

2

Migrant women at the discourse–policy nexus

Indian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia S. IRUDAYA RAJAN AND JOLiN JOsEPH Introduction Migrant domestic workers (MDWs) comprise a highly unregulated, largely female global workforce. This chapter examines intersections of academic discourse and state policy as refracted in the trajectories, struggles and lived experience of Indian MDWs in Saudi Arabia. The narrative is developed in three sections; in the first section, we chart the definitional issues and discursive techniques that frame the figure of the MDW, with a view to deroutinize dominant discourse. Here, the dichotomous nature of mainstream knowledge production that frame MDWs as either vulnerable ‘victims’ or selfless ‘heroes’ is discussed. The second section follows the Indian MDW through the migration cycle from India to Saudi Arabia. Based on testimonies and secondary data, it compares domestic worker’s experiences at home and abroad. The third section attends to the regulatory norms and border technologies that limit the lives and opportunities of MDWs in the region. We pay attention to the state apparatus in the sending country India and policy climate in the receiving nation of Saudi Arabia, and point towards the importance of responsible, responsive state support for MDWs. The chapter presents preliminary observations from surveys of 56 Indian domestic workers conducted as part of a broader study of 1,000 low- and semi-skilled Indian migrants in Saudi Arabia by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Research Unit on International Migration at the Centre for Development Studies, Kerala. Situated in the broader systemic structures that govern the labour market and their social lives, the development of MDWs is facilitated and/or constrained by myriad factors including the Kafala system, Nitaqat labour policies, social networks, and labour laws. Despite recent workforce

10    S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

nationalization policies in the region, the demand for overseas domestic workers in Saudi Arabia is poised to increase (Zachariah et al. 2014). Reasons for this include labour mobility agreements (Khan 2014), a rapidly ageing population, the insufficiency of state care provisions for children, elderly and disabled people in the Kingdom, and the increasing percentage of local women entering the labour market. Migrant women workers play an important role as drivers of development both at home and at the destination and should not be obscured from analysis. It is imperative to write women back into the story of mobility and development and ensure that both women and men are equally represented in overseas labour flows and policies. In this context, the study contributes to an emerging corpus of studies on transnational women’s mobility and situates Indian MDWs in Saudi Arabia on the long road from distress to development. The central questions driving our inquiry are: what are the major challenges MDWs face in sending and destination country contexts? How do state policies and academic literature co-constitute MDW vulnerability? How can socially attentive research and responsible state intervention positively inflect migration policy and improve the lives and experiences of MDWs?

Domestic service: devaluation, discourse and definitional issues Domestic service is a burgeoning informal sector activity, largely occupied by women. However, the nature and place of work and lack of policies and monitoring system for domestic work limits the benefits received by women engaged in this sector. This service sector is regularly devalued and not deemed fit for fair, or even any real wage. Where domestic work was once unacknowledged as wage-work, it has today captured academic and policy attention. Since a bulk of domestic work entails home-based service in private households, a large number of workers remain unrecorded. Ambiguities regarding tasks performed, hours of work, remuneration, and part-time/ full-time, live-in/live-out status result in classification difficulties. In the absence of a universally accepted statistical definition of domestic service, researchers, activists and policymakers conceptualized domestic workers in different ways, thereby affecting the quality of data collected (Neetha 2009). The dearth of information on domestic workers has proved a challenge in designing policies, programmes and monitoring systems to ensure legislative and social entitlements for MDWs.

Migrant women at the discourse    11

Migration for domestic work is increasingly apparent on a global scale and a topic of several academic and policy studies. Yet, domestic service within private households of a country like Saudi Arabia, continue to be among the most undocumented, unregulated and invisible forms of employment. Traditionally, theories and policies of migration failed to account for the particular experiences and realities of female migrant workers who were largely cast as ­dependents – mothers, daughters or wives. Migrant women, particularly marginal domestic workers, were seen as lying outside the normative ­definition of a migrant. Evicted from theory and absent from policy i­ ntervention, the invisibility of migrant domestics in Saudi Arabia is further reinforced by gender inequalities, ethnic polarization and the severely insulated nature of the country. Early academic discourse on labour migration was decidedly uneven in its coverage, with a disproportionate representation of subjugated MDWs. Narrow development objectives have hitherto been the predominant approach in constructing migrant domestics’ lives. Media, international non-governmental organizations’ and human rights groups’ investigative reports on West Asia’s transient population place the displaced, disadvantaged domestic workers at the heart of their study (Human Rights Watch 2010). These efforts, while fundamentally emancipatory, often condense to a form of academic oppression themselves. The overwhelming focus has been on vulnerable domestic workers who drew the short end of the straw when accepting an offer of work in Saudi Arabia, allowing successful MDWs to fall through analytical gaps. This mode of selective scanning and amplification highlights shocking, sensationalist images of MDWs in the region, to mobilize affect and buy in to reader’s sensibilities. It is important to note that disadvantaged and exploited MDWs are only a subsection of a vibrant, distinctive diaspora. As such, we maintain that emphasizing MDW vulnerabilities eclipses their capabilities. The second apparent aspect is that the studies tend to align on a relatively negative standpoint regarding the situation of expatriate women workers in the Gulf, collectively calling for greater protections and regulation of these labour movements. These studies frequently lay the responsibility of protecting overseas domestic workers on the host nations of the Gulf. An overwhelming majority suggest that MDWs are either abject victims of globalization, locked into a cycle of transient servitude and contemporary forms of indentured labour (ILO 2010). This liberatory rhetoric is mired in trafficking debates and pushes for the ‘rescue and repatriation’ of MDWs. The particularities of MDW lives are weeded away in order to make ‘strong’, ‘neat’ theories that can be widely

12    S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

wielded in the global economy. These approaches frame a discourse that obscures and justifies absences in state action and fails to view MDWs as complex social actors that straddle multiple identities of race, class, religion, nationality, and legal status. Relying on employment agencies and brokers, migrant domestic workers enter contractual bondage with employers whom they have never met before, leaving themselves vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. Due to the seemingly voluntary nature of migrant labor, it is an unfortunate reality that many of these women effectively enslave themselves abroad in hopes of improving their economic situation at home. This is not to suggest that migrants are to blame for their plights; once the choice has been made and the contract signed, all future choices are restricted or nonexistent. (Halabi 2008)

Romina Halabi’s rights-based framework charges host countries of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) with contract enslavement and demonstrates her concern for MDWs bound to their employer, for whom ‘all future choices are restricted or non-existent’. While Halabi’s intentions are well placed, this approach marks a disabling discursive technique that undermines MDW’s capabilities, forecloses their agency, and possibilities of resistance and/or success. Noticeably absent from these accounts of migrant marginality is attention to the coping strategies employed by MDWs to emerge successful. During our fieldwork among migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, many domestic workers reported enhanced life-chances owing to their relocation. Quite often, migration for domestic work presents opportunities for women from the Global South to improve their lives, escape oppressive social relations and support those who are left behind (Irudaya Rajan and Joseph 2013). If a priori assumptions about ‘eternally subjugated’ MDWs are allowed to circulate, this will severely impoverish our understanding of labour dynamics. There is growing consensus that the bulk of existing theories on MDWs have limited explanatory capacity because they generally fail to incorporate the unique social dynamic, political context and demographics of the region. The conventional narrative of MDWs is that of powerless subjects caught between inexorable forces of globalization that are beyond their capacity to mute or transcend. This allows for textual and political tokenization of these transnational subjects. Our fieldwork in Saudi Arabia tells a different story – that of social actors purposefully weaving cross-border relationships and mitigating risk through social networks, situated knowledge and informal collaboration. More recently, there have been several studies that

Migrant women at the discourse    13

illustrate MDWs’ agency and positive contributions as they negotiate economic, political and social constraints and emerge successful. Such interventions depart from the typical story of sacrifice and suffering and highlight MDWs socio-economic role within productive processes. This ‘turn to agency’ that underwrites much of the contemporary migration literature, signals the dissolution of the familiar figure of the MDW ‘victim’ in favour of a resourceful, rational agent. The importance of MDW remittances – both in terms of volume and resilience (even during the most recent financial crisis) – underscores the need to highlight their skills and faculties.

Multiple exclusions, marginal struggles Women in South Asia are frequently excluded from the labour market, absent from state intervention and statutory coverage. They are also more likely to engage in precarious work. Transformations in India’s agrarian economy coupled with rapid urbanization have spurred the demand for and delivery of care. These twin forces ­produce a new class of employers, an affordable workforce and a surplus of unskilled workers from rural regions. Estimates from the 2009–2010 National Sample Survey suggest that there were roughly 2.52 million workers engaged in domestic work as their principal activity, up from 1.62 million in 1999–2000 – a decadal surge of over 150 per cent. In the same period, the number of domestic workers in urban areas increased by 68 per cent. This makes it a major, growing source of employment in the country. The significant increase in domestic work in India can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, high rates of economic growth that have not translated into an adequate increase in employment in the formal sector and rising inequalities that allow for lower wages for domestic work (Ghosh 2013). Regardless of the proliferation of domestic work in India, it continues to be sidelined in policy and practise. Paid domestic work is not covered under the Payment of Wages Act (1936), the Workmen’s Compensation Act (1923), the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act (1970), or the Maternity Benefit Act (1961). Recent central government interventions have brought domestic workers under the purview of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (2013), Unorganised Workers Social Security Act (2008), the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act (1976), and the Minimum Wages Act (1948) (Ministry of Labour and Employment 2013). Attempts were made to extend the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), (Ministry of Labour and Employment

14    S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

2011) to domestic workers but they have fallen short of implementation (Trivedi 2013). While these instruments appear to indicate progress, in the absence of mechanisms for inspection and enforcement, they make little impact. India’s questionable commitment to local and MDWs in the country is evidenced by the apathetic response to national and international legislation. In 2010, the National Commission for Women (NCW) drafted a ‘Domestic Workers Welfare and Social Security Act, 2010’ Bill. This is yet to come into force. Similarly, India became a signatory to the 2011 International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention 189, which mandates decent working conditions for domestic workers, but has not yet ratified it. As long as domestic worker rights remain ill-defined and unprotected, their human rights will continue to be violated. Given the structural and social constraints to women’s employment in India, and the lack of more remunerative and decent work opportunities, the Gulf represents an important avenue for these workers (Irudaya Rajan and Joseph 2013). For many years, Saudi Arabia has been excluded from comprehensive research on migration; however, it was never excluded from migration processes. The scale and significance of networks of care, the considerable breadth of its migrant populace, and the depth of migrant experiences in the Kingdom, necessitate inquiry and examination. While accurate data on the quantum and nature of female labour flows into Saudi Arabia are unavailable, an estimated 1.5–2 million MDWs currently live and work in Saudi Arabia (Human Rights Watch 2008a). Domestic service represents the leading occupation of South Asian women in the Gulf (Timothy and Sasikumar 2012), accounting for 47.1 per cent of total female employment in the Kingdom (ILO 2010). Of this, non-Saudis are estimated at 99.87 per cent of the female domestic workforce (CDSI Manpower Survey 2013). This concentration is due, in part, to low female- employment-to-population ratio and the highly segmented labour market, stratified along gender, race and class hierarchies. Despite ongoing interventions at the origin and receiving states, domestic service within private households of Saudi Arabia remains among the world’s most undocumented, unregulated and invisible forms of employment. At the same time, these flows represent an important livelihood option for Indian women that otherwise remain unemployed and unprotected. Interviews were conducted through a combination of purposive sampling and snowball technique. Respondents were first selected based on access and approachability and subsequent respondents

Migrant women at the discourse    15

were identified from among their social networks. According to data collected, the average hours of work per day were 16.5 and fewer than 15 per cent of the respondents were given a weekly day of rest. Further, 70 per cent of the respondents reported repeated wage violations while upwards of 40 per cent of the respondents remitted between 50 and 90 per cent of their earnings. All respondents lived with their employer since single women in the Kingdom are not allowed to live by themselves. The live-in nature of household work in Saudi Arabia further accentuates MDW vulnerability. Live-in workers undertake a more diverse range of duties and work longer hours than casual or part-time domestic workers. The terms of employment were ill-defined and lines between work and rest regularly crossed. The hidden, privatized and, at times, illegal nature of the work further aggravates their situation. Yet, two respondents were deeply attached and grateful to their employer and the family. Given a choice, 11 respondents would choose to continue in Saudi Arabia while 45 MDWs were either awaiting repatriation or contemplating return. Among the respondent pool, 29 were ‘runaways’ or ‘absconders’ and 27 were currently employed. MDWs were seen to make autonomous migration decisions, and were often the primary income earners sending contributions to sustain livelihoods back home. Although these figures facilitate a nuanced understanding of MDW experiences in the country, due to the limited and selective nature of the sample, data cannot be deemed representative. Nonetheless, the findings reveal that migration for domestic work in the Kingdom is not inherently repressive or emancipatory. It is at once complex and contradictory. There are multiple interlocking factors that determine the quality of life, social positioning and job satisfaction of MDWs in the Kingdom. MDWs in Saudi Arabia inhabit liminal, transnational spaces that are highly gendered, racialized and mediated by class. Women’s labour market participation in the region is further constrained by a matrix of factors – including social and cultural norms – occupational segregation, educational attainment and unequal compensation. The working environment female domestic workers find themselves in easily lends itself to exploitation, especially in situations where they are not organized or unionized, including vulnerability to human trafficking. The social policy context of Saudi Arabia is especially difficult for MDWs to negotiate. In the absence of a family, many MDWs were cloistered in the employer’s household and cut-off from outside interaction. The freedom of association is denied, and MDWs cannot form or engage in trade unions, collective bargaining or social interactions with other expatriates. Unlike construction workers – who

16    S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

congregate in large numbers, or taxi drivers who are visible on the street – nannies, servants and maids are often ‘hidden away’ behind closed doors in private homes. This in turn can manifest in the form of physical, mental, and emotional abuse at the hands of employers who wield totalitarian control over the women they employ as domestic workers. Gender discriminatory processes that shape migration policy and labour laws in Saudi Arabia are intrinsic to the problem (Kofman and Raghuram 2012). The Kafala system creates structural dependency as the sponsor/employer assumes all their legal and economic responsibilities during the contract period, leaving little scope for mobility and flexibility. This includes the worker’s recruitment fee, medical examination and issuance of national identity card, or the iqama, upon arrival in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Women are neither allowed to drive nor travel alone, making it the only country in the world that denies its women this basic right. They are required to be accompanied by a mahrem (male guardian) under whose aegis they may travel or reside within the country. This imposed guardianship extends to all facets of a migrant woman’s life in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and leave them perpetual minors (Human Rights Watch 2008b). This is especially true in the case of MDWs whose work binds them to the whims of their sponsor and places them at the margins of labour laws. Employers may even refuse to grant them transfer letters or exit visas, making it impossible for them to return home. The legal framework and social practices in Saudi Arabia provide employers with a great deal of control over the living and working conditions of MDWs. Non-inclusion in labour laws is another grave concern of MDWs in the Kingdom. The insufficient coverage is tied to nature of the workplace and public policies do not apply to the private, domestic space. Access to courts and redressal mechanism is severely restricted leaving MDWs with few options when it comes to demanding their rights or seeking protection from and compensation for abuse. Respondents narrated physical, symbolic, sexual, and psychological abuses ranging from insults to rape or burning; other observed forms of violence include overwork, denial of food, clothing, and water, forced employment in multiple households than one household, refusal of days off, non-payment, or reduced salary. Several interviewed MDWs appeared severely traumatized by the experience and it will, presumably, negatively affect their ability to reintegrate into society upon returning to India. With over 2.8 million workers (CDSI Manpower Survey 2013) currently engaged in the Kingdom, Indians form the biggest foreign

Migrant women at the discourse    17

contingent in Saudi Arabia, accounting for 23 per cent of the total foreign workforce in the country. They also top in the number of expatriates who took advantage of the amnesty announced by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to correct the residency and labour status of illegal foreigners in the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia hosted upwards of 9 million foreign residents in 2013, but began a campaign to arrest and deport unauthorized foreigners in November 2013. Under this programme, fines and penalties are imposed on companies that do not employ the prescribed number of nationals. During the first five months of the campaign, 370,000 foreigners a month were deported, and another 18,000 unauthorized migrants were in detention centres in March 2014. A total of 1.4 million Indians availed the concessions while 141,000 others returned home without penalties. The aftermath of nitaqat policies point towards the importance of strengthening legal channels of migration. The Saudi state retains monopoly over the attribution of legal status and has the capacity to blur the line between legal/ illegal, wanted/unwanted. The unique legal status and diminished citizenship of the female MDWs fosters rampant criminalization of domestic worker-related labour disputes. Domestic workers must often settle for unfair financial settlements, suffer harsh penalties and wait for months in overcrowded shelters with little information about the progress of their cases. Respondents indicated the consequences of illegal recruitment and employer practices, fear of arrest and deportation, (lack of) access to medical care and social entitlements, long working hours without overtime pay, unpaid salaries, summary dismissals, forced confinement, sexual abuse, and escape attempts. At first blush, the Saudization programmes hit street cleaning, gardening and cleaning service workers, as these sectors were almost exclusively ‘manned’ by foreigners. Moreover, these sectors suffer from unstable job conditions, low wages and expendability, thus making it difficult to draw native workers to take on entry level and menial jobs. Saudi Ministry officials have realized that the percentage of mandatory employment of Saudi nationals in critical service industries cannot be enforced and will have to remain open to foreign workers. Likewise, the sweeping nationalization policies have not affected domestic workers, since for all intents and purposes they are considered part of the household. In January 2014, India and Saudi Arabia entered into a landmark agreement on protection of the rights of domestic Indian workers in the Kingdom. The new arrangement guarantees that Indian women working in Saudi homes will be able to keep their passports,

18    S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

communicate with their families, get regular monthly pay, and have time off. The new pact comes in the wake of years of numerous horrific cases of abuse against the MDWs who migrate to Saudi Arabia in the hopes of financing a better life for their families at home. Saudi has signed similar treaties with the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Earlier in July 2013, the Saudi government made some much-awaited efforts to reform; Labour Minister Adel Fakeih issued regulations to protect the interests and safety of all domestic workers in the Kingdom. However, the regulation guaranteeing monthly payment of wages, paid vacation at the end of two years and 9 hours of rest, still left much to be desired (Varia 2014). Overall, the labour regulations and new agreements are definite moves in the right direction and signal a shift in Saudi Arabia’s cognizance of the domestic service sector. Still, neither have clear enforcement mechanisms for a particularly powerless group of workers isolated in private homes, unaware of their rights and unable to speak Arabic. These reforms do not guarantee security and protection unless there are explicit counter balances to ensure that MDWs coming forward with complaints will not be criminalized under pretext of theft, witchcraft or adultery by their far more influential, well-connected and wealthy employers. Towards this end, Saudi has imposed a two-way policy dispute settlement mechanism that affects employers and employees. Employers who break the new law will be fined $533 and face a one-year ban on recruiting domestic help. Three instances of breaking the law will result in a lifetime ban on the employer and a corresponding fine of $2,600. On the flip side, workers violating the contract would be fined $533, banned from working in the Kingdom, and be obliged to bear the cost of repatriation to their home countries (Aneja 2013). For Indian domestics in Saudi Arabia to work in dignity and safety, such legislative measures need to be supplemented with a concerted movement to transform the attitudes of employers and ensure the fairness and effectiveness of the judicial system.

(Im)migration policy and the gendered politics of movement Regulations of human mobility are another key factor impacting female migrant labour (Shah 2005). Immigration controls and practises work with (and against) migratory processes and migrant subjectivities. Migrant women workers are seen as a source of cheap labour in a context where immigration regulations ensure that neither the receiving state nor the employing country is responsible for the well-being of the

Migrant women at the discourse    19

migrant labour force. MDWs are co-opted into systems of control that allow them to be devalued and devalorized. Foucauldian analysis treats borders as discursive landscapes of power, control and surveillance and centres the functions of migration controls in terms of ‘ordering’ and ‘othering’ (Foucault 2010). This has already been acknowledged as an important terrain for investigating global care chains (Kofman and Raghuram 2012). With the increasing feminization of migration, there has not been concurrent feminization of policy approach; policy climate remains paternalistic and often misogynistic. In 1998, Bangladesh imposed a four-year moratorium on the outmigration of women domestic workers. This blanket ban was too blunt an instrument and further drove women’s migration underground. ‘State-imposed restrictions enjoy fairly strong public support in India, disregarding not only the compelling reasons that women may have to seek work overseas, but also their inviolable right to pursue a livelihood’ (Kodoth and Varghese 2012: 57). The Indian (2007) and Sri Lankan (2011) states restrict the emigration of domestic workers through a prohibition on women below 30 years and designation of emigration clearance required/not required (ECR/ECNR) status on passports. This approach belies a paternalistic, patriarchal structuring of migration from the subcontinent. State rationale behind the arbitrary selection of ‘30’ as the appropriate migration age is premised on the assumption that women over this age are ‘mature and experienced’ with housework and child-rearing (Kodoth and Varghese 2012: 60). Behind the ban is a patriarchal State asserting itself to ‘protect’ its ‘helpless’ and ‘ignorant’ young female citizens. Furthermore, the assertion that women over 30 ‘can better protect themselves’ yet again deflects government’s accountability. The rhetoric that domestic workers will be subject to less abuse if they do not anger their employers by virtue of their ‘inexperience’, justifies the abuse of domestic workers who are perceived as ‘incompetent’ or ‘lazy’ by their employers and fails to address the principal cause of migrant worker exploitation – primarily, the lack of enforced regulation and coordinated action. In effect, restriction of right to movement, distorts the access to other rights such as right to life, livelihood and other basic amenities, that allow people to lead a life of dignity. Such policies that curtail women’s mobility, in fact, channel them into undocumented flows that render MDWs increasingly vulnerable to trafficking. Furthermore, much of the migration for domestic work is routed through agents and recruiters, leaving potential migrants vulnerable to contract substitution, fake visas and exorbitant service fees. Within the context of Saudi Arabia, MDWs are situated in the broader systemic structures that govern the labour market and their

20    S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

social lives. In Saudi Arabia, MDWs are explicitly constructed as ‘temporary guest workers’ (as are all other expatriates in the GCC) and given non-transferable work permits under which they cannot reside in the region upon expiry of their contract. This process of distancing and control highlights the violent erasures of the identities, subjectivities and attachments of MDWs. Their agency is further constrained by the Kafala migrant management system and labour nationalization policies that create ‘structural dependency’. A majority of Gulf host nations, including the Saudi government have, so far, refused to ratify the ILO Convention C189 concerning decent pay and working conditions for domestic workers adopted in June 2011. Regulations and regional arrangements that operate to (purportedly) facilitate intraregional mobility often differ in the degrees to which they offer or curtail freedom of movement, settlement or residence. During fieldwork in Dammam (Saudi Arabia), many domestic workers were found to have ‘circumvented’ the ban on Indian women under 30 migrating for work. Often paying exorbitant sums to take perilous routes, they risk their lives in a desperate attempt to secure a better future. One domestic worker revealed that she was confined in a cramped apartment for weeks, along with dozens of other potential migrants, waiting for the chance when their agent could evade immigration and get them on-board a flight. This practise of ‘pushing’ was widely apparent in the journeys of low-skilled migrants (Irudaya Rajan and Joseph 2013). Others had been given new identities and fake passports, or smuggled in from Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, or Yemen. Unfortunately, a majority of interviewed Indian MDWs were ill-equipped to understand the socio-legal implications of migrating to Saudi Arabia. Even those who entered the country in full compliance of the country’s immigration mandates sometimes found themselves on the wrong side of the law. A legal safeguard for West Asian sponsors allows them to report migrant workers that have absconded from work and avail a supplementary permit to bring in another worker in lieu of the runaway. Fieldwork revealed the wide misuse of this loophole, rendering thousands of workers wrongfully labelled huroob (absconder), and currently living in legal limbo – facing detention, expulsion and flogging. Against a backdrop of structural sexism in home and host countries, MDWs are situated in the broader systemic structures that govern the labour market and their social lives. These socio-legal policy frameworks present the migrant sending and receiving states ‘as either disinterested bystanders or complicit in corruption, in either case as having abdicated responsibility for these migrant women workers’ (Kodoth and Varghese 2012: 56).

Migrant women at the discourse    21

The undercutting of migrant domestic work and worth is tangential to the real contribution of these women workers to the economies of the Gulf. Increasing care deficits, growth of women’s entry into the paid workforce, lack of male engagement in care work, and declining welfare states, all generate growing care demand in the region. Drawing on various resources in the process of earning their livelihood, Indian MDWs have made themselves indispensable to Gulf states. With these dynamics in mind, it is essential that host economies wake up to the primacy of the reproductive economy and guarantee the upliftment of this key workforce. The eradication of abuse and mistreatment of overseas domestics will only occur when host and origin governments simultaneously strengthen their commitment to human rights and formalize their labour markets. In place of temporary, regressive policies and indiscriminate bans, sending countries should work with the receiving nations for stronger protection and legitimization of their migrant citizens and receiving nations must be more accountable to the rights and claims of MDWs within their jurisdiction.

Recommendations – Promoting productive capacity, employment and decent work MDWs are critical resources in both labour-sending and labour-receiving countries. Yet the confluence of several factors, notably gaps in labour laws and restrictive immigration policies, have left these workers at high risk of exploitative and a wide array of abusive practices, akin to trafficking or forced labour. From this vantage point, it is clear that global exploitative forces are co-constituted by the ambivalence of sending countries and the capitalistic interests of receiving countries. Concrete and feasible measures are required to improve the living and working conditions of Indian domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and achieve a model of inclusive growth where women are economically empowered to participate in and benefit from growth. Before taking the conversation further, it is essential that both Saudi Arabia and India bring their labour laws in line with the protections outlined in the International Labour Organization’s Domestic Worker Convention 189 and the International Trade Union Confederation’s 12 × 12 campaign (International Trade Union Confederation 2013). Ratifying international instruments is a vital step in ensuring continued compliance to global norms and standards of worker dignity and safety. Let us first consider what India needs to do to streamline the process of domestic work migration, to make it successful and risk-free.

22    S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph

Caught in a balancing act between protectionist agendas and economic imperatives, South Asian countries like India have resorted to narrow, protectionist measures that further produce precariousness (Kodoth and Varghese 2011: 45). Within these dynamics, we contend that it is not enough to acknowledge MDWs as providers of foreign income, push for more MDWs and further revenues, rather, India must take accountability for the rights of its overseas citizens and work diligently with receiving nations to formulate solutions that are productive to both parties. A critical area of intervention – given the surge in the numbers of Indian domestic workers is the need for regulation of employment conditions and circumstances under which informal, home-based work is carried out in the Kingdom. Regular diplomatic visits, consular checks on MDW employers and monitoring of recent agreements are a gateway to ensuring MDW protection. Increasing emphasis on enhancing productive capacity and skill development are sustainable means to raise employability and facilitating decent work for MDWs. It is common to throw the blanket of blame on exploitative employers, nefarious recruitment agents and host countries. But following our inquiry, a central question that arose was whether each individual was equipped to understand the socio-legal implications of migrating to and working in Saudi Arabia. A telling observation from the surveys was that over 30 MDWs had no formal skill training, 29 had no previous work history, only 5 MDWs had a working knowledge of Arabic, and just 3 had attended pre-departure sessions. We recommend that India pursue community-based interventions such as pre-departure programmes, returnees’ association and spouse programmes. These undertakings need to be destination specific, and part of an ongoing process to equip potential migrants. In addition, there needs to be more clarity on the definition of domestic labour. Domestic workers are among the most socially productive labour classes and the government should take a position in defining them and their wages. There is also a need to create greater social consciousness regarding domestic work, which will ultimately ease the antagonism against them (Menon 2013). Furthermore, public awareness campaigns, programmes for intensive and effective HIV/AIDS prevention and control and educational opportunities must be made available so that domestic workers can migrate based on informed choice. In order to tap the full potential of overseas MDWS, India should amend restrictive emigration policies that leave such workers in the recesses of the economy. At the destination, India should also provide adequate diplomatic and consular assistance, access to safe houses for distressed and funds for repatriation of destitute MDWs.

Migrant women at the discourse    23

At the receiving end, Saudi Arabia can and should improve upon its recent efforts to encourage MDW safety and retention. Accessible complaint mechanisms, enforcement of standards for and monitoring of transnational labour recruitment systems and sustained international cooperation with sending countries can greatly enhance the migration experience of the multitudes of overseas domestic workers within the Kingdom. Primarily, domestic workers must be made visible. An important policy area is to develop and improve the use of sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics through more gender-sensitive data collection instruments. Such measures can be used to inform a gender inclusive policy that attends to the particular vulnerabilities of migrant women in the region. Following this, institutional capacities need to be strengthened to formulate and implement policies enhancing women’s access to employment and decent work. To truly empower migrant women in Saudi Arabia, both governments and societies need to address how gender norms constrain women’s roles – whether they are citizens or non-citizens – as well as the link between the status Saudi Arabian women and that of MDWs. Protective safeguards and laws are also necessary to afford migrant women domestic workers adequate legal protection. Regulations that uphold the employers’ sole authority over his/her employee need to be revoked. This encompasses the sponsorship system that leaves domestic workers as dependents of their employers. Bahrain and UAE have already made strides to revise the sponsorship system. Saudi Arabia too has recommended the formation of a few ‘mega associations’ to facilitate visas and documents for foreign employees. The 10 mega associations formed as of 2014 are expected to hire staff that speak the languages of migrant workers and deal impartially with their concerns and complaints. The move from recruitment agencies and single-sponsor system has the potential to reduce cases of sponsor-employers holding worker documents and forbidding workers to leave the country (University of California 2014). A thorough overhaul of today’s poorly managed, exploitative system can be effected by including MDWs themselves in the process of reform through collective bargaining and collaborative action. This will allow MDWs to determine their working and living chances and author their destiny.

References Aneja, A. 2013. ‘Does New Saudi Law Truly Empower the Domestic Worker?’. The Hindu, July 18 2013. Available at: http://www.thehindu.com/news/ international/world/does-new-saudi-law-truly-empower-the-domesticworker/article4923886.ece.

24    S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph CDSI Manpower Survey, Round one. 2013. Gulf Labour Markets and Migration Database. Available at: http://gulfmigration.eu/employed-populationaged-15-and-above-by-nationality-saudi-non-saudi-sex-and-sectorof-economic-activity-2013/. Foucault, M. 2010. The Government of Self and Others: Lectures at the Collège de France 1982–1983, in Arnold I. Davidson (ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Ghosh, J. 2013. ‘The Plight of Domestic Workers in India’, Frontline, 30(2). Halabi, R. 2008. ‘Contract Enslavement of Female Migrant Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates’, Human Rights and Human Welfare. University of Denver: 43, 44. Available at: https://www. du.edu/korbel/hrhw/researchdigest/slavery/fmd.pdf. Human Rights Watch. 2008a. As if I am not human: Abuses against Asian Domestic Workers in Saudi Arabia. New York: Human Rights Watch. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/ reports/2008/07/14/if-iam-not-human. ———. 2008b. Perpetual Minors; Human Rights Abuses stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia. New York: Human Rights Watch. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2008/04/19/ perpetual-minors. ———. 2010. Saudi Arabia: Domestic Worker Brutalized. December 2010. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/news/2010/09/02/saudi-arabiadomestic-worker-brutalized. International Labour Organization. 2010. ‘Moving towards Decent Work for Domestic Workers: An Overview of the ILO’s Work’. Bureau for Gender Equity. Geneva, Switzerland. International Trade Union Confederation. 2013. Gulf Countries Should Revise Domestic Workers Contract, July 3 2013, Available at: http://www. ituc-csi.org/gulf-countries-should-revise. Irudaya Rajan, S. and Jolin Joseph. 2013. ‘Adapting, Adjusting and Accommodating: Social Costs of Migration to Saudi Arabia’, in S. Irudaya Rajan (ed.), India Migration Report 2013: Social Costs of Migration, pp. 139–153. New Delhi: Routledge. Khan, Ghazanfar Ali. 2014. ‘KSA- India Pact Protects Domestics’. Arab News, January 3 2014. Available at: http://www.arabnews.com/news/502806. Kodoth, Praveena and V. J. Varghese. 2011. ‘Emigration of Women Domestic Workers from Kerala: Gender, State Policy and the Politics of Movement’, Working Paper No. 445, September. Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. ———. 2012. ‘Protecting Women or Endangering the Migration Process: Emigrant Domestic Workers, Gender and State Policy’, Economic and Political Weekly, xlvii(43): 56–65. Kofman, E. and Parvati Raghuram. 2012 ‘Women, Migration, and Care: Explorations of Diversity and Dynamism in the Global South’, Social Politics, 19(3): 408–432.

Migrant women at the discourse    25 Ministry of Labour and Employment. 2011. ‘Extension of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to the Domestic Workers’. Press Information Bureau, Government of India, June 23 2011. Available at: http://pib.nic.in/ newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=72827. ———. 2013. ‘Policy on Domestic Workers’. Press Information Bureau, Government of India, August 5 2013. Available at: http://pib.nic.in/ newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=97652. Neetha, N. 2009. ‘Contours of Domestic Service: Characteristics, Work Relations and Regulations’, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 52(3): 491. Shah, N. 2005. Restrictive Labour Immigration Policies in the Oil-Rich Gulf: Effectiveness and Implications for Sending Asian Countries. Mexico City: United Nations Expert Group Meeting on Social and Economic Implications of Changing Population Age Structure. Sindhu Menon. 2013. ‘Ending the Scourge of Violence against Domestic Workers in India’. Equal Times, November 25 2013. Available at: http:// www.equaltimes.org/ending-the-scourge-of-violence#.U4oSV61dURY. Thimothy, R. and S. K. Sasikumar. 2012. Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf, New Delhi: V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, sponsored by UN Women. Trivedi, D. 2013. ‘The invisible workers’, The Hindu, October 13 2013. Available at: http://www.thehindu.com/features/the-yin-thing/theinvisible-workers/article5229435.ece. University of California, Davis. 2014. ‘South Asia, Middle East’, Migration News, 21(2). Available at: http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more. php?id=3907_0_3_0. Varia, N. 2014. ‘Dispatches: New Protection for Saudi Arabia’s Domestic Workers’, Human Rights Watch, February 19 2014. Available at: http://www. hrw.org/news/2014/02/19/dispatches-new-protection-saudi-arabia-sdomestic-workers. Zachariah, K.  C., S. Irudaya Rajan and Jolin Joseph. 2014. ‘Kerala Emigration to Saudi Arabia: Prospects under the Nitaqat Law’, in S Irudaya Rajan (ed.), 2014. India Migration Report 2014: Disapora and Development, Chapter 16. New Delhi: Routledge.

3

Stepping into the man’s shoes

Emigrant domestic workers as breadwinners and the gender norm in Kerala PRAVEENA KODOTH Emigrant women domestic workers are usually recognized as the breadwinners, i.e. the principal earners and providers of their families. However, unlike the male who is expected to don the mantle of the breadwinner in the normal course of social life in Kerala, the female breadwinner is constituted as an aberration. Women are thrust into the position usually in the event of the breakdown of marriage. The women whose narratives I analyse here turned to emigrant domestic work to improve their lives; however, even when they were married, most of them lacked its putative ‘protection’ and their mobility removed them from the everyday regulatory scope of the local community. The gender norm is elaborated in Kerala through marital control over women’s sexuality, which is weakened by their mobility. Thus, in the normal course, Kerala’s cultural milieu does not enable women to exercise agency to go overseas as domestic workers. The norm of the male breadwinner was ushered into the socio-cultural landscape of Kerala through colonial intervention and the modernizing reforms that came in its wake. It was among the norms that cut the ground for a new form of patriarchy in the state – conjugal patriarchy, which institutionalized the need for marital protection of women within a monogamous framework.1 Previously, marriage was neither considered mandatory for women nor confined to the monogamous form, matrilineal institutions being a case in point. Reforms served to construct women’s employment as secondary to conjugal domesticity,2 and privileged specific forms of employment for women such as care sector work in education or health care, as extensions of domesticity, or organized sector work especially in the public sector because of the protected nature of this employment.3 These gender constructions mobilized women into

Stepping into the man’s shoes    27

informed domesticity and served as the bedrock of development in the state.4 As Robin Jeffery (1992: 228) acknowledges, ‘[d]emocratic politics, involving large sections of a population can be made to provide services that people need and consequently use. Literate confident women will as domestic managers turn such services into better health for men and women alike’ (emphasis added). The trade-off between efficient domesticity and paid employment is advanced as one of the reasons for the low work participation rates of women in Kerala despite the advances that women have made in education (Kodoth and Eapen 2005). Full time wage labourers could ill afford such efficient discharge of domesticity. Not surprisingly, emigrant domestic workers are drawn mostly from social and economic groups on the fringes of social development, yet groups with sufficient connections to raise the resources that overseas migration required. Albeit important, the cultural milieu in Kerala along with the economic context (which determines the supply of workers) is only one of at least three contexts that have structured the movement of women workers from Kerala to the Middle East. The legal (state policy and law) and economic (demand for workers) contexts in the Middle East and the legal context in India too have shaped this movement. The legal context in the Middle East defined by the Kafala system of sponsorship and the exclusion of women domestic workers from the labour laws is highly skewed in favour of the sponsor-employers. It would render domestic work unattractive to foreign workers if not for the aspirations that fuel migration from developing countries. In practice, it brings huge pressure on foreign workers to tolerate even severe violations of their rights for fear of losing their employment status in that country. Since the 1980s the Indian state has resorted increasingly to barriers against the movement of less skilled women workers to the Middle East. Thus, the major structuring contexts of international migration from Kerala render women’s agency oppositional, at once defiant and compromised. For the women themselves their agency acquires ambivalence arising from their hopes of a better life on the one hand and the ‘social costs’ of their migration especially for their children and for their reputations on the other. In the context of male-dominated migration from India and the absence of conditions that facilitate women’s migration, it has been assumed that restrictions have curtailed the flow of domestic workers significantly (Oishi 2005). Recent work suggests, on the contrary, that they may be a significant presence in the Middle East because women violate state

28    Praveena Kodoth

regulation through easily accessible parallel channels (Pattadath and Moors 2012). This work assumes that women are able to go because of pressing need. However, in a cultural milieu that is hostile to women’s migration alone, it is important to ask how less skilled women overcome cultural barriers at home i.e. who goes and what negotiations underpin their movement? This chapter focuses on the source context in Kerala to understand the household dynamics of decision-making with respect to women’s migration. I argue that the marginality of emigrant domestic workers in Kerala – as ­breadwinners – narrows the material base from which they are drawn and renders their agency suspect but women engender the conditions to migrate through complex negotiation of family patriarchy. The chapter draws upon the narratives of over 150 women workers from Trivandrum district currently working overseas or who had returned in 2008 or later. Interviews were conducted with women from the coast, the midlands and the eastern highlands between February 2013 and November 2013. The snowballing sample technique was used and emigrant workers identified with the help of local community networks of the government, the Catholic Church and non-governmental organizations. Names of respondents have been changed to protect their identity. The objective of the study was to understand the political economy of less skilled women’s migration, but this chapter analyses the responses of emigrant women to the conditions in which they decided to take up overseas employment including the decision-making process. Narratives were chosen to highlight the range of responses to a question rather than to reflect preponderance, unless otherwise stated. In the following section, I situate the migration of less skilled women from India in the context of women’s migration from Asia. Section three is an overview of the material contexts that shape less skilled women’s migration from Kerala. It lays the ground to ask who goes in the following section, where I draw attention to how women negotiate family patriarchy in creating the space to go overseas. The conclusion draws attention to the marginalization of less skilled women workers voiced by women through the particular ways in which they frame their own agency and which must be understood in terms of the regressive influence of state policy acting in accordance with a conservative cultural politics of gender.

India as a sending country of less skilled women workers According to a recent estimate, 2.1 million workers in the Middle East were employed as domestic workers in 2010, nearly double the

Stepping into the man’s shoes    29

1.1 million in 1995 (ILO 2013: 29). Within the Gulf region, domestic work accounts for 5.6 per cent of total employment, but this share was 12.8% in Bahrain (in 2009) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (in 2008) and a considerable 21.9% in Kuwait (in 2005). More than one-third of domestic workers employed in the Middle East are men. However, owing to the low employment rates of women in the Middle East, nearly one-third of all female workers in the region are domestic workers. Several scholars have noted that the employment of domestic workers – which was restricted largely to the wealthy families in the Middle East before the oil boom – has become a symbol of social status and is now resorted to widely. The bulk of the workers are sourced from Asia. ‘The Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia are major sending countries of female migrant workers. The share of women among outward migrant workers from the region has been rising over time, and is estimated to be between 60 and 80 per cent in all three countries’ (ILO 2013: 29). Indeed, these countries are known for policies that have promoted women’s migration intensely since the 1980s (Oishi 2005). Though the Philippines is among the major sources of women domestic workers, only about half of the Filipina women migrants are in this category as against over 85 per cent of Sri Lankan women workers. The proportion of women among Sri Lankan migrants peaked in 2000 at 75 per cent in 1997 but has declined thereafter owing to a deliberate policy by the government to promote male migration Korea (Conversation with a Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign employment official in February 2013). However, the number of women migrants from Sri Lanka has been increasing. Since 2000, Indonesia has outgrown the Philippines and Sri Lanka as the largest source of overseas women migrants (Tables 3.1 and 3.2). Migration of African women domestic workers to the Middle East is a more recent but growing trend. The top two destinations for Ethiopian domestic workers in 2008/09 were Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (Fernandez 2010). Indian women were among the first to take up employment as domestic workers in the countries of the Persian Gulf, going from Kerala since at least the 1960s (Sabban 2004, Weiner 2007, our fieldwork).5 According to estimates from the destination, including those of the Indian embassies, India continues to be among the largest sending countries of domestic workers to Kuwait and an important supplier of domestic workers to Oman, Qatar and UAE. Literature on Asian domestic workers in Oman and Qatar is sparse but scholars based in Kuwait and the UAE consistently mention India as a major sending country. In our fieldwork too in both Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, Kuwait was the most prominent destination of emigrant domestic workers.

30    Praveena Kodoth

Migration of less skilled women workers from India is poorly documented at the source. The tendency in the social science literature on overseas migration from Kerala to naturalize the male breadwinner norm, viewing women’s migration mostly as part of families rather than as workers, has only exacerbated this. Zachariah and Rajan (2012, 180) note that between 1998 and 2008, ‘normally’ the proportion of women among emigrants should have increased ‘as recent emigrations included more and more well educated workers who could afford taking their families with them’ and conclude that the decline in the proportion of women migrants could be on account of ‘the large increase in the emigration of workers [and not their families] to the Gulf in recent years’ (emphasis added). Anthropologists too have focused on male migration but have demonstrated its influence in reconfiguring gender identities, by privileging the flaunting of wealth by men, the payment of large dowries and bringing in new curbs on the mobility and interactions of women especially young wives of Gulf migrants (Osella and Osella 2000). The limited work on emigrant domestic workers belies the impression that they are a negligible number and focuses on their responses to state regulation and their perspectives on overseas employment (Pattadath and Moors 2012, Kodoth and Varghese 2011). The impression that less skilled women’s migration is negligible is mainly from two sources of data – the statistics on Emigration Granted to women Emigration Check Required (ECR) passport holders by the Protector of Emigrants (POE) offices and the sample surveys on migration from Kerala and return migration. There are Table 3.1 Women’s overseas migration from Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka, 1980s to 2000s Country

Females Year Total (in %) Year

Indonesia 1983 12,018 The 1980 38,628 Philippines Sri Lanka 1986 5,150

48 18 33

Total

Females (in %) Year

Total

Females (in %)

1997 5,02,739 66 2004 3,82,514 72 2000 2,53,030 70 2010 3,40,279 54.5 (38.2) (51.1) 1997 1,59,816 75 2010 2,66,445 49.1 (88.2) (86)

Figures in parenthesis refer to the proportion of housemaids (Sri Lanka)/domestic help and related household workers among female workers. Table compiled from Gloria Moreno-Fontes Chammartin, 2004, POEA Statistics; Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment, 2010; Indonesia Department of Labor, unpublished data; Departemen Tengara Kerja, Republic of Indonesia, 1998:14.

Stepping into the man’s shoes    31 Table 3.2 Estimates of the scale of migrant domestic workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) by gender and scale of Indian domestic workers Total in GCC Country Kuwait

KSA

Oman

Year

DW

Women DW

2012

6,00,000

2010

5,69,536 3,10,402

2001 1996 2013 2009

1,48,000 7,77,254 5,06,950

2001 2013

2010 2009 94,592 Bahrain 2011 83,198 2001 Qatar 2009 80,342 UAE (flows in) 1997–2001 1,26,350 2006

69,256 51,811 48,147

India DW

Women DW

Largest sending country after Sri Lanka 1,13,000 49,000 40,000 5,00,000 50,000 Relatively small proportion but numbers maybe large About 10,000 93,768 (India + Indonesia) About 30,000 Relatively large proportion Among the sources of DWs 8,000 to 10,000 Among the sources of DWs 55,818 20,307 50 enter legally every month

Table compiled from HRW, 2012; Thimothy and Sasikumar, 2012; Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), 2001; Deffner and Pfaffenbach, 2011; Sabban, 2004; Godfrey M et al., 2004; Esim and Smith eds., 2004; Shah and Menon, Khaleej Times, 2013; and IRIN, 2006.

problems with both these sources. The ECR statistics is only broadly indicative. The ECR category is applicable only to women who have not completed secondary (class X) education. As the education levels have risen in Kerala, it is likely that there is a section of women with secondary or even higher secondary education will take up less skilled jobs with relatively higher returns than in India.6 Women emigrants who have spent a minimum of 3 years working overseas are granted emigration check not required (ECNR) status on their passports and thus they would no longer appear in the POE database.7 Further, women emigrants not infrequently bypass emigration clearance by resorting to ‘pushing’ – where the concerned official at the airport is paid off by the agent to allow the woman to go through without the emigration stamp – because they did not have the required documentation for it for one reason or the other.

32    Praveena Kodoth

Surveys undertaken at the state level or drawing upon samples from regions with high intensity of migration underestimate the scale of movement of less skilled women workers because the latter are geographically more clustered than migrants as a whole and because the high-intensity migration areas identified in smaller-scale surveys do not necessarily correspond to the sending regions of less skilled women workers. For instance, we learnt during fieldwork that there are significant clusters of less skilled women emigrants on the coast, remote interior areas and urban slums of Trivandrum district. Nair (1999) found that one out of six return emigrants in a survey of Trivandrum were women and that most of them were engaged in ‘menial’ tasks. According to large-scale surveys conducted in Kerala the proportion of female overseas migrants grew from 9.2 per cent to 14.6 per cent between 1998 and 2008, but touched 17 per cent in 2003 (Zachariah and Rajan 2009). Only about half the women migrate as workers and women migrants are more clustered than men among those with the least education and with the highest levels of education. It seems more likely that the women who move as dependents have a better educational profile than the least educated women, who are more likely to move as workers. This is because of the income ceiling that would prevent workers with less income such as construction or agricultural labourers but even workers in skilled categories such as plumbers, electricians or drivers from bringing their families to the Middle Eastern countries and the likelihood that the men who are able to take their families with them, being better educated also have better educated wives. According to the 2008 survey, women emigrants were concentrated in four southern districts – Idukki (35%), Kottayam (33.5%), Ernakulam (25.4%), and Pathanamthitta (25.2%) – and Palghat in the north. The Central Travancore region comprising Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Idukki districts correspond to the major sending regions of not only skilled women migrants – in particular nurses – but also other professionals going to the industrialized countries and to the Middle East. During the fieldwork the returnee and emigrant women we spoke to in Malappuram district were of the impression that the emigrant women workers they met in the Middle East were mostly from Trivandrum and Kollam districts followed by Kozhikode and Wayanad districts.

Kerala: material contexts and migration resources The experience of Sri Lanka suggests that the absence of a supportive policy framework could narrow the social base from which women

Stepping into the man’s shoes    33

workers are drawn. Before the government embarked on a policy of promoting women’s migration in the 1980s, the typical migrant from Sri Lanka was ‘an older married woman with limited education and a compelling need to support her family’ (Oishi 2005, 160). The steep increase in the numbers of women migrants from Sri Lanka between 1980 and 2000 diversified their social profile and reduced the stigma they were subjected to. Emigrant domestic workers from Kerala are drawn currently from a relatively thin geographical and social base. In Trivandrum, they are concentrated in localities marked by uncertain livelihoods – the coastal areas, urban slums, interior rural locations, and highland villages. The density of women migrants is greatest in some of the densely populated coastal areas, from where they have been migrating since the 1960s. Elsewhere, migration of women could be traced to the 1980s and 1990s. The social group composition of migrants is also distinct. Women emigrants are mostly from social groups that have been subject to caste-based discrimination historically and relegated to social and economic margins – Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), other backward classes (OBC) including Latin Catholics (converts of European missionaries from the coastal fishing communities), and Muslims and lower caste Hindus. The ST women from the highlands started to migrate overseas only in the 1990s but their numbers were growing. Migrant women workers are rarely from the higher castes. The people in the coastal areas are known to be outliers in terms of education as are the SC and ST groups. A few older emigrant women were illiterate but most had a few years of schooling. In the coastal localities, a culture of migration shapes aspirations among younger women. Strong kin, social and commercial networks ensure a constant flow of information about migrant job opportunities and provide easy access to visas. Though women have less access to overseas jobs than men even in the coastal areas, in times of need it is a readily considered option. Relatives and acquaintances, especially close kin, working overseas are often key figures in motivating aspiring women and persuading their families. They may also act as intermediaries, supplying visas for a fee. Women’s narratives suggest that the assistance of commercial agents is inescapable, even when the visa is sourced through a relative because of the complicated emigration procedures. Returnee women referred to the commercial intermediaries as simply ‘travels’ because travel agents doubled up as recruiting agents and sourced visas for aspiring workers. Recruiting agents or subagents are proactive in mobilizing women migrants, targeting wage labourers and housewives whose financial needs are apparent and persuading

34    Praveena Kodoth

them with offers. Once the decision is taken that a particular woman will take up an overseas job, a visa may be obtained in two or three months; however, sometimes it takes only a couple of weeks because an agent is already in touch with a ready offer. The effects simultaneously of social and commercial networks are evident in the clustering of workers in specific destinations, most prominently Kuwait, and their distribution across the Middle East with the exception of Jordan. A segment of respondents had worked in Israel, Singapore and Malaysia. Reports of abuse circulate widely in the coastal localities but the fears of aspirants are tempered by the diversity of the experiences of migrants and their aspirations honed on the gains that previous migrants have made. Agents have visas in hand or expect to receive them. They look for new clients and follow-up on previous ones. Annie who returned in February 2013 said her agent, who is from Kochi, has taken her passport to ensure that she does not accept an offer from another agent. She got her first job and visa in 1988 through a woman friend in Kuwait when she was only 21 years old. ‘I paid the money to the agent here. She [her friend in Kuwait] took the money. She did not want me to know’. Annie is aware that her considerable experience, knowledge of cooking and ability to speak Arabic are a draw. Her husband is 20 years older than her and works irregularly at best. The agent is persuading her to go back. ‘He says, “Annie, you have to build a proper house”,’ she said pointing to the coconut fronds that line the roof of her house. He is asking me to go in December . . . I have done domestic work here . . . After seeing this child, I don’t want to go [she is holding her first grandson]. But he [the agent] keeps calling. I don’t have a house there is another girl [to be married]. My girl [elder daughter], that boy married her out of love, just like that without five paisa. We gave her a chain of one and a quarter sovereigns. But whenever it is must give her the 10 sovereigns of ornaments due to her. Annie, Return migrant, Trivandrum, June 2013

Where women’s migration is less established and information more scarce, agents may need to allay the fears of potential migrants arising from widespread reports of abuse of domestic workers in the Middle East. Shanti’s agent was a man from her hometown who was working in Oman at the time. He offered her a job there and told her, ‘[i]t is not the way people here make it out to be. People say, it’s like this, like that, they will kill you, chop off your head, cut off

Stepping into the man’s shoes    35

your hands. In reality, it is not like that. But us who stay there, we must stay there properly, with discipline. . .’. Shanti was able to count the number of women who had gone from her locality before she had – only four – in contrast to some of the coastal localities where every household had one or more women migrants. Migration was initiated in interior villages and highland localities by agents, who had gone to homes in search of potential emigrants. Once initiated, social networks were developed and harnessed. In the highland villages, the use of networks produced clusters of extended kin groups, the migration of a woman enabled her siblings, more distant kin and the next generation of relatives to go. Still further in the tribal settlements, agents are a more recent presence. Rani, an ST woman learnt about the possibility of going overseas from an acquaintance in 2010 and then contacted an agent. She had spent two years in Kuwait. According to her, agents were less interested in ST women as they were perceived to be less creditworthy. Agents are notorious for cheating women migrants. Shanti’s agent used his acquaintance with her to make her employer believe that he was her brother and siphoned off six month’s salary before Shanti had learnt to communicate adequately in Arabic. The most frequent complaint was that agents deceived women by promising higher salaries than they actually received. However, aspiring women migrants are greatly dependent on agents to facilitate their passage to the destination because of the bureaucratic procedures involved. Many of the women had gone through the parallel channel referred to as ‘pushing’ (without emigration clearance) with the help of the agents often making a detour to Mumbai. In the coastal areas, women from the older generation were known to contribute significantly to the family income by vending fish but a strong culture of masculinity associated with physically strenuous work and with drinking subjects them to conjugal authority. Women’s ability to mobilize resources to go overseas is limited by their lack of independent access to finances. Women emigrants mostly use loans from informal sources to finance their journey. Local moneylenders’ are usually aware of the circumstances of the borrower and unlikely to support those they believe are a risk. Thus, women may need to draw on their family’s social capital. A woman from a coastal village was unable to raise the 2 lakhs of rupees needed to go to Israel. She said nobody would give her money because she had returned from Singapore before finishing her contract and her family was already deep in debt. Women depend on their extended families to take care of their children and husband in their absence. Rarely do their husbands

36    Praveena Kodoth

assume full responsibility for the care of their children. Emigrant women had returned without completing their contract because their children were not being cared for or their husbands had started to create trouble, a euphemism for excessive drinking and infidelity. Thangamma had refused offers to go to Dubai and Israel respectively after her tenure in Singapore, because she feared that her children would want for care. She is currently in debt and is making plans to go to Israel but said many well-wishers including her employers at the local convent had cautioned her saying ‘the children you have brought up so well and your husband will go out of control (kai vittu pokum) but if all you want is to make money then go.’

Negotiating family patriarchy Responses to migration opportunities ‘are often determined by what happens in families and communities’; daughters or wives may be denied permission and family resource (Hondagneu-Sotelo 2000, 115). The dynamics of household decision-making was altered in Sri Lanka through state interventions that strongly incentivized women’s migration (Oishi 2005). In the absence of a supportive policy environment, family patriarchy may become the key arbiter of who goes. In seeking to gain legitimacy for their migration plans, women make provisioning failures apparent. However, their narratives provide a considerably more differentiated picture of the circumstances in which they take up overseas jobs than popular, policy or even academic narratives have allowed so far. Even women who were emphatic that they had made the decision to go i.e. that they did not come under pressure to go from their families, sought also to mitigate the element of ‘choice’ in their decision. Women were able to gain support for their migration plans with greater ease when serious failures of provisioning are made apparent. For instance, community workers would comment occasionally about emigrant women who they believed suffered from dereliction that ‘there is nothing amiss in her going. At least by this means she will be able to survive. Their narratives certainly suggest a pattern. Marital provisioning broke down when the husband died, or abandoned the family or otherwise refused or failed to provide support. Widowhood, divorce or separation shifts the burden of provisioning ‘normally’ on to the woman but failures are signalled when a husband fritters away his earnings on alcohol or is indifferent to the family’s welfare, when he is too old or infirm to work or has proved to be incompetent as a provider. A husband may abuse his wife or be suspicious of her going out to work

Stepping into the man’s shoes    37

and create difficulties for her on a regular basis making it impossible for her to work locally. Break down of marriage mitigates social disapproval as it is seen as depriving women of ‘choice’ or options. Thus, it tempered the oppositional character of women’s agency. However, women move strategically to mobilize information, resources and allies, manipulate family patriarchy, and gain support for their migration plans. They may manipulate their husbands’ consent, withhold information from them until the last moment or even go without telling them. Geetha’s husband had taken a loan to buy an auto rickshaw and instead of repaying it he ‘went around drinking’ and took more loans from moneylenders at high interest. The debt mounted. The four of us [two daughters, husband and she] were in the kind of trouble that could only mean death. I secretly applied for a passport without telling my husband. When they came for police verification my husband came to know. Then I said, isn’t it better than the four of us dying here. My husband used to drink heavily, now it’s not so bad. When my daughter was studying for her plus two my husband came drunk and tore up her books. (Geetha, upper caste emigrant, Trivandrum city, April, 12, 2012)

In 1999, she went to Kuwait with the help of her husband’s male cousin who worked there. Once her husband was persuaded, he helped her to go, chasing all the paper work and dealing with the agent on each occasion that she has changed jobs or gone to a new country in the past 13 years. Yet, she has learnt to rely on him less. ‘But my husband, if I send him Rs 50,000 to pay off a debt, he will give Rs 30,000 and spend Rs 20,000 drinking. Now I pay the creditors directly’. Geetha is one of the few upper caste overseas domestic workers in our sample and the only woman from her locality in such a job. Women may mobilize support from relatives or acquaintances working overseas to persuade their spouses or family members where the latter resist their plans of taking up an overseas job. Kochumaria’s husband had led the family into debt. In narrating the circumstances in which she took up an overseas job, she presents him as incapable of being a provider and thus implicates compulsion. Her husband had refused to let her go but she got her aunt who was working as a cleaning supervisor in Dubai to intercede in her favour. Women may present their migration as a part of family strategies to meet exigencies that arise at specific junctures such as daughters’

38    Praveena Kodoth

marriages, expensive higher education for children, debts to be paid off, or a house to be built or renovated. Framed as such the husband does not vacate the provider’s position altogether or may expect to regain it once a situation is redressed. Typically also provisioning is deferred when women go because men fail to get a visa or because ‘housemaid’ visas are cheaper compared to that for male workers. In this case, women’s migration may open the doors to an overseas job for their husbands or for their sons. Provisioning may be deferred also when women live overseas with their husbands but their salaries from domestic work are too substantial. Here too women’s agency is not underplayed. Rarely do women domestic workers live overseas with their husbands, but those who do may straddle the space of deferred provision. As an overseas worker himself, the husband may be reluctant to acknowledge the full importance of his wife’s contribution. Anwar’s sponsor-employer had provided the ‘housemaid’ visa for Anwar’s wife, Sakina, to go to Kuwait on the arrangement that she would work outside and not for him. This is illegal and is done on what is referred to as a ‘free’ visa, which entails the sale of the visa by the sponsor so that a worker is free to negotiate her employment on the ‘open’ market. Sakina had been working ‘outside’ for several Malayalee families on a part-time basis, when last year the sponsor told Anwar that he wanted her to work for him. To avoid this, Anwar found her another sponsor. ‘I took her there with me so that she could live with me and not to make her work.’ Going overseas on a ‘free’ visa is an expensive means of enabling family life overseas for a blue collar male worker. Sakina earns between Rs 30,000 and Rs 40,000 a month, much more than she would earn working full time for a sponsor but more importantly it is also likely to be more than what Anwar earns as an office boy and driver to an advocate. Her visa cost around Rs 1 lakh and must be renewed for a similar sum every two years. Renting a living space is expensive in Kuwait and there are other living expenses to be met. The woman’s income is crucial for the couple to generate significant savings. Sakina and Anwar, a young couple, have been able to use their savings to renovate the old house in a highland village in Trivandrum, where their children live with Anwar’s parents. Even as Anwar’s narratives obscure Sakina’s agency under deferred provisioning women mitigate their agency by framing their migration as being with their husband’s consent. It was rare for women to take up overseas work on their own initiative unrelated to marital provisioning. Most of our women respondents were married when they first migrated. The agency

Stepping into the man’s shoes    39

of unmarried girls is markedly oppositional even when in specific cases they may evoke sympathy. Their narratives signal the costs for women who step into the shoes of the male provider while remaining outside marital provisioning. Though their agency is not set in opposition (or allegiance) to conjugal authority, an important cost maybe in terms of the conventional form of marriage. Majida says that in going overseas she did not think about herself but only about her siblings. She believes that she is fortunate to be married at the age of 31. Late by the standards of her locality and her community and long after her younger sister’s marriage, a chance encounter in Kuwait led to her marriage. Bincy was motivated by a sense of adventure. She had a ‘love’ marriage when she was 30, long after her younger sister was married. A few of the women in this category had remained single. Women defined their aspirations clearly and articulated the rationales underlying their preference for overseas work. Full-time workers for Malayalee or Arab families who received salaries that were not significantly higher than what they may earn in Kerala pointed out that an overseas job enabled them to mobilize their earnings into substantial savings, whereas at home their earnings would dissipate in no time. Jumaila says: If you work here, with a day’s wage you can take care of the daily needs of the house. If we go to the Gulf, for our children we can get five sovereigns or something to get them married or to educate them or to build them a shelter. That this is possible, I was sure in my mind so I went. (Jumaila, Muslim, Highland village, Trivandrum, July 6, 2013)

Thus, the denial of emigrant women’s agency is a refusal of women’s own perspectives on their movement.

Conclusion The male dominated migration flows from Kerala stand in contrast to the experiences of countries in South East Asia and Sri Lanka, raising questions of policy at the macrolevel and patriarchal dynamics at the household level. Feminists have pointed out that the politics underlying migration comes to the fore when we ask what interests are served when certain groups of people migrate for particular purposes and acknowledge the power relations that underpin the migration flows and experiences of specific social groups (Silvey 2004, 6). Migration scholarship on Kerala assumes that the male-dominated flow is a ‘natural’ outcome of the dominant division of labour in families in

40    Praveena Kodoth

Kerala, following the male breadwinner norm. Such work has served to mask the power relations that underpin migratory flows. The marginalization of less skilled women migrant workers is most apparent in a migration-obsessed state like Kerala in their invisibility in routine policy considerations regarding work and remittances – which usually consider the implications of changes in overseas market conditions for migrant workers or the need to endow potential migrants with appropriate skills. Policy barriers strengthen cultural stereotypes of less skilled women migrants, reduce the scope for them to seek overseas employment legally and narrow their social profile. In this context, family patriarchy becomes the key arbiter in deciding whether and in what circumstances women may go overseas. Emigrant women’s responses to cultural barriers against mobility correspond to a form of ‘bargaining with patriarchy’ (Kandiyoti 1988).

Acknowledgements This chapter was written for a conference on ‘Gender and Migration: Negotiating Questions around Structure and Agency’ organized by the School of Women’s Studies, Jadavpur University, in association with Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, Berlin, in Kolkata on 22 and 23 August, 2013. I have benefitted from discussions of the chapter at the conference and at an open seminar at CDS on 25 October, 2013. I would like to thank T. S. Ebina, Elsa Oommen and Julie John for research assistance.

Notes 1 Agrarian and social reforms during this period affected a shift and a dispersal of patriarchal authority from propertied men and women at the apex of the agrarian and caste hierarchies, to individual men within modern conjugal institutions. See Kodoth (2008). 2 Officials in the Travancore government are said to have lamented that ‘the great majority of girls. . . regard their education, not as something of cultural value in itself, but a direct means of securing employment and competing with men in the open markets.’ (The Travancore Educational Committee Report, cited in Jeffrey 2005: 134). In the 1920s, when the Travancore government restricted nursing to married women, a noted intellectual argued in the Legislative Assembly argued that women are appointed in hospitals precisely because they have a greater natural talent than men for nursing but that married women would be better qualified on that ground than unmarried women (cited in Devika 2006: 50). Anna Chandy had argued that those who favoured restrictions on

Stepping into the man’s shoes    41

3

4

5

6

7

married women feared that women’s employment would destroy family happiness (cited in Devika 2003: 114). Women in Kerala have had the highest share in organized sector employment in India, contributed by high shares in the care sectors – education and health – despite low overall work participation rates (Kodoth and Eapen 2005: 3281–2). Even in 1957, it was estimated that one-third of employees in the Secretariat of the newly formed Kerala state were women (Jeffrey 2005: 133). K. P. Kannan points out that because of the way women in Kerala have structured their families they are now able to spend longer durations of time in ‘productive economic activities’. “Women in Kerala, it is now widely acknowledged played a crucial role in its demographic transition. Despite the very low levels of income, women have enhanced life expectancy; birth and death rates have been reduced, especially the infant mortality rate; the average number of children per couple has been brought down to below replacement levels; the average age at marriage has been raised, and women have planned their families in such a way that they are now available for a longer period of time for productive economic activities . . .” (Kannan 2000: 57). Indian workers in the semi-skilled category were the biggest beneficiaries of job opportunities that opened up in the Middle East in the early twentieth century when British oil companies established contracts in several GCC countries. Malayalees were particularly well placed to exploit these opportunities owing to the history of trade between the Arabian coast and Malabar and demographic changes in the 1930s that had spurred migration of Malayalee men to places like Chennai and Mumbai in search of jobs (Zachariah 2006). A survey of domestic workers in Kuwait conducted in 2001 found that 14 out of 43 Indian women workers had education up to high school or above (Godfrey et al. 2004). There are some instances of women with diploma in nursing taking up these jobs when they are unable to secure remunerative jobs in the profession they are trained for. Passports of women in this category had ECNR stamped on it. Where their passports were renewed in the destination too, they had the ECNR stamp. This point was also made by a senior government official of the MOIA.

References Chammartin, Gloria Moreno-Fontes. 2004. ‘Women Migrant Workers’ Protection in the Arab League States’, in Esim, Simel and Monica Smith (eds), Gender and Migration in the Arab States: The Case of Domestic Workers, International Labour Organisation, pp. 7–23. Beirut: Regional Office of the Arab States. Deffner, V. and C. Pfaffenbach. (2011). ‘Zones of Contact and Spaces of Negotiation: The Indian Diaspora in Muscat (Sultanate of

42    Praveena Kodoth Oman) – International RC21 Conference: “The Struggle to Belong Dealing with Diversity in 21st Century Urban Settings,” Amsterdam, http://www. rc21.org/conferences/amsterdam2011/edocs/Session%2028/28-DPDeffner.pdf. Devika, J. 2006. ‘Negotiating women’s social space: public debates on gender in early modern Kerala, India’, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 7(1). Esim, Simel and Monica Smith (eds). 2004. Gender and Migration in the Arab States: The Case of Domestic Workers, International Labour Organisation. Beirut: Regional Office of the Arab States. Fernandez, B. (2010). Cheap and disposable? The impact of the global economic crisis on the migration of Ethiopian women domestic workers to the Gulf. Oxfam: Gender and Development, Vol. 18, No. 2. pp. 249–262. Godfrey, Martin, Martin Ruhs, Nasra Shah and Monica Smith. 2004. ‘Migrant Domestic Workers in Kuwait: Findings based on a Field Survey and Additional Research’, in Esim and Smith (eds), Gender and Migration in the Arab States: The case of Domestic workers, International Labour Organisation, pp. 41–62. Beirut: Regional Office of the Arab States. Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette. (2000) “Feminism and Migration Scholarship,” THE ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, special issue on “The Social Sciences: A Feminist View,” guest editor, Christine Williams, vol. 571:107–120. Human Rights Watch. 2012. World Report and Country Reports, http:// www.hrw.org/world-report-2012#countries. International Labour Organization. 2013. Domestic Workers across the World: Global and Regional Statistics and the Extent of Legal Protection. Geneva: ILO Office. Jeffery, Robin. 1992. Politics, Women and Well Being: How Kerala became a Model. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Jeffery, Robin. 2005. ‘Governments and Culture: How Women made Kerala Literate’, in R Jeffrey (ed.), Media and Modernity: Communications, Women and the State in India, New Delhi: Permanent Black, pp. 112–146. Kandiyoti, D. 1988. ‘Bargaining with Patriarchy’, Gender and Society, 2(3): 274–290. Kannan, KP (2000) Food Security in a regional Perspective: A View from ‘Food Deficit’ Kerala. Working Paper No. 304. July. Thiruvananthapuram: Centre for Development Studies. Kodoth, P. 2008. ‘Gender, Caste and Matchmaking in Kerala: A Rationale for Dowry’ Development and Change, 39(2): 263–284. Kodoth, P. and M. Eapen. 2005. ‘Looking beyond Gender Parity: Gender Inequities of some Dimensions of Well Being in Kerala’, Economic and Political Weekly, XL(30). Kodoth, P. and V. J. Varghese. 2011. ‘Emigration of Female Domestic Workers from Kerala: Gender, State Policy and the Politics of Movement’, WP no 445, Centre for Development Studies, Trivandrum

Stepping into the man’s shoes    43 MOIA. 2001. High Level Committee on the Indian Diaspora. Report, http:// www.indiandiaspora.nic.in/contents.htm. 5 December 2013. R.  G. 1999. ‘Return of Overseas Contract Workers and the Nair, P.  Rehabilitation and Development in Kerala (India): A Critical Account of Policies, Performance and Prospects’, International Migration, 37(1): 209–242. Oishi, Nana. 2005. Women in Motion: Globalization, State Policies and Labor Migration in Asia. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Osella, F. and C. Osella. 2000. ‘Migration, Money and Masculinity in Kerala’ Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 6: 117–133. Pattadath, B. and A. Moors. 2012. ‘Moving between Kerala and Dubai: Women Domestic Workers, State Actors and the Misrecognition of Problems’, in Barak Kalir, Malini Sur and W Schendel (eds), Mobile Practices and Regimes of Permissiveness, pp. 151–168. Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam Press. Sabban, Rima. 2004. ‘Women Migrant Domestic Workers in the United Arab Emirates’, in Simel and Smith (ed.), Gender and Migration in the Arab States: The case of Domestic workers, International Labour Organisation. Beirut: Regional Office of the Arab States. Shah, Nasra and Indu Menon. 1997. ‘Violence against Women Migrant Workers: Issues, Data and Partial Solutions’, Asia and Pacific Migration Journal, pp. 85–104, 6(1): 5–30. Silvey, R. 2004. ‘Power, Difference and Mobility: Feminist Advances in Migration Studies’, Progress in Human Geography, 28(4): 1–17. Thimothy, R. and S. K. Sasikumar. 2012. Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf, Noida: UN Women and VV Giri National Labour Institute. Weiner, Myron. 2007. ‘International Migration and Development: Indians in the Persian Gulf’, in Prakash C Jain (ed.), Indian Diaspora in West Asia; A Reader. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers. C. 2006. The Syrian Christians of Kerala: Demographic and Zachariah, K.  Socio-economic Transition in the Twentieth century, pp. 127–176. Hyderabad: Orient Longman. Zachariah. K C and S I. Rajan. 2009. Migration and Development: The Kerala Experience. Daanish Publishers, New Delhi. Zachariah, K. C. and S. I. Rajan. 2012. Kerala’s Gulf Connectiion, 1998–2011: Economic and Social Impact of Migration. Hyderabad: Orient Blackswan.

4

Economic migration of women

Challenges and policy with reference to Indian emigration to the Gulf BASANT POTNURU Introduction International migration of people for employment purposes is a conscious move to enhance one’s economic and social well-being. The decision to migrate is essentially, either explicitly or implicitly, based on cost–benefit accounting, i.e. it occurs when anticipated benefits outweigh the costs. However, it involves many complex variables that are either not quantifiable or inter related. Therefore, the analysis on international migration often goes beyond the accounting principle of cost–benefit analysis. Moreover, the challenges are magnified when gender is brought into the analysis of international migration. For these reasons, gender is hardly introduced into the economic models of international migration. Empirical studies focusing on differences in international migration determinants, remittances and impacts between the sexes are only few (Pfeiffer et al., 2007). More often they suffer from lack of a grounding framework or appropriate instruments to enable one to reliably identify gender effects. As Kanaiaupuni (2000) states, ‘migration is a profoundly gendered process, and the conventional explanations of men’s migration in many cases do not apply to women’. In the absence of gender-specific analysis and understanding, it is often difficult to situate and argue the case of women for differential treatment in policy. The aim of this chapter is to identify specific features of determinants, processes and implications of international migration of women with special reference to Indian emigration to the Gulf. The chapter also critically analyses Indian policy on emigration and suggests gender-specific measures to address the concerns of Indian women migrant workers.

Economic migration of women    45

Trends and characteristics There are an estimated 215 million migrant workers living in the world in 2010 (IOM 2011). Further, 49 per cent of these migrants worldwide were women and an estimated 94 million women migrant stock was economically active (UNDESA 2008). Given the gradual increase of women migrant workers, international migration has entered into a phase where it can no longer be viewed from a gender-neutral lens. This gradual increase in the number of women migrants has dispelled the beliefs that migration is a male-dominated phenomenon. The increase in international migration of women has occurred due to a variety of reasons such as family reunification, labour migration, asylum, and natural disasters. Though, majority of women migrate as dependent family members of other migrants or as future spouse of someone in another country, today, they are increasingly part of workers flows moving on their own to become the principal wage earners for their families. The inherent differences between the migration experiences of men and women as workers present differential opportunities and challenges. Therefore, understanding the reasons and key features of female migration is essential for an effective policymaking. The feminization of migration also resonates through the migration trends, as some regions, communities and social classes experience more female emigration than others. Similarly, some destinations, occupations and networks attract more female migration compared to others. Reflecting global trends, women from South Asia have consistently accounted for almost 40–45 per cent of its total international migrants over the last one decade (UNDESA 2008). In some parts of Asia, however, the number of women migrating has surpassed that of males. For example, approximately two-third of migrant workers from Sri Lanka in 2002 was women. Large-scale female migration has also been witnessed in countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines (Esim and Smith 2004). On the contrary, countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal predominantly send male migrants with fewer numbers of women migrating largely through irregular channels. For all these origins, the Gulf is the key destination for female migration. Although the numbers from India are not very large, there has been a steady increase in the migration of women workers from particular States. The number of women migrating under emigration check required (ECR) category increased from 10,416 in 2008 to 14,636 in 2009 and further close to 20,000 in 2010. This constitutes

46    Basant Potnuru

about 3 to 4 per cent of the total labour migration from India under the ECR category. However, Protector of Emigrants (POE), Hyderabad office accounted for the largest share of 43 per cent and 68 per cent of the ECR clearances granted to women in 2008 and 2009, respectively. In the second position, POE, Mumbai accounted for 34.7 per cent of the ECR clearances in 2008 and POEs, Trivandrum and Cochin together accounted for 17.3 per cent in 2009 (Figure 4.1). These migrating women also typically hail from particular communities of socio-economic backwardness in the State. The majority of these women migrate to Gulf countries. However, few countries that dominate the flows are Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These three destinations together accounted for 97 per cent of all ECR women migrant workers in 2010 (Figure 4.2). Another important feature of the Gulf migration is the dominant sexual division of labour. Relatively, lower-end positions and occupations are being filled by migrant women (Thimothy and Sasikumar 2012). In particular, women migrants are predominantly engaged in domestic work and other low-end services such as beauticians, babysitters, caregivers, cleaners, etc. Table 4.1 provides a breakdown of the data on women migrant workers by occupation and destination. It clearly demonstrates that amongst the migrant

Figure 4.1 ECR clearance granted to women migrant workers by Protector of Emigrants (POE) Office, 2008–2009 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000

2008 2009

2000 0

Source: Author’s compilation of data collected from the Office of the PGE, MOIA, New Delhi.

Figure 4.2  ECR clearances granted to women migrant workers by major destinations, 2008–2010 25000

19681

20000

17880

15000 11909

11901 9602

10000

0

2009 2010

6625 6707 5884 5000

2008

3319 219 140 122 Bahrain

Kuwait

Oman

52 19 45

121 131 340

Qatar

KSA

1358 13331334

UAE

Total

Note:  The discrepancy in the total number of ECR women migrants in 2010 from Figure 4.1 are owing to the interpretation made on the basis of occupations for data cases where sex disaggregated data is not reported. Source: Author’s compilation of data collected from the Office of the PGE, MOIA, New Delhi. Table 4.1 ECR clearances granted to women migrant workers by occupation and major destinations, 2010 Category of unskilled occupation Labour Cleaner Helper Housemaid Domestic cook Servant Domestic servant Messenger Office worker House boy/ girl Domestic driver Other unskilled Total

Bahrain

Total per occupation

11 17 0 93 0

1 5 0 94 0

26 130 6 17,734 7

4 0

0 0

0 0

872 3

0 0

0 0

0 0

0 0

7 4

0

1

9

0

0

10

0

0

1

9

0

109

19

53

61

50

7

299

1,090

27

5,843

11,870

171

107

19,108

UAE

Qatar

Oman

Kuwait

KSA

6 21 5 74 4

0 1 0 3 0

2 45 0 5,734 0

6 41 1 11,736 3

860 0

4 0

4 3

7 4

0 0

0

10

Source: Author’s compilation of data collected from the Office of the PGE, MOIA, New Delhi.

48    Basant Potnuru

women ECR workers, the housemaid category is the most dominant occupation and comprises of approximately 93 per cent of all women migrant workers. Kuwait and Oman recruited the highest number of Indian women migrant workers as housemaids with 11,736 and 5,734, respectively. Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and UAE recruited 94, 93 and 74 women as housemaids, respectively. It may be noted that UAE also recruited an additional 860 women as servants.1 Figure 4.3 provides an indication of the average wage of Indian migrant workers employed as domestic workers. The monthly average wage paid to Indian domestic worker in 2010 in the UAE was Rs 13,422, in Bahrain was Rs 12,387, in KSA was Rs 12,208, and in Oman was Rs 8,623. It may be noted that Kuwait, the top destination country with about 60 per cent of all Indian migrant domestic workers in the Gulf, paid an average wage of Rs 8,082 per month. Keeping in mind this low wage rates and increasing cost of living in the Gulf on the one hand, and increasing opportunities and comparable wages for domestic work in Indian metropolitan cities on the other, it is worth considering that if Gulf migration is still attractive. However, the decision to migrate – apart from wages and living costs – also Figure 4.3 Average monthly wage of housemaids by destination country and sex, 2010 (in rupees) 18000

16945

16000 14000

13855 12387

13422 12208

12000

10750

10557

10000

8082

8000

9340 8623

Male Female

6000 4000 2000 0 Bahrain

KSA

Kuwait

Oman

Qatar

UAE

Note: NA – Not Available Source:  Author’s compilation of data collected from the Office of the PGE, MOIA, New Delhi.

Economic migration of women    49

depends on networks and labour market information. Migrants find it convincing and conducive with old channels of networks and information (even if they are international) than exploring or forming new ones. This is also the reason why Gulf attracts female workers particularly from Andhra Pradesh and Kerala where the networks are stronger, while Delhi attracts female workers as maids from Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Assam, and other states. UP and Bihar have also emerged recently as the leading origin states to the Gulf migration (MOIA 2013). However, it is largely dominated by males. It may be noted that the ECR clearances data discussed earlier may be highly misleading, as two-thirds of the actual flows are illegal that escape the ECR route. The illegal flows may have particular destinations, origins, occupations, and characteristics other than that of the legal flows. However, in the absence of any other reliable data, the ECR data serves as an overarching basis for public policy and discussions.

Concerns of women migrant workers In India, there have been increased concerns on the issues of safety and security of women migrating, particularly as housemaids to the Gulf countries. Given the nature of work and patterns of migration, these women mostly are illiterates and come from disadvantaged sections of society which in turn exposes them to severe vulnerabilities throughout the migration cycle. Instances of harassment in the form of non-payment or underpayment of wages, excessive working hours, verbal and physical abuse, sexual harassment, cheating, fraud, etc. are common (Rajan et al., 2011). However, if administered well, successful migration experience can also become an empowering experience for women by uplifting themselves from economic and social backwardness. The benefits – apart from income and wealth – also include increased autonomy and independence, the formation of a migration network, or greater opportunities for future generations, etc. Therefore, systematic interventions need to take into account various channels through which exploitation of women workers can be mitigated. This necessitates factoring gender considerations and in some cases redesigning the policies of the state. Therefore, it is important to analyse the problems and root causes of these problems in each stage of the migration cycle. The situation, nature, problems, and stakeholders associated within each stage of the migration cycle are different, and hence need different strategies and measures to

50    Basant Potnuru

remedy them. For this purpose, the entire emigration process or cycle can be divided into four stages, i.e. (a) pre-recruitment, (b) recruitment and emigration, (c) work and living in the destination, and finally, (d) return and resettlement in the origin. We now discuss these stages with respect to the concerns of women migrant workers.

Pre-recruitment The key in this stage of migration is easy access to reliable source of information for making an informed decision to migrate. In the absence of formal mechanisms to access, process and disseminate information on labour markets, the potential women migrant workers usually depend on the informal networks, family channels and intermediaries. The information accessed through these sources often is incomplete, sometimes inaccurate, and often unverifiable. Although deception may not be the ulterior motive of most information sources, experiences recounted by them may in certain instances be inaccurate and even exaggerated accounts of a life of prosperity in the Gulf (Piper 2008). This may, in turn, influence decisions made on false ground realities. Once the final decision to migrate has been taken, the intending women migrants proceed to initiate the actual process of emigration by gathering information on the technical formalities of the migration process. These steps are undertaken either through the help of family/friends in India and abroad or recruitment intermediaries whose networks are spread over the origin and destination. As the activities of the intermediaries are unregulated, they charge unreasonably high commissions for the services rendered by them. Rajan et al. (2011) estimated that on average an emigrant pays 23,500 rupees to the recruiting agent (RA) as service charges, apart from other expenses on passport and visa services, air ticket, medical test, insurance, etc. Absence of banking facilities for borrowing funds for emigration purposes leads the migrant families dependent on informal money lenders, extended family, friends, lease, or dispose of assets, etc, which burden with high interest charges.

Recruitment and emigration The ideal condition in this stage is fair, transparent, simple, and fast pace recruitment process. It also requires adequate assistance and support services during emigration. While the recruitment agents and middlemen play an important role in the facilitation of recruitment process, the absence of proper regulation and standard setting

Economic migration of women    51

protocols often leads to financial exploitation, fraud, cheating, etc. It is also in this stage that the terms and conditions of the employment contract are negotiated and agreed. Skills and competencies of workers play an important role in negotiating a better deal for workers and are also stronger weapons of empowerment that can ensure safety and security of workers IOM 2011. Apart from the core skills of their occupation, awareness about the new socio-cultural setting, work culture, behavioural etiquettes, knowing dos and don’ts, safety precautions, intelligent use of networks and social groups, etc. do play an important role in negotiation of their wages, work and living conditions. The absence of pre-departure orientation imposes a considerable challenge on the women migrant workers dealing these matters abroad IOM 2011. Emigration for women is indeed a challenge especially during travelling when they encounter with unwarranted consequences and vulnerabilities due to maligned intentions of the middlemen and brokers who accompany or assist the women during travelling. The recruitment and emigration from India is governed by the Indian Emigration Act 1983. Under the Act and through 2009 amendment of the Act, the women migrating to the Gulf for economic reasons are subjected to additional regulations such as attestation of the work contract by the Indian embassy, deposit of a security amount with the Indian Embassy by the guarantee of the minimum wage, mobile telephone facility, minimum age barrier, etc. Owing to these procedural barriers, sometimes, women rely on intermediaries and middlemen to circumvent existing regulations through forging work contracts and passports to achieve ECR clearance or migrating through tourist visa, thus pushing them into more vulnerable conditions. The scale of migration through irregular channels is largely a manifestation of the political economy of migration between India and the Gulf countries. Given the weak regulatory apparatus on either side, the anticipated rewards of irregular migration are projected to be higher for the intending migrant and the perceived risks for a defaulting RA are lower. Sometimes, though many migrants are aware of using irregular/illegal channels, have incomplete or inaccurate information about the risks associated with it.

Work and living in the destination Working and living in a foreign country all alone without the support and accompany of family members or friends is one of the most difficult phases of the migration cycle, especially for an uneducated

52    Basant Potnuru

or less educated woman. In the arrival airports at the destination, migrants, especially women, would need assistance and support services in order to make them reach the employer safely. Sometimes, it is in this stage that the maligned intentions and acts of cheating/ fraud by the middlemen appears to the migrant, especially in cases of illegal or visit visa migrants. These women emigrated through visit visa or illegal channels may also receive threats in order to force them to the whims of the middlemen or employers. In the destination country, women migrants, in particular are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by the employer, as they are outside the jurisdiction and protection of the laws of their own country and are not entitled to protection and benefits of the destination country. The occupations carried out by women are not generally covered by the labour legislation, legal protection, social security, and welfare provisions of the country of destination. Moreover, the women migrant workers, under the prevalence of the ‘Kafala’2 system in most of the Gulf countries, also have to depend on the employer for their legal status to live in the country. Therefore, they always run the risk of exploitation and abuse in the form of non-payment or underpayment of wages, excessive working hours, absence of leisure time, poor living conditions, sexual harassments, etc. Fast assimilation of women migrant workers in the destination country is also very important for their social, economic and physical well-being. For this to happen women migrant workers should have the leisure and freedom to move out of the work occasionally for meeting friends, peer groups and engage in recreational activity, so as to relieve stress and rejuvenate the socio-psychological and physical capabilities at the work. Many also suffer from emotional and psychological stress related to separation from family and work pressure. Taking an occasional break from work also helps addressing her socio-psychological health and needs. Neglect of small ailments due to lack of adequate health insurance paves the way for serious illnesses later. The key for a successful phase of work and living in the destination country would be adherence to the contract terms by both the employer and employee. They run into troubled relation when the contract terms are not respected by any of the two parties. This leads to accusations and counter-accusations, which often lead to conviction of the migrant worker for no crime committed. Absence of efficient mechanisms for outreach of the Indian Embassy and fast-pace redressal system to the needy migrant workers even exacerbates the suffering and plight of the women migrant workers during these kinds of situations.

Economic migration of women    53

Return and resettlement in the origin Return and resettlement is also an important stage of the migration cycle. The migration cycle for an individual migrant never ends without successful execution of this phase. Policymakers generally neglect this phase assuming the reintegration process as simple and returnees are capable of making fruitful decisions in their reintegration process. However, in the absence of proper guidelines, counselling services and assistance, the process may be far complicated and confusing for the migrant workers with no or less education. Sometimes, remittance money may be wasted in unproductive expenditures due to lack of proper planning and awareness on safe investment options. There might also be pressure from family, friends and peer groups to use the money for short-term and unproductive purposes. These reasons are enough to drain resources in a short span of time. The reintegration process of a returnee woman also involves her psychological and social adjustments and these are magnified manifold if the woman has been a victim of physical or sexual violence, forced abortion, psychological abuse, etc. while abroad. These problems are compounded to unmanageable stress and living when she is subjected to rejection by families and communities. Many women are unprepared for these kinds of situations. In the absence of availability of psychosocial counselling and assistance for fighting these kinds of eventualities on return, women migrants find themselves at loss on how to cope with them. Many such migrant women also look for alternative options of employment. However, due to lack of skills and opportunities of employment and training, make them dependent on families and societies despite their unwillingness. Migrant workers who suffered exploitation or abuse may not have been able to file complaints or seek legal redress while employed abroad. On return, they still may not be able to do so because of lack of suitable legal advice, support and protection. Absence of these facilities and assistance to cope with the unwarranted consequences of migration may lead to another phase of emigration full of dangers and hardship.

Indian policy on economic migration of women Before we critically analyse the Indian policy on emigration in the following section, we briefly outline here the key policy initiatives of the Government of India and several state governments governing emigration processes and practices with reference to the emigration

54    Basant Potnuru

of women. For the purpose of analyses, these policy measures may be put into four broad categories, such as, (a) regulatory measures, (b) information dissemination, (c) protection and social welfare, and (d) skills training. We now discuss these four broad categories of policy measures.

Regulatory measures Under the Emigration Act 1983, individuals with ECR category passport holders are required to furnish the following documents: (a) valid passport with a minimum period of six months validity; (b) valid work visa; (c) employment contract from the foreign employer duly attested by the Indian Embassy or permission letter from the concerned Indian Embassy; (d) receipt of prescribed fee deposit; and, (e) insurance policy under Pravasi Bharatiya Bima Yojana (PBBY). Furthermore, the Government of India, since 2009, has barred emigration of women below 30 years of age for economic reasons to 17 ECR countries. This regulation was imposed with an intention to protect women of a young age from the risks of trafficking, abuse and exploitation. Furthermore, since June 2011 employers are also required to deposit a security amount of $2,500 in the form of a bank guarantee with the Indian Embassy. The security amount is reimbursed to the employer upon completion of the contract and verification of fulfilment of terms and conditions. A failure to adhere to the terms of employment by the employer, not only nullifies the employer’s claim to the deposit money, but in extreme cases can also lead to suo moto action by the Indian Embassy in the destination country.

Information dissemination Migrant resource centres (MRCs), as strategic centres for migration-related information, are started in Hyderabad, Cochin and Panchakula. The primary objective of the MRCs is to provide information on legal and other administrative matters to help prospective migrants to plan and organize their migration in a systematic manner. Services provided at the centre include walk-in and telephonic counselling and assistance in verification of documents. MRCs are also expected to assist aspiring migrants in the job search, training opportunities and emigration process. The key state governments are also undertaking responsibility for providing emigration services to potential migrant workers. For example, the Government of Kerala has organized pre-departure

Economic migration of women    55

orientation trainings in the past, hosts a job portal and provides training opportunities through Norka Roots3. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has also undertaken similar measures through its state recruiting agency called Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh Ltd. (OMCAP)4.

Protection and social welfare measures Consular support, verification and follow-up measures are important steps to ensure the safety of migrant workers. Indian Missions are entrusted with specific responsibility to intervene and interact with the host country governments on behalf of workers when necessary. Protection and welfare of migrant workers is also propagated through establishment of institutions such as the Indian Workers Resource Centres (IWRC) abroad (currently, in Dubai only) and Overseas Workers Resource Centre in New Delhi. These institutions register, respond and monitor complaints received from emigrant workers and migrant families. Shelter homes have been instituted in the Indian Embassies in the key destination countries in the Gulf to accommodate and address the issues of run-away women migrant workers. These services have been adapted within the framework of Indian Embassies and IWRC. Other services common to all migrant workers are the PBBY, Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), Pension and Life-insurance Fund for Overseas Indian Workers (PLIF) scheme, etc.5

Skills training Skills training, as stated in the previous section, is an essential part of the empowerment process. It not only enhances the productivity of workers but also command better wages and working conditions in the destination. Under the current framework, state governments’ overseas recruitment bodies like OMCAP and Norka Roots are mandated to provide skills training in key sectors and occupations. Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs is also encouraging to institute skills-training programmes through public–private partnership mode.

Limitations of policy and practices The policy framework discussed earlier suffers from serious limitations and gaps in the implementation. Countries that have been able to drive policy and managed emigration proactively have been rewarded the most. For example, about two-thirds of emigrants from

56    Basant Potnuru

Sri Lanka were females and most of them were leaving as housemaids in 2003. However, by 2011, the share of women had come down to half to register an increase in skilled and male migration (Kumar and Rajan 2014). This turnaround has been achieved in Sri Lanka not by restricting female migration but through appropriate policies that encouraged skilled and male migration from the country. Here, the argument is not to discourage female migration from India either but to encourage and strengthen the quality of emigration of women by pushing them up in the occupational ladder and achieve diversification of destinations through nurturing appropriate skills, training and policy. This in turn can reduce the number of women migrating as housemaids but increase their representation in other occupations and seek diversification of destinations. The foremost challenge in the current emigration policy practices in India is that the legal processes and institutions of emigration are undermined by the extensive networks of unscrupulous middlemen. These middlemen act as an interphase between the migrants and the institutional mechanisms, thereby making it difficult for the women to access reliable information. India’s continued failure to effectively regulate the operations of RAs and intermediaries gives credence to the suspicion and rumour that powerful vested interests are blocking reforms in the system (Kumar and Rajan 2014). The policy on restriction of emigration on women below 30 years of age has come under sharp criticism. Kodoth and Varghese (2012) have argued that this ‘protectionism’ by the state has contributed to the production of underground operation of emigration activities for women. Moreover, policy of protection by exception has not offered any substantial improvements but the exercise is reduced to document verification alone (Rajan et al. 2011). While the intent of the policy has been to safeguard the interests of women workers, the actual implications of the policy have been counterintuitive. Similarly, more restrictive measures like attestation of the contract and bank guarantee security deposit with the Indian embassy by the employer reduces the competitiveness of Indian women migrant workers abroad. Some of the past initiatives on information dissemination, pre-departure orientation and training programmes have not been continued for simple reasons of bureaucratic hassles and disinterest. For example, housekeeping trainings for intending migrant housemaids initiated in Andhra Pradesh by OMCAP were halted after a year. India Centre for Migration’s (ICM), the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) sponsored, North-east Skills Training Pilot Programme aiming to train 10,000 youth in three years time in

Economic migration of women    57

health care, hospitality and education sectors for overseas employment is also under hold (ICM 2012). Another initiative of ICM and UN Women collaboration to launch a project on ‘Empowerment of women migrant workers from India to the Gulf’ also could not see light (ICM 2011). The MRCs are indeed wrongly positioned in the current set-up as extensive desks of the POEs. MRC, as an institution to provide accurate information on emigration and address grievances of migrants, is actually in conflict with the interests and functions of the POE. Moreover, these centres are largely inaccessible and poorly envisaged with inadequate financial and manpower resources to take independent decisions and reach out the migrants. Therefore, to enable the MRCs to function and discharge duties effectively, they need to be made autonomous to provide services independently. The centres also need to be widely publicized and set-up their extended help desks in the villages and districts of major migrant origin regions (Kumar and Rajan 2014). Lastly, the centre and state governments must also mobilize adequate resources to these centres to undertake finishing skills and pre-departure orientation training, apart from undertaking information dissemination activities. Systematic and efficient mechanisms to support and assist migrant workers at the arrival in the destination country are either absent or inadequate. There is no assistance or help desk(s) available in the arrival airports of the destination countries. Labour Attaches at the Indian Missions, IWRCs, OWRC (Overseas Workers Resource Center) and MRCs though are mandated to perform tasks 24 × 7 and coordinate to assist, provide information and redress grievances of the migrants are constrained by time, manpower and will. Sometimes, it is also difficult on the part of the migrants to reach out to the institutions either due to unawareness of the existence of these institutions or in anticipation of the unsatisfactory response and results approaching these. Had there been any kind of arrangements made in agreement with the destination country governments to set-up help desks at the major airports in the destination to assist and register details of women migrant workers at the arrival, it would have provided opportunity for both the governments to document and maintain data for follow-up and relevant policy formulations on both sides. As discussed earlier, the stage of return and resettlement in the origin is completely a neglected area in the Indian policy practices. Maximizing the benefits of remittances while abroad and reintegration upon return are essential towards ensuring labour migration

58    Basant Potnuru

benefits. The governments have a key responsibility in providing assistance to returnee workers through providing opportunities for skill upgradation and remittance-linked investment products. Adequate intervention and incentives for the civil society organization may also be provided by the government in order to set-up mechanisms for counselling and assistance on resettlement issues of the returnee women. Pourakhi, a returnee association in Kathmandu, Nepal is a best example of a non-government initiative in providing assistance for rehabilitation and distress management of the returnee women.

Conclusion The main purpose of the ECR regulation was to protect the interests of the most vulnerable categories of workers abroad. Despite all its measures, it could neither stop the emigration of vulnerable categories through irregular channels nor could it ensure their safety abroad. The law and its stipulations rather served the interest of the vested exploiting migrants and pushing them to illegal recourse. In fact, the ECR clearance in India has reduced to merely a documentation exercise rather than a strong instrument to protect and promote the welfare of migrant workers abroad. It is widely felt now that it is high time to do away with the remaining list of 17 ECR countries and scrap the ECR system making emigration free (Rajan et al., 2011). One of the important constraints of Indian policy on emigration is its policy statement and belief that it ‘neither encourages nor restricts emigration’. This in the twenty-first century, however, has no relevance, particularly when it is widely acknowledged that the changing demography of the world can highly work in favour of India due to its demographic dividend. While the shortage of skills world over estimated at 56.5 million by 2020, India is expected to have a surplus of 47 million people by then. The forecasted Indian population growth of 33 per cent between 2005 and 2030 will bring a massive increase in the working age population putting unmanageable pressure on employment opportunities in India (Khadria 2009). Therefore, the challenge for India is to be able to benefit from the overseas opportunities and train the youth including women according to the skills and qualifications required by diverse destination countries. Upholding the indifference of policy and quietly expecting that its surplus workers would choose to migrate and manage to find employment abroad on their own is unlikely in a competitive world. If it aspires to achieve the fruits of its demographic dividend, it has to

Economic migration of women    59

make systematic planning and investment for specialized training of the surplus workers years before the point of emigration. This would not be possible with the current strategy of merely facilitating those who chooses to migrate almost at the point of departure without possession of valued skills. Therefore, it has to proactively decide to incentivize people to acquire specialized skills valued abroad and position India as a preferred source country of skilled and trained workers before it gets too late. The discussions in the preceding sections highlight the need for a coherent strategy for an orderly and humane experience of international migration. Under the present emigration framework, legal channels and process are largely undermined by the extensive networks of unscrupulous middlemen who reach out better to the migrant communities than the formal institutions of emigration do. Therefore, it is important to reverse the current environment of emigration that is highly dependent on middlemen/brokers to the one that draws the migrants and migrant families close to the formal institutions and channels of emigration. The state machinery and mechanisms needs to be reformed, expanded and strengthened to reach out to the migrant communities effectively. Apart from these, keeping a long-term perspective, it is important to gradually free all kinds of economic migration from the country and actively monitor flows through a mandatory system of registration of emigrants so as to build and maintain databases for critical analysis and informed policy making towards promotion, empowerment and welfare of migrant workers. Specific mechanisms for facilitation rather than restriction of women migrant workers are to be set-up for their safe, empowered and dignified work and living abroad. These include expansion and enhancement of the capabilities of the MRCs, setting up of MRC’s extended help desks at the high density emigration villages and districts, specialized skills training centres for overseas employment, mandatory pre-departure orientation, help desks at the major origin and arrival airports, arrangements for networking, leisure and recreation of the women migrant workers while staying abroad, and appropriate support on return and resettlement. Setting up of some of these mechanisms may also need understanding, agreements and coordination with the host countries’ institutions and governments. All this can be achieved only when strong political and bureaucratic will is restored upon setting up twenty-first century new governance structures of emigration foreseeing the development potential of emigration in the foreseeable future.

60    Basant Potnuru

Acknowledgements The author expresses his sincere thanks to the women migrant workers at Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and UAE who extended time and shared their experiences of emigration during his field visits. He also extends thanks to Ritika Arora and Vishishta Sam for providing initial research assistance at ICM and Smita Mitra of UN Women for supporting during field visits. However, any possible errors in the chapter rest with the author alone.

Notes 1 The application form for seeking ECR clearance comprises of many questions pertaining to the socio-economic profile of the intending migrant. Under the occupation sub groups, applicants can choose to fill from a variety of occupations. Therein, housemaids and servants appear as distinct occupations. 2 Under the Kafala system, the employer sponsors the visa for the migrant worker which authorizes the migrant to temporarily reside in the country. On withdrawal of the job/employment by the employer, the migrant automatically losses the right to stay in the country and thus becomes irregular. 3 Norka-Roots is the field agency of the Department of NORKA, set-up in 2002. 4 Overseas Manpower Company Andhra Pradesh Limited (OMCAP) is a recruiting agency set-up and by Government of Andhra Pradesh. 5 Details of these schemes may be obtained from the website of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs: www.moia.nic.in.

References Esim, S. and M Smith. 2004. Gender and Migration in Arab states: the case of domestic workers. Beirut: International Labour Organisation http:// www.ilo.org/public/english/region/arpro/beirut/downloads/publ/ publ_26_eng.pdf, (accessed on 3 December 2012). ICM 2011. Annual Report 2011–12. New Delhi: India Centre for Migration. ICM 2012. Annual Report 2012–13. New Delhi: India Centre for Migration. Kanaiaupuni, S. M. 2000. ‘Reframing the Migration Question: An Analysis of Men, Women, and Gender in Mexico’, Social Forces, 78(4): 1311–1347. Khadria, B. 2009. India Migration Report 2009: Past, Present and Future Outlook. New York: Cambridge University Press. Kodoth, P. and V. J. Varghese. 2012. ‘Emigration of Women Domestic Workers from Kerala: Gender, State Policy and the Politics of Movement’. CDS Working Paper 445.

Economic migration of women    61 Kumar, K. and S Irudaya Rajan. 2014. Emigration in 21st Century India: Governance, Legislations and Institutions, India: Routledge. MOIA. 2013. Annual Report 2012–13. New Delhi: Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India. MOIA.gov.in. Office of the Protector General of Emigrants. Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. New Delhi: Government of India. Pfeiffer, L., S Richter, P Fletcher, and J. E. Taylor. 2011. ‘Gender in Economic Research on International Migration and its Impacts: A Critical Review’, in Andrew R. Morrison, Maurice Schiff, Mirja Ajoblom (eds), The International Migration of Women, Chapter 2. Washington, DC: Palgrave Macmillan, the World Bank. Piper, Nicola. 2008. New Perspectives on Gender and Migration. New York: Routledge. Rajan, S. I., V. J. Varghese and J. Kumar. 2011. Dreaming Mobility and Buying Vulnerability: Overseas Recruitment Practices in India. New Delhi: Routledge India. Thimothy, Rakhee and S. K. Sasikumar. 2012. Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf. Noida: UN Women and V.V. Giri National Labour Institute. UNDESA. 2008 ‘International Migrant Stock: The 2008 Revision’, http://www. un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/publications/ migrationreport/migreport.shtml (accessed on 3 December 2012). International Organization for Migration. 2011. World Migration Report 2011. http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/free/WMR2011_English.pdf (accessed on 7 December 2012).

5

Addressing the missing link

Women domestic workers migrating from South Asia to the Gulf SMITA MITRA Gender and labour migration intersection We are living in a period of social realignments for which the term ‘global society’ best reflects the multiscale and multilevel interdependence and connectedness between nations and communities. Policy discourse on migration and development is most often based on interest groups, reacting to the prevailing domestic, bilateral or political forces. Sometimes, these contradict the complex realities of a globalized world driven by trade, financial capital and the gendered division of labour, in the continuum of care and domestic work. The absence of an international governance framework for migration, which is acceptable from a human rights standpoint and politically viable with a nation’s politics, makes this a challenge in itself. Moreover, there is a dynamic market condition to contend with which puts migrant workers at the mercy of employers, recruiting agents and manpower agencies. Increasing interdependence of goods and labour markets in an unbalanced global economy is spurring migration flows across the world. Thus, triggered by intraregional economic and demographic gaps, an increasing number of women with low skill sets migrate as domestic workers from Asia to the Gulf. To place gender issues in the discourse on transnational migration and labour rights and to ground practices of abuse of women migrants as ‘equal right holders’, is not only just challenging but also very complex to address. Experiences of human rights abuse in labour migration management have been found to be embedded at the intersections of structures of power and identities that are historically formed. Though these structures remain relatively stable and can be reinforced or altered under specific circumstances, yet the framework

Addressing the missing link    63

of universal rights does not feature in this complex arrangement of labour mobility and the gendered division of labour. The International Human Rights regime is built on treaties allowing for a single cause of discrimination to which other causes can be added. These treaties cannot deal with multiple inequalities and multicausal discrimination occurring simultaneously or sequentially, as in the process of migration. This intersection of human rights requires cooperation across varied institutions; namely government, societal, bilateral, and multilateral development agencies. Therefore it is important to analyse the intersection of the social identities of women in the domain of domestic work, in order to promote and protect their rights and entitlements. This could be accomplished through the regulation of recruitment processes and the creation of model instruments like standard employment contract, supporting migrants associations. Promoting effective engagement between countries of origin and employment through formulation of gender-responsive policies on labour migration management and strengthening intergovernmental processes such as the Colombo Process and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue will go a long way in addressing some of the basic concerns.

Background According to the United Nations (UN) data, globally, there are approximately 215 million international migrants, the majority of whom are foreign workers and their families IOM, 2010. Of these, 105 million are estimated to be women. The driving forces behind global migration, in terms of the push and pull factors, can be ascribed to two main interconnected trends as listed hereunder: (1) global ageing, due to enhanced life expectancy, notably in Europe and East Asia, where the share of the age group of 65+ is above 15 per cent; paralleled by a declining fertility rate, as per the number of children per women, which has halved over the last 20 years. The latter can largely be attributed to rising educational standards and the increasing labour force participation of women worldwide. Those two demographic developments are offset against an unequal distribution of the world’s population, with Asia taking the lion’s share of 57 per cent of the world’s 7 billion, followed by Africa (28%) and Latin America (9%) (Münz, 2012).

64    Smita Mitra Table 5.1 Migrant domestic workers in Gulf Cooperation Council countries Country Bahrain Kuwait Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia

Year

Total

Women

2011* 2010 2009 2009 2009

83,198 569,536 94,592 80,342 777,254

51,811 310,402 69,256 48,147 506,950

*First quarter Source: Esim and Carole 2011, as quoted in Thimothy and Sasikumar 2012, 24.

(2) The second broad trend is related to the fact that many economies all over the world are unable to generate sufficient employment opportunities, leading to a global job crisis as well as a large employment deficit. This trend explains the continuing significance of international migration for work, the main functions of which are to ease unemployment pressures in countries of origin on one hand, and to supply the much needed (but unwanted) workforce in less attractive jobs in countries of destination, on the other. The reappearance or persistence of domestic work, as part of the expanding global care economy, is a reflection of the above trends. In addition, the recent economic and financial crisis is forcing more women into paid employment in the ‘productive’ economy, whilst paying others, mostly women (among them increasing numbers of migrants, hired more often on informal terms), to carry out ‘reproductive’ work in private households, especially with respect to elderly and child care. Out of the 6.45 million international women migrants from South Asia, the most copious are those originating from India (2.6 million), followed by Pakistan (1.9 million). Marriage and family reunification are common reasons for migration in these countries (Thimothy and Sasikumar 2012), whereas in Sri Lanka, 89 per cent of migrant women are registered as ‘housemaids’ (SLBFE 2009, as quoted in Thimothy and Sasikumar 2012).

Feminist and macroeconomic analysis of labour migration Feminization of migration across the developing world is one of the entrenched features of the twenty-first century. One in seven persons

Addressing the missing link    65

worldwide is a migrant. In 2009, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated that in addition to the 215 million international migrants across the globe, there were an additional 740 million internal migrants. The 2011 research on, ‘Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf: A Study of Trends and Patterns’ commissioned by UN Women, points out that in the mid-1990s an estimated 800,000 Asian women were migrating to the Middle East annually, mostly as domestic workers (See Table 5.1). By the year 2000, an estimated 2 million Asian women were working in neighbouring countries. This may have increased to two-and-a-half million or more by now. It should be noted that these figures reflect only those who are moving through legal channels; however, for those moving across illegally (undocumented), the numbers are even more difficult to estimate. There are many push and pull factors, which contribute to the high levels of women migrating from South Asian countries to the Gulf in particular. The ’push’ factors include poverty, lack of decent work and sustainable livelihoods, gender inequality, violence at home, political instability, climate change, and environmental degradation. Many women, including young women, migrate independently as a basic strategy for survival to support themselves and their families. The Gulf often presents a cheaper and closer option with less red tape, making it easier for migrants to enter legally than other countries in the West. Among the ‘pull’ factors, the strongest is that there are high prospects of employment for domestic workers in the Gulf countries. In light of the increased middle class prosperity in the Gulf countries and fuelled by its feudal social structure, domestic workers are now looked upon as a necessity. It should be noted that local domestic workers will often charge higher prices than migrants. There is a clear gender differentiated demand for labour in the Gulf. While the majority of men are engaged in the production and construction sectors, the majority of women undertake work in the care and entertainment sectors, the working conditions of which are likely to be more precarious. According to the 2009 estimations of UNDP, 52 per cent of the total Sri Lankan emigrants were women, of which, 89 per cent migrated as housemaids. Overall, South Asia accounts for nearly one-fourth of remittance flows to developing countries. In 2012, India was the largest recipient of remittances (US $55 billion) followed by Bangladesh (US $11.1 billion) and Pakistan (US $9.4 billion). However, as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), remittances are most significant for Nepal (22.9%), Bangladesh (11.8%) and Sri Lanka (7.9%). There is a glaring

66    Smita Mitra

paucity of gender-disaggregated data with regard to remittance flows of women from the Gulf countries to South Asia, both at the macroand microeconomic levels. There is a critical need for such data, in order to particularly know how the remittances have been used by the recipients, with a view to gauging and understanding how this affects the community and the local economy. This data can then be used to enhance the efficiency of the remittance transfer system and to maximize its benefits to the desired individuals and communities. Remittances from migrants account for as much as 23 per cent of the GDP in some countries. Women form 49 per cent of the global migrant workforce and almost three quarters of the domestic migrant workers in the Gulf.

Vulnerabilities and violence faced by women migrant workers in the Gulf Many women migrant workers end up in unregulated workplaces in the informal economy, in domestic work, hospitality and entertainment. They lack access to labour and social protection, embracing social services like health care, education and social safety nets, which provide welfare and pension benefits, protection under labour laws as well as employment contracts. This leaves them vulnerable to multiple abuses, such as harsh working and living conditions, low wages, illegal withholding of wages and travel documents, and premature termination of employment. Continued discrimination, violence and exploitation of women migrant workers, including sexual and gender-based violence, infringes upon their fundamental human rights, simultaneously reducing productivity and economic growth. In many of the Gulf countries, these dangers are greatly perpetuated and exacerbated by the ‘Kafaala’ system as well as the nature of the domestic work, which is often ‘private’ and therefore ‘invisible’.

Women migrant workers employed in domestic work Whilst offering important opportunities for many to secure their own and their families’ livelihoods, domestic work also exposes migrants to particular vulnerabilities, especially those who are underage, members of ethnic minority/indigenous groups, and/or live-in workers. Domestic work worldwide is an unregulated sector of the labour market. Domestic care work should no longer remain peripheral to the development agenda because domestic women migrant workers are

Addressing the missing link    67

very important economic actors in both the sending and the receiving country. Domestic women migrant workers contribute to the economies of the receiving country through their labour, skills and consumption, accelerating both production and growth. In the majority of cases, they do valuable work at wages lower than would be acceptable to citizens of the receiving country. Through their domestic work, the migrant workers enable family members in the receiving countries to have the freedom and opportunity to engage in work and enterprise that adds substantially to the economy. In addition, domestic women migrant workers contribute through social and economic remittances, saving schemes and diaspora investments to their countries of origin. The potential of the returnee migrant women workers can be harnessed to allow them to transfer their valuable skills, knowledge and experience to productive activities in their countries of origin. Despite its inherent value, domestic care work has remained peripheral and ‘invisible’ in the development agenda because it takes place within the privacy of the home. It carries the low value ascribed to women’s unpaid care work; it is perceived as requiring no special skills except those deemed ‘intrinsically feminine’; and is categorized as informal work. Domestic work is also often poorly regulated or unregulated and consequently remains one of the most unprotected and risk-prone professions for women and their families. The protection of domestic workers’ rights needs to be foregrounded in the development agenda, in order for it to be truly meaningful. ‘Development’ is referred to as human development in an integral sense that takes into consideration the well-being of the person and of all people, in terms of different dimensions: economic (GDP, distribution of income and wealth), social (quality of life in terms of health, education, nutrition, employment, non-discrimination on the basis of gender, etc.), political (respect for all human rights, representative and participatory democracy, rule of law), cultural (identity, capacity for intercultural dialogue), and ecological. As stated in 2006, by Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: ‘managing migration flows effectively, requires understanding that migrants are not simply agents of development but human beings with rights, which States have an obligation to protect’.

UN Women on empowering women migrant workers in Asia UN Women’s regional programme in Asia Pacific and the Arab States on empowering women migrant workers promotes women’s

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human rights and creates an enabling environment to facilitate empowerment, This it does by supporting policy, institutional and socio-economic reforms for women in the informal sector, especially women migrant workers; building the capacity of women migrant workers to claim their rights and entitlements; and by ensuring equal opportunities and the promotion of their rights throughout the migration process. At the global level, UN Women extends support to the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) and the Global Migration Group (GMG) an interagency group focused on migration. As an integral component of this programme, the aim is to support the establishment of legal frameworks and processes that promote and protect the human as well as the labour rights of women migrant workers in South Asia. The proposed development of such a standardized package on contracts, aligned with the recommendations that emerged from the Colombo Process, will go a long way in facilitating transparency in agreements, and in promoting gender responsive and orderly labour migration management. The UN Women Office for India, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka, has taken the first step to this by supporting a Regional Consultation led by the Core Group on Gender Responsive Labour Migration Management. It brought together a wide range of stakeholder constituencies from the South Asia and Gulf countries, including experts on gender and migration, to advise and support evidence-based advocacy by UN Women, on issues pertaining to the safe mobility and migration of women domestic workers from South Asia. The two-day deliberations culminated in a recommendation for 15 strategic interventions. These are geared towards building cohesive action to respond to the challenges of safe mobility for women and in designing an apparatus for a standardized regulation to promote safe, informed and orderly migration of women and men across the regions.

Situating women labour migration in SAARC In South Asia, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children, ratified by all Member States, came into force on 15 November 2005. They have constituted a Regional Task Force to implement this convention. Given the porous borders in the region, along with overlaps between migration for economic reasons and falling prey to trafficking rings, there is a need to design and

Addressing the missing link    69

implement strategic interventions, which strengthen labour mobility and migration management in South Asia. Undocumented migrant women workers are easy prey for traffickers. Indeed, it has been observed that traffickers fish in the waters of migration. Studies have established that there are close linkages between trafficking and unsafe migration, and these need to be kept in mind when designing interventions. The potential undocumented woman migrant worker and the potential victim of trafficking, share certain common characteristics, which include poverty, low levels/absence of skills and education, lack of awareness of their rights, and a compelling desire to improve their economic situation. At the 17th SAARC Summit held at Addu Atoll in Maldives on 10–11 November 2011, Member States affirmed interest in the implementation of the SAARC Social Charter and people’s right to mobility with dignity. Transnational mobility, thus, needs to be respected as a human right. It was further declared that migrants should be assured of dignity and the right to work, as well as physical protection, basic amenities and adequate wages. The large-scale migration of women workers from South Asia has well-documented historical roots in the colonial period. Indentured migration to the plantation colonies in the nineteenth century, for instance, was governed by the strict requirement stipulated by the colonial government, of a minimum of 40 women per 100 men. Most women who migrated were single, with only a minority travelling with their family. This had important consequences on the character of the household and community formation in the destination economies. It also affected the way migration was looked at in the sending regions, with sentiments of national honour, often attached to the treatment of women migrants. The exploitation of single women in the plantations triggered massive nationalist agitations against indentured migration and eventually led to its abolition in 1916. The regulation of women’s migration was thus crucial, both at the inception and at the end of migration systems of the nineteenth century. The pattern of women’s migration from South Asia underwent a change, starting in the 1970s, when the migration and emigration of low- and semi-skilled workers from the region to the Gulf countries accelerated, as result of the construction boom, spurred by the new found oil exporting economies. The increase of oil prices in the 1970s led to a vast demand for labourers in the Gulf, including domestic workers. This demand continued to grow in the Gulf oil exporting countries, and exists even today, with minor periods of slow down due to fluctuating global oil prices and economic downturns. Indeed, the demand for labourers and domestic workers in the Gulf region has only increased.

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Many women workers, who have migrated to these countries, have been driven by a search for better economic opportunities. Lack of viable opportunities in the home country, widespread poverty, the desire for a better future, and the promise of a higher remuneration in the destination country are some of the main reasons for migration of women. The impact of these factors varies across different countries. Other aspects such as a harsh family life, alcoholism of male members of the family and oppressive social systems, also play a crucial role in influencing women’s decision to migrate. One of the striking trends of migration in the South Asian subregion is that migration has been taking place both intra- and interregionally. Rising poverty levels with increasing opportunities in neighbouring countries coupled with a comparative ease of mobility have augmented the number of labour migrants in this subregion. Flow of remittances to the developing countries has grown over the past two-and-a-half decades. Officially, it has increased from US$ 4.2 billion in 1990 to US$ 50 billion in 2006. India continues to retain its position as the leading recipient of remittances in the world. According to the World Bank, remittances to developing countries are estimated to have reached US$ 372 billion in 2011. It predicts that, despite the current global economic conditions, remittance flows are expected to continue growing with global remittances expected to reach US$ 615 billion by 2014, of which, US$ 467 billion will flow to developing countries. Remittances from women migrant workers generate substantial economic benefits for both the countries of origin and the countries of employment – most visibly, in the direct benefit accruing to their families. However, there is a woeful lack of data on the contribution of women migrant workers. UN Women is mandated by the UN General Assembly to be the lead UN agency to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. One of its comparative advantages is its convening power. With its ability to bring together diverse stakeholders in a collegial manner, UN Women is well positioned to visualize the issues and concerns of women migrant workers and poor women in the informal sector, bringing them to the forefront in the policy and development discourse. UN Women’s gender responsive labour management programme focuses on the gender component and on adult women migrants entering the domestic work sector. This is because, in the process of migration – specifically unsafe migration – the risk for trafficking

Addressing the missing link    71

is highest. As noted earlier, those opting for unsafe migration are particularly vulnerable due to their lack of education and skills. As with all workers in the informal sector, they fall outside the formal employment laws and regulations, and therefore protection. •

• •

•

• • • •

•

•

In light of the existing scenario, the following are the recommendations for policymakers and programme managers to make migration a gender just and empowering experience for both men and women. Undertake advocacy for the creation of an international governance framework for migration based on human rights principles and seek endorsement of Member States. Encourage cooperation among relevant key institutions, including governmental, societal, bilateral, and multilateral development agencies, to enable the realization of diverse rights, viz. labour rights, women’s rights and human rights. Need for a coherent and focused policy for formalized management of low skilled labour migration so that low-skilled workers do not end up as irregular migrants either in transit or at the destination. Accelerate engagement between countries of origin and employment in the formulation and implementation of ­gender-responsive policies on labour migration management. Enhance coordination between the sending and receiving countries to promote the safety of women migrant workers and strengthen bilateral agreements. Promote the generation of reliable gender disaggregated data with regard to remittance flows of women from the Gulf countries to South Asia. Undertake research to assess the impact of the use of remittances by recipients at home and use the findings to enhance the efficiency of the remittance transfer system and maximize its benefits to the desired individuals and communities. Use existing international human rights instruments, such as the conventions on human rights and labour migration optimally; use the Colombo Declaration proactively as a blue print for action. Strengthen engagement with SAARC and other intergovernmental bodies and processes, such as the Colombo Process and the Abu Dhabi Dialogue.

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• Provide better information and support services to prepare migrant workers for their travel overseas. Invest in the development of orientation programmes and pre-departure information packages, preferably using pictures and simple language, making them widely available – both in the urban and rural areas at a designated office/resource centre. These should include a helpline number, which can be reached and is empowered to act in a time-bound manner. • Institute a system/mechanism to provide an integrated response to cases of violence against women throughout the entire cycle of migration (pre-departure, in-transit, return, and reintegration).

References IOM. 2010. World Migration Report 2010. Geneva: International Organisation for Migration. Münz, Rainer. 2012. Global Challenges: Aging and Potentially Shrinking Labor Forces. Paper presented at the 11th Global Conference on Aging organized by the International Federation on Aging, held at Prague, May 29, 2012. Thimothy, R. and S. K. Sasikumar. 2012. Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf, New Delhi: V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, sponsored by UN Women.

6

Vulnerability of women in international marriage migration RENUKA MISHrA Since time immemorial, migration to a new family, village or town through marriage is an inevitable feature of a women’s life in patriarchal societies. In patriarchal systems, migration of the groom is not the norm. Migration on marriage brings in vulnerabilities associated with the new environment and social mores for the bride. The vulnerabilities are to some extent similar to the one’s faced by an emigrant at a foreign nation. A migrant woman in marriage is required to construct her identity in an alien family, confront problems and deploy strategies to make life in the in-laws family more liveable. However, she is constrained by the structures of the in-laws’ family, its regulatory rituals, beliefs and practices, and the limits imposed upon her. She is expected to be quiet and docile. The situation is perhaps not much different from what an emigrant faces in a foreign nation. They are required to explore ways to construct their identity in an alien land, due to vulnerabilities associated in a foreign country they face problems, they need to take recourse to legal or illegal strategies to make their life liveable in the host country. Before leaving the country, they are required to pay hefty fees to the recruiting agents. The marriage process of woman migrant also involves passing of dowry or gifts to in-laws’ family before marriage. Government authorities – both national and foreign – allow migration only if the person has the basic qualification for being eligible for a job in a foreign country. The qualifications of the would-be-bride are examined and scrutinized by the in-laws before granting green signal for marriage. Certain cruelties which are meted out on emigrant workers (withholding of the passport by foreign employer, non-payment of salary by employer, being put behind bars for asking legitimate requirements/demands) in foreign countries would not have occurred in the normal circumstances in the home country. Brides also face

74    Renuka Mishra

sometimes life-threatening circumstances at their in-laws’ place. According to the National Crime Records Bureau Report 2012 on ‘Crime in India’ 1,06,527 cases were registered under cruelty by husband or his relatives and 8,233 were registered under dowry deaths. However, it is at times claimed that marriage migration can offer women the same chances of economic improvement that labour migration offers to men. In material terms this may be realistic, but in terms of the status, autonomy and control they confer, the options are not comparable. This chapter is divided into three major sections as listed hereunder. 1. Review of literature on marriage, migration and vulnerabilities of women 2. Research methodology and findings of an empirical study based on questionnaire canvassed among 360 married women across the country particularly, North-East, Uttar Pradesh and National Capital Territory Region 3. Current policy interventions of Government of India to support the marriage migrants in a situation of vulnerability and suggestions.

Review of literature The sociological literature is almost unanimous in the conclusion that truly matriarchal societies no longer exist. Campbell (2002) summarized as follows: ‘there are societies that are matrilineal and matrilocal and women are accorded veneration and respect but there are no societies which violate the universality of patriarchy defined as “a system of organizations in which the overwhelming number of upper positions in hierarchies are occupied by males” ’. In both China and India, for instance, where the rule of patri (viri) local marriage is predominant, marriage for women entailed a new home and work environment, and possibly even different types of work, structured by new people, relationships and authorities to ­submit to. The migrant in such a case was expected to follow the local mores and ways of doing things rather than those of her natal family or locality, and it would take time for her to be incorporated as an insider, if ever. In effect, and simply by virtue of her marriage, she was the epitome of the permanent migrant. For a viri locally resident bride, the nature of her relationships with her in-laws is of fundamental importance to the quality of her married life, as evinced

Women in international marriage migration    75

by the common stereotypes of the overbearing mother-in-law, jealous sister-in-law and vulnerable bride. Women’s ‘marriage migration’ – that is migration within or as a result of marriage – may often be the most efficient and socially acceptable means available to disadvantaged women for social and economic mobility. Feminist scholars have come to recognize the impossibility, empirically speaking, of making a meaningful distinction between ‘marriage’ or ‘family migration’ on the one hand, and ‘labour migration’ on the other. Given women’s role in family subsistence production, ‘wives’ are typically also ‘workers’ though their ‘work’ may not be adequately acknowledged as such. Social norms make the bride/wife do all the domestic chores while the mother-in-laws and sister-inlaws enjoy dominance over the new entrant in the form of bride. Migrant brides are more vulnerable and isolated than other married women. They may arrive in their husband’s village or town without friends or even acquaintances, and with little chance of appeal to their own far distant families if they are ill-treated, abused or merely given subservient status. It is believed that dowry in South Asia is a form of enticement or compensation paid in a tight marriage market to the husband and the family for taking on an ‘unproductive’ women; conversely, bride price is interpreted as a positive valuation of women’s productive capacity and a form of compensation to the women’s family for the loss of her productive labour. Given these assumptions, the long-term decline in bride price practices in various communities and regions and the increase and expansion of the ‘dowry system’ are read as indicative of women’s low and declining status in the South Asian context.

Research methodology and findings In order to conduct the study, a questionnaire was designed (both in English and Hindi languages) to capture the factors which are symptomatic of migration-related vulnerabilities in a marriage. The factors included in the questionnaire are given as under: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Fear of migration Whether migrated on marriage Freedom of speech post-migration in marriage Requirement to adjust at in-laws’ place Whether called an outsider by in-laws Difference in the economic condition of the bride’s family and bridegroom’s family

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7. Dowry or gifts delivered before marriage 8. Harassment on account of non-payment of dowry The questions were to be answered in either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to avoid ambiguities. The respondents to the questionnaire are married women. The study covered North-East (Assam and Meghalaya), North (Uttar Pradesh) and National Capital Territory Region. Questionnaire survey was conducted during June–July 2014. The survey exercise was a team work conducted with the assistance of three young scholars with the researcher1. Table 6.1 indicates the major findings of the survey conducted in Assam, Meghalaya, Noida, Ghaziabad, Barabanki, and New Delhi. The total sample size comprised of 367 married women out of which 50 respondents belonged to Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh, 46 from Tezpur, Dibrugarh and Shillong in North-East India and 271 were from Noida, Ghaziabad and New Delhi. The major findings of this survey are as follows: 1. Precisely, 93 per cent of the married women covered under the survey migrated on marriage. Most of the women who did not migrate on marriage belonged to the Khasi community in Meghalaya where matriarchal system of marriage is still prevalent. 2. Of the migrated married women, 37 per cent reported that they did fear the aftermath of migration on marriage. 3. As much as 46 per cent of the migrated married women did not feel free to speak after marriage as they spoke at their parent’s family. 4. Of the migrated married, 34 per cent women felt the need to adjust with the cultural set-up of the in-laws’ family. Minimum

Table 6.1  Summary of findings from the Primary Survey Among Married Women, 2014 Factors Migrated Fear of migration Not free to speak Need to adjustment Called outsider Parents family rich Dowry given Ill-treatment for no dowry

North-East

North and Delhi

Total

%

38 14 24 10  2 20 13  1

304 121 143 113  52  95 151  81

342 135 167 123  54 123 164  82

93 37 46 34 15 34 45 22

Women in international marriage migration    77

5. 6. 7. 8.

adjustment was required in cases where the marriage was in the same caste or same state. Exactly 15 per cent of the migrated married women were labelled as outsiders by the in-laws’ family particularly by mother-in-law and sister-in-law. For 45 per cent of the married migrated women, dowry was given before marriage either in the form of cash demanded or in the form of gifts. As much as 34 per cent of the married migrated women belonged to families richer than their in-laws’ family. Of the married migrated women, 22 per cent faced maltreatment after marriage on the grounds of bringing insufficient dowry or no dowry.

In addition to the above, the following findings were evident from the analysis of the survey: •

Migrated married women belonging to richer families than their in-laws’ family did not face harassment in the name of dowry. • In each of the individual cases surveyed there are at least two factors speaking of the subservient position of the migrated women after marriage. If there was no other factor indicative of secondary position after marriage, then harassment on the pretext of poor dowry or no dowry was discernible. • In some cases where everything seems to be in order for instance she has freedom of speech, need for adjustment on her part does not exist, there is no demand for dowry, or harassment in the name of dowry, yet the married migrated woman is labelled as an outsider in the in-laws’ family. This is perhaps symbolic of the politics of migration where the migrant is considered an outsider/alien in a foreign land and is bereft of any political rights per se by virtue of being a foreigner. In other words, the woman does not have a say in the family indicative of her migrant status. • The fact that 46 per cent of the women did not feel free to speak as they spoke at their parent’s house is indicative of their subservient status post-marriage and migration into a new family. Therefore, it is essential that policy of the Government of India needs to be protective towards its women folk who get migrated after marriage and face problems on account of migration associated with marriage.

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Current policy initiative of Government of India to support marriage migrants and suggestions The problems of marriage between diasporic Indians and partners from the homeland are being addressed by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India through a scheme for providing ‘Legal/Financial Assistance to Indian Women Deserted/Divorced by their NRI Husbands’. Issues related with desertion of Indian women by their overseas spouses are complex and sensitive. The approach of the ministry in addressing these issues is to create awareness amongst prospective brides and their families regarding their rights and responsibilities and safeguards to be adopted while entering into matrimonial alliances with grooms residing overseas. The objective of the scheme is to provide initial financial assistance to needy women in distress due to being deserted/divorced by their overseas spouses, for getting access to counselling and legal services. The counselling and legal services are provided through credible Indian women’s organizations/Indian community associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) empanelled with the Indian Missions/Posts abroad in the countries like US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore (included in 2013–2014), and the Gulf countries. The assistance under the scheme is limited to US$ 3,000 per case for developed countries and US$ 2,000 per case for developing countries and is released to the empanelled legal counsel of the applicant or Indian Community Association/Women’s organization/NGO concerned to enable it to take steps to assist the woman in documentation and preparatory work for filing the case. However, this is only one-time assistance and may be sufficient. Systems need to be in place to empower the women so that she stands up on her own to defeat the vulnerabilities arising out of desertion in a foreign land. Before the marriage is solemnized, her parents and her home country government must ensure that she has some basic vocational/skills qualifications which empower her. Moreover the scheme does not address the problems of resident Indian women who have migrated within the country after marriage. It is important that the migrant status of women in marriage is recognized. At the policy level, vulnerabilities associated with migration marriage particularly for the women migrant needs to be understood. Only then one can appreciate the fact that there is need for: 1. Migration workshops for marriage migrants as are being organized for migrant workers.

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2. Marriage migrants orientation manuals. 3. Training in skills – vocational and otherwise – for the marriage migrant so that she is well equipped to fight the vulnerabilities post-marriage. 4. Awareness generation regarding the migrant status in the marriage of the girl and the need for parents/government to empower her with adequate education and vocational skills to make her financially independent. Once the migrant status of women in marriage is recognized and Government of India frames a policy with this perspective in view and issues directives accordingly, the vulnerabilities of Indian women after marriage can be adequately addressed.

Note This paper is a result of a study conducted by the author in personal capacity. The views expressed in the paper are personal. 1 Field work was conducted by Vinita Sharma in New Delhi, Seema Sharma in Dibrugarh, Assam and Shalini Srivastava, Barabanki, in Uttar Pradesh.

Reference Campbell, Anne. 2002. A Mind of Her Own: The Evolutionary Psychology of Women. Oxford University Press.

7

International mobility of skilled women Overview of trends and issues

SUDEsHNA GHOsH AND RUPA CHANDA Introduction Female migrants constitute about half of all international migrants. This roughly equal share of males and females in migration flows does not reveal the marked dissimilarities in the circumstances of movement for each sex. Females and males are situated in a different way within the economy and society. They carry out different responsibilities and face different restrictions and, respond differently to policies and market signals. There are differences in wages, employment practices, government policies, and socially defined roles of women and men. Similarly, migratory behaviour is not a gender-blind phenomenon. The literature on the international mobility of females is relatively limited and mostly focuses on the mobility of less skilled female migrants. The gap in both academic and public discourse regarding skilled female participation in the international labour market may in part be explained by the stereotypical notion that female migrants are mostly unskilled or low skilled and fall outside the legal and social protection systems in host countries. On the policy front, skilled migrants are assumed to have no other duties or familial ties outside their jobs as they are analyzed only from a labour migration perspective. Family migration on the other hand is seen as a social phenomenon where skills are less relevant. As a larger number of skilled female migrants compared to males enter through the family route, the assessment of their situation gets caught between these two perspectives. It is also assumed that it is the males who migrate with their families for work and their female spouses primarily take care of their households. Women are neither considered as economic agents of development in such frameworks, nor are

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their gender-specific experiences reflected. It is further presumed that skilled female migrants, like their male counterparts, are well informed with relevant information about their destination market and are more secure in their rights and entitlements than the unskilled in both sending and receiving countries, although their position may still differ from that of skilled males. There is thus an evident gap in the literature on skilled female migration. This chapter focuses on this less-studied phenomenon of international skilled female mobility and highlights the need to have a gender-sensitive perspective on international skilled migration. In this context, the discussion does not distinguish between ‘skilled’ immigrants, who have at least a secondary education and ‘highly skilled’ immigrants who have a university degree or equivalent. Data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) shows that global emigration rates for low-skilled women 25 years and older was 1.3 per cent in 1980 and 1.28 per cent in 2010 while the same for high-skilled women was 5.33 and 5.55 per cent, respectively. In general, high-skilled women constitute a small proportion of female migrants though in some host countries, the proportion of female migrants with tertiary education exceeds that for male migrants. Interestingly, in source regions where emigration is dominated by male migrants, the few women who migrate are likely to be more qualified than the men. It has been noted that the dominance of skilled male migrants over female migrants is often indicative of an asymmetric gender distribution in the destination country rather than a gender imbalance in the source countries. Following this introduction, Section 2 presents a review of various dimensions of skilled female migration that should be kept in perspective when discussing such flows. Section 3 provides an overview of the global trends in international skilled female migration while Section 4 examines key features and patterns of this migration for specific occupations, namely, information technology (IT) and engineering, health and education. Section 5 outlines how India is situated in international skilled female migration and in these three selected sectors. Section 6 concludes by highlighting gender-related issues that are important for framing policies concerning skilled migration.

Key issues in skilled female migration Any detailed analysis of skilled female mobility is constrained by the lack of studies on the phenomenon and the inadequacy of migration

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data that is segregated by gender. Available literature mainly captures the female-dominated sectors of the labour market, especially nursing, which is considered a semi-skilled profession. There are some studies on the international migration of (school) teachers. However, since nursing and teaching are both perceptibly feminized professions, scholarship in these areas sometimes misses their gender dimensions. There are patchy anecdotes on international female migration for secretarial jobs, IT workers and scientists while studies on women executives generally do not address migration. A few studies on gender and skilled migration focus on the hardships and impediments faced by skilled females during the migration process and in destination markets. From the limited number of general as well as sector- and gender-specific studies that do address skilled female mobility, certain important characteristics and dimensions emerge. These pertain to the impact of social norms and responsibilities in shaping migration paths for skilled male and female workers, discrimination faced by women migrants, the deskilling of skilled female migrants due to a mismatch of skills and occupations in the destination country and the gendered outcomes of immigration and labour market policies in receiving countries. The key aspects surrounding these dimensions are briefly discussed next.

Implications of social and cultural norms It is well recognized in the labour market literature that family formation and familial duties and responsibilities influence the career paths followed by men and women. The latter, in turn, also influences their migration paths. Though family formation has an impact on both male and female migration in the early stages of their careers, differences emerge as they progress in their professions due to their differing roles in the family. The linear, high skilled career path of having a full-time job with an uninterrupted working life and the ability to be available 24×7 is more difficult for females because of their disproportionately more demanding familial and social responsibilities. The issue becomes magnified for female migrants. Some authors conjecture that highly skilled immigrant women withdraw from or delay joining the labour force in the destination country to help settle their families. This case is likelier for women having partners who can afford to support them (Preston and Giles 2004). However, there are recent studies which suggest changing trends. Unlike in the past, when skilled women were mainly moving along

International mobility of skilled women    83

with their families, women are increasingly also migrating independently. Moreover, even when they move with their families, they are increasingly taking into account their professional needs. Some related empirical studies show that in dual-career households, the migration decision is led by the partner with higher income or better career prospects, irrespective of gender. Vergés Bosch and González Ramos (2013) in their study of how family considerations influence skilled female migration in Spain finds that the negative typecast of the ‘trailing spouse’ is too stereotypical. Women are increasingly following their independent professions or pursuing further education in the context of family migration. Likewise, Raghuram (2004) notes that skilled female migrants who accompany their spouses may actually benefit by taking advantage of opportunities for training and further study or may find work when entering a country as a dependent immigrant. On the other hand, an earlier cross-country study on migration of health professionals by Mejia et al. (1979) finds that there is a dichotomy in the nature of migration for men and women in the health care profession. Nurses, who are primarily female, are likely to migrate over shorter geographic distances than doctors, represented chiefly by males, on account of familial ties and responsibilities. Thus, available studies clearly indicate the role social and cultural norms and the family play in shaping the choices of skilled female migrants and changing trends.

Deskilling and discrimination Several studies that take a gendered approach to understanding skilled migration highlight the issue of deskilling and discrimination of skilled women in the host country. Studies argue that skilled female migrants are more likely to confront these problems due to the familial and social dimensions that influence their mobility. For instance, skilled female migrants are more likely to be affected by an education–occupation mismatch in the destination country as they follow their families, regardless of their own credentials. Evidence suggests that female migrants are more likely to experience ‘brain waste’, i.e. accepting jobs requiring lower skills, and deskilling, i.e. underutilization of their capabilities than their male counterparts. Studies also find that the loss of personal and professional networks tends to affect females more than men as family and household responsibilities, immediately upon relocation, may prevent them from nurturing new networking relationships. Their job search, reskilling and technical or professional certification may be

84    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

hampered in a patriarchal family setting. Lengthy periods out of work may also affect skilled women psychologically and deepen their deskilling. In destination countries, skilled women who accompany their intracompany transferee husbands often find it difficult to learn new languages or to study for a higher degree. These women may engage in jobs which are not commensurate to their qualifications. They also take up part-time jobs even if they can allocate time for a full-time job. Though sector-specific studies on this aspect are few, evidence from the medical profession confirms the presence of deskilling among female migrants. Dolishney (2012) explores foreign-trained medical professionals in Canada and finds immigrant status, gender and country of origin to be significant. Zietsma (2010) finds that quite a number of female immigrants in Canada have a medical degree but are working in occupations requiring lower levels of qualification.

Gendered outcomes of host and source country policies Available literature also highlights the gendered outcome of immigration, labour and education policies in sending and receiving countries. Skilled women may be at a disadvantage compared to their male counterparts when migrating internationally due to the nature of immigration processes and inherent education and employment-related biases against women in certain professions. In the origin country, gender-discriminated access to education can result in fewer women acquiring the skills required to migrate under the immigration rules for skilled people in the destination country. Also, streams such as engineering, which are characterized by fewer female students, evidently gives rise to fewer women in the associated occupations and consequently their lower share among such migrants. Gendered employment of skilled jobs in the origin country also impedes the possibility of relative mobility of skilled women vis-à-vis men as they are fewer in number to start with in categories such as intracompany transfers. In the destination country, gender-discriminated employment policies and attitudes can deter skilled female migrants. All highly qualified women wanting to migrate may not be seen as highly skilled as skills are defined by the labour market demands of the receiving country. The employment of skilled migrant females can also be affected by sectoral bias as migrant women tend to concentrate in certain professions such as nursing. Often, these women-dominated

International mobility of skilled women    85

sectors such as nursing and teaching also happen to be highly regulated and lesser remunerated. In countries where immigration schemes favour particular occupations, such as IT, the result may be masculinized skilled migration as IT sector training and hiring implicitly favours men over women. Immigration systems which factor in age and earnings for admission also have gendered consequences since maternity and child-rearing tend to affect these variables differently for females. The pecking order within the workforce is also related to immigration policies. Kofman (2013) notes that soft skills are valued in immigration policies when they come bundled with requisite analytical and conceptual knowledge. They are improperly valued when understood in the context of embodied knowledge, which is habitually associated with women. Hence, due to the inappropriate categorization of skills, gender-blind policies can give rise to gendered outcomes that affect skilled female migrants unfavourably. On the other hand, countries which use educational qualifications and language proficiency as criteria for migration are likely to influence the share of skilled women migrants in a more positive manner. UNDESA (2006) gives instances of gender-discriminatory migration laws in many host countries. These include curbs on women from getting their husbands and children along, mandated pregnancy tests for female migration, ban on female immigration without the permission of their guardian and age limits on female migrants. In some cases, the entry of many immigrant women is only as caregivers even if they have superior qualifications. For example, in the US, the spouses of highly skilled H1-B visa holders are granted an H-4 visa that which does not permit them to work or access student loans. However, as noted by Martin (2007), increasingly, countries are considering policies to permit work authorization to spouses of executives and professionals, recognizing that many of these highly sought migrants will not relocate if their spouses are denied the right to work in the destination market. The limited occupation-specific studies available on this issue confirm the presence of gender-based discrimination in the workplace for skilled migrant workers, although this is less frequent than in the case of less skilled workers. Wojczewski and Kutalek (2014), in their study of African migrant health workers, find discrimination based on gender, in addition to foreign nationality and race among doctors and nurses in African and European host countries. They conclude that even in a highly demanded skilled profession such as health care, there is gender discrimination.

86    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Overall, as highlighted above, a gendered lens to the issue of skilled mobility throws up a host of social, cultural, regulatory, and organizational dimensions that are critical for any analysis of skilled female migrants. However, the existing literature remains quite inadequate.

Synopsis of global skilled female migration According to the United Nations Population Division, the international stock of female and male migrants in mid-2013 stood at 111.2 million and 120.3 million, respectively. The proportion of female migrants was 52 per cent in the global North and 43 per cent in the global South (UNDESA and OECD 2013). The distribution of the female migrant stock by geographic region is represented in Table 7.1 which indicates that the share of women migrants among international migrants has been hovering around 50 percent for the past two decades in all regions. The shares are higher in regions containing traditional immigration countries, namely, Europe, North America and Oceania than those of the typical emigration continents such as Africa and Asia. Table 7.2 summarizes the occupational break-up for female and male migrant workers by region of birth. It shows that migrant females are concentrated in the top three activities, the exceptions being management occupations where the share of migrant Asian women is less than that of their male counterparts while the reverse holds for female migrants from other regions in management-related occupations. Table 7.3 displays the major sectors in which migrant women find employment in Europe vis-à-vis native women. It indicates that, in the EU-27, female migrants are employed more than the native Table 7.1  Female migrants as percentage of international migrants Region

1990

2000

2010

Africa Asia Europe Latin America and the Caribbean North America Oceania World

46.2 45.4 52.7 49.7 51.1 49.1 49.1

46.7 45.7 52.8 50.0 50.5 50.2 49.4

46.8 44.6 52.3 50.1 50.1 51.2 49.0

Source:  Thimothy and Sasikumar (2012).

19.3 13.2 2.1

14.4

5.1

20.1

31.9 24.4  0.8

 0.4

 0.3

10.4

3.3

13.7

 9.0

2.9

13.7 18.2 0.1

48.0

Male

 0.2

 0.2

22.6 25.4  0.1

42.5

Female

Asia

 5.0

 0.2

 0.4

20.4 28.6  0.3

45.2

Female

Europe

15.1

5.0

10.3

11.6 12.9 0.2

44.8

Male

13.3

 0.4

 0.5

41.0 23.0  1.5

20.3

23.8

5.8

21.3

23.5 10.6 3.5

11.6

Male

Latin America Female

World region of birth (in %)

 4.6

–

–

29.1 22.6 –

43.6

Female

Other

20.5

5.1

4.2

15.4 17.3 –

37.5

Male

Source:  UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development); http://unctadstat.unctad.org/wds/ReportFolders/report Folders.aspx?sCS_referer=&sCS_ChosenLang=en.

25.8

31.9

Male

Female

Occupation group

Management, professional and related Service Sales and office Farming, fishing and forestry Construction and extraction Installation, maintenance and repair Production, transportation and material moving

Total

Table 7.2  Occupation of employed foreign-born civilian workers aged 16+, 2011

88    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda Table 7.3 Key employment sectors for women aged 25–54 years, EU-27, 2010 (% of total corresponding population) Employment sectors Activities of households as employers Accommodation and food service Administrative and support service Other service Human health and social work Professional, scientific and technical activities Manufacturing Wholesale and retail trade Public administration Education

Native-born

Foreign-born

 1  4  4  3 18  5

11 10  8  4 17  4

11 15  8 13

 9 12  3  7

Source:  Reconstructed from Kofman and Kaye (2012).

women in the first four categories, while native women get more employment than their migrant counterparts in all the other categories. However, the difference between the two groups is not significant, except in public administration and education. Although the number of skilled female migrants is relatively small and even smaller for those who are employed among them, their numbers have been increasing for the past few decades. In the UK, the share of women among skilled migrants increased approximately by seven percentage points over the 2002–2007 period (Kofman 2013). These female migrants include employees of multinational companies or international institutions and those working in specialized areas such as IT, medicine and academia. Permits Foundation (2009) reports a marked difference in the share of men versus women who were in employment post-migration, with about 32 per cent being employed among women and nearly 56 per cent among men. Moreover, educated migrant women were less successful than men in finding a job in their chosen area. Table 7.4 indicates that in some important European Union (EU) host countries, migrant women fall behind their native-born counterparts in entering high-skilled professions. The exceptions are Ireland and UK, where the pattern is reversed. On a similar note, Cully (2011) finds that a female immigrant entering Australia and who is sponsored by the employer is 74 per cent more likely to be employed in a full-time skilled job than other comparable females entering via the family route.

International mobility of skilled women    89 Table 7.4  Percentage of women in highly skilled occupations aged 15–64, selected OECD countries, 2004 Country

Native-born

Foreign-born

Belgium France Germany Ireland UK

42.9 37.7 46.0 40.0 36.2

41.6 30.5 30.5 47.9 43.7

Source:  Kofman (2011).

Table 7.5  Highly educated migrants by gender (% of corresponding population) Country

Time

Gender

Holder of advanced degree (above Bachelor’s degree)

Holder of Bachelor’s degree

Australia

2001–2006

USA

2008

Female Male Female Male

 9 12 10 13

26 23 17 15

Source: Hawthorne (2011) for Australia; http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/ immigrant-women-united-states (last accessed 3 April 2014) for the USA.

Table 7.5 illustrates the gender differences in immigrants in two major host countries, the US and Australia, which target skilled people under their immigration policy. In both countries, the share of females is higher than that for males in case of a bachelor’s degree but the situation reverses for advanced degrees. The latter suggests that migrant women with advanced degrees may not be able to take up employment in their prime time due to family responsibilities and other social factors which affect their employment. Evidence also confirms that deskilling affects female migrants more than their male migrant counterparts and significantly more than their native female counterparts. Figure 7.1 shows the extent of overqualification among male and female migrants and natives in the EU-27 countries. The highest rate of over qualification occurs among immigrant females across all four groups. This confirms the findings of Rubin et al. (2008) that in the EU labour force, the deskilling experience is higher among non-EU born migrant females.

90    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda Figure 7.1 Overqualification rate (%) of employed population aged 25–54, EU-27, 2008 40

35

35

32

30 25 20

19

19

male female

15 10 5 0 Nave born

Foreign born

Source:  Reconstructed from Kofman and Kaye (2012).

Skilled female migration in selected sectors While the literature on skilled female migration is quite thin, it is even thinner when it comes to the trends and characteristics of such migration in specific occupations, other than nursing. The following discussion provides an overview of the key aspects of this migration in three professions, viz. IT and engineering, health care and education. The choice of these sectors is motivated by the need to focus attention on a wider set of occupations than nursing and maids.

IT and engineering Careers in the IT sector are closely entwined with international migration. The business model of ‘offshoring’ and on-site delivery is based on knowledge transfers and requires international movement of human resources. There are, however, certain sectoral biases that arise in skilled female mobility in the IT profession stemming from the disadvantages faced by women in engineering, from which most IT employment is sourced. In general, women engineering professionals are at a disadvantage in receiving training and mentoring which makes their earnings lower. They are less likely to be promoted to management ranks. In the case of immigrant women, these difficulties intensify because of

International mobility of skilled women    91

requirements such as prior work experience, number of years of work and role in the sending organization, where women often do not fare favourably for reasons discussed earlier. Further, as engineering in different countries has developed under different historical and social orders, the involvement of women in engineering varies from country to country. For example, women from source countries where engineering is less male dominated than in the destination country, may have to encounter barriers in the destination market. A case in point is Canada, where skilled women have been a significant part of the immigrant workforce but not the native workforce. Table 7.6 shows the numbers of female professionals in sciences for key source and destination countries and regions. One finds that Asia is a leading source region for female professionals in some science subjects including engineering and Canada and UK are the major recipient countries for such women migrants. The IT workplace environment is male-dominated (Poster 2013). The work culture involves meetings and travel for uncertain and extended periods, which makes it more difficult for women than men. It has been noted that in this sector, typically, men are allocated technology-based tasks while women are assigned communication-based tasks, giving rise to gender biases within the profession. Further, career advancement is primarily based on the job achievements of candidates, without contextualizing the obstacles women have to face. As with gender-blind immigration rules, these apparently neutral rules of promotion in the highly technical Table 7.6  Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary education, 2000: physical, mathematical and engineering science professionals Selected region of birth

Africa

Asia

South and Central America and Caribbean

660 1,825 3,057 162 105 3,329

6,853 16,215 1,188 141 501 4,949

  265 2,320   356   36    9   655

Selected country of residence Australia Canada France Ireland New Zealand UK

Note:  Data for Belgium, Germany and USA are not available. Source: Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries; (DIOC), http://stats.oecd. org/

92    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

and competitive IT labour market arise from a male-centric model of career progression. However, according to a study of Spanish IT workers by González Ramos and Vergés Bosch (2011), this work culture does not deter women in IT from going abroad during their careers as compared to women working in other sectors. This, they attribute to the fact that female IT employees have typically had more global exposure and opportunities than those working in other sectors due to the global reach and dynamism of the IT sector. Studies note that often women in IT and engineering follow their spouses and gain professionally from this migration. Roos (2013) reasons that the global character of the IT profession enables dual-career couples to harmonize their career paths across borders. She finds the idea of male breadwinner to be less relevant in the case of the IT sector, making the migration model much more dynamic for dual IT career couples where it is possible for the status of the leading and following migrant to be interchanged between the spouses.

Health It is well known that most of the semi-skilled segments of the health sector, which includes nurses and midwives, are overwhelmingly female dominated from the education and employment perspectives. Women are, however, catching up with male physicians in migration. Kofman (2011) notes that women constituted about half of all migrant doctors in UK in 2002. Differences persist, however, in the numbers of women and men in certain specialties, largely reflecting sociocultural customs in origin and destination countries for medical education which influence the choice of specialization by females and hence create sectoral biases between male and female health care providers. The latter is reflected in the international migration of doctors as well. Table 7.7 provides an idea of the quantum of female health professionals participating in international migration. Asians are the leading immigrant group as in the sciences. The incentives for migration tend to differ between doctors and nurses, wherein the former mostly migrate in order to achieve career advancement as opposed to the latter, who migrate mostly for economic reasons. The Mobility of Health Professionals project funded by the EU over the period 2009–2011, which analyzes trends in the mobility of health care professionals to, from and within the EU finds that the proportion of women among doctors differs by country and that women are highly overrepresented among nurses.

International mobility of skilled women    93 Table 7.7  Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary education, 2000: life science and health care professionals Selected region of birth

Africa

Asia

South and Central America and Caribbean

3,329 2,866 3,495 _ _ _ _

14,322 732 17,415 8,573 264 819 4,682

  781 _ 8,785   13   168 1,287 1,090

Selected country of residence Australia Belgium Canada France Ireland New Zealand UK

Note:  Data for Germany and USA are unavailable. Source: Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC); http://stats.oecd. org/

Reports of exploitation of internationally mobile health workers by employers in the destination country generally relate to poor accommodation, undervaluing of skills and poor information about employment contracts. OECD (2008) highlights the presence of violence against health care professionals, especially women, as a growing phenomenon. The literature suggests that this problem may be more pronounced for migrant female health workers. There are also accounts of positive instances where locally coordinated schemes are created to support foreign nurses in adjusting to the working environment, such as in UK (Buchan and Dovlo 2004). Female health worker migration is influenced by immigration policies and migration arrangements. Many countries have entered into bilateral arrangements for the recruitment of foreign nurses. Malaysia has, e.g. signed agreements to recruit nurses from Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. Developed countries such as Australia give preferences to health care professionals under their points-based immigration systems. Trade agreements increasingly include provisions to facilitate the mobility of health care professionals. Such policies have implications for the mobility of skilled women, especially nurses, given the prevalence of women in the nursing profession.

Education The education sector is one area where females constitute a significant share of employees. This phenomenon is also observed in the

94    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

migration of teaching professionals. For instance, in New Zealand, using permanent and long-term arrivals data for 2013, Raghuram (2014) finds that female school teachers outnumber their male counterparts from all countries of origin, including India. This is in contrast to the case of foreign IT professionals where males outnumber women. There are, however, differences in male–female representation across segments of the teaching profession. While males dominate in higher education, females surpass males at the level of teaching assistants and library technicians, categories which may not always require high skills. Table 7.8 provides a selected compilation of the number of migrant females in the teaching profession. A noticeable point that emerges is the large number of female teachers migrating from Africa to France, indicating the importance of colonial ties and language in shaping the international mobility of teaching professionals. There is evidence to suggest that these differential trends result in different migration outcomes between men and women in academia. For instance, although male and female researchers in academia show similar rates of mobility during doctoral training, female mobility drops at the postdoctoral level. Empirical analysis by Fernandez-Zubeita et al. (2013) indicates that the different mobility patterns between females and males mirror their differing incentives and that gender plays an influential role in determining decisions relating to a career in academic research.

Table 7.8  Foreign-born high skilled female professionals with tertiary education, 2000: teaching professionals Selected region of birth

Africa

Asia

South and Central America and Caribbean

3,082 1,980 3,545 13,744 138 1,131 10,602

7,362 _ 11,510 1,433 90 1,137 12,642

  708 _ 4,865   924   30   81 4,254

Selected country of Residence Australia Belgium Canada France Ireland New Zealand UK

Note:  Data for Germany and USA are not available. Source: Database on Immigrants in OECD Countries (DIOC); http://stats.oecd. org/

International mobility of skilled women    95

International migration of skilled females and India India is a prominent source country for skilled migration, including scientists, engineers, accountants, secretaries, doctors, nurses, and teachers for primary, secondary and higher education. In 2000, the emigration rate for Indians with tertiary education and above was 4.2 per cent versus 0.3 per cent for all education groups (Mani 2009). India is also one of the main origin countries for high-skilled immigrants to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, with women constituting more than 40 per cent of these immigrants in 2000 (Kofman 2011). On the regulatory side there is scant evidence indicating that some provisions of the Emigration Act 1983, which governs emigration from India, limit the right of women to work and unintentionally promote unauthorized female migration (Thimothy and Sasikumar 2012). Table 7.9 indicates that the share of female migrants from India is similar to that found in the global figures shown earlier in Table 7.1. Table 7.9  Migration profile, India 1990 Estimated number of international migrants at mid-year (stock) Estimated number of female migrants at mid-year (stock) International migrants as percentage of population Female migrants as percentage of all international migrants Net migration rate (per thousand population) 2005–2010 Remittances as percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) 2009

1995

2000

2005

2010

7,493,204 7,022,165 6,411,272 5,886,870 5,436,012

3,578,808 3,378,740 3,107,712 2,860,663 2,648,186

0.9

0.7

0.6

0.5

0.4

47.8

48.1

48.5

48.6

48.7

–0.5

3.6

Source:  Kumari and Sharma (2013) and Thimothy and Sasikumar (2012).

96    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Hence, the gender dimension of migration from India broadly mirrors that seen globally. Evidence from the US and New Zealand, two important destination markets for Indian migrants, helps illustrate the nature of skilled female migration from India. According to the American Community Survey 2008, more than 60 per cent of Indian female immigrants in the US labour force worked in management and professional occupations compared to 40 per cent in the case of native-born females (Immigration Policy Center 2010). In 2008, 33.7 per cent of migrant women from India in the US had a graduate degree compared to 9.6 per cent native-born women. Also, immigrant women from India in 2008 had the highest median annual income among immigrant women in the US labour force, and higher than that earned by native-born women. Furthermore, female immigrants from the Philippines and India had the lowest poverty rates among immigrant women in the US in 2008. Table 7.10 presents an occupational breakdown for female and male Indian migrants in the US and Canada. It shows that participation of immigrant Indian females was higher than for males in education, health and social services sectors in both the US and Canada in 2006. In Canada, the share of immigrant Indian women was higher than that for males in management and manufacturing as well. Migrant application data from New Zealand, as shown in Table 7.11, provides an idea about the quantum and nature of skilled female migration from India, based on the figures for primary or principal applicants, which may be seen as a crude indicator of migration driven by skill and career considerations rather than family reasons. It shows that the share of female Indian single principal applicants has risen considerably and that of the dependents has declined over the period under consideration. The findings of Badkar et al. (2007) on New Zealand over 1997/98 to 2005/06 imply that the gender balance of skilled migrants to New Zealand is impacted by the principal applicant. In turn, the overall skill balance of migrants depends on the skill levels of the partners. In male-dominated streams, the proportion of women from India with secondary applicants was higher than for many other countries, indicating that the attributes of the principal applicant who was most suited for obtaining points under the skilled migrant category (SMC) was used, irrespective of gender.

International mobility of skilled women    97 Table 7.10  Occupations of Indian migrants in the USA and Canada by gender, 2006 Foreign-born Indian US

Male

Foreign-born Indian

Female

Canada

Male

Female

Persons aged 16 and older employed in the civilian labour force Management, business, finance

629,218 346,733 Total 15+ in labour force 283,760

159,110 124,650

20.0

15.3

21.9

28.0

IT

27.4

13.1

11.6

3.6

Other sciences and engineering

11.2

6.2

Education/training and media/ entertainment Physicians, registered nurses, other health care practitioners, health care support Sales

4.7

8.7

Management, finance/ insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing IT, sciences and engineering Professional/ scientific/ technical Educational services

2.4

4.3

7.1

20.5

Health care

2.3

6.7

11.4

11.1

Sales and services

15.2

27.0

Administrative support Construction, extraction and transportation Manufacturing, installation and repair Social services and legal, (other) services Farming, fishing and forestry

4.3

11.9

5.4

1.5

28.4

3.2

4.4

4.7

Construction, transportation/ warehousing Manufacturing

13.9

18.9

4.1

6.0

Social services and 1.5 legal

3.8

0.1

0.3

Farming, fishing and forestry

4.6

Source: Reproduced from Li and Lo (2009).

2.9

98    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda Table 7.11 Percentage of principal female applicants (with and without secondary applicants) from India to New Zealand Year 1997/98 2001/02 2005/06

Single

Dependent

13.9 16.5 38.8

86.1 83.5 61.2

Source: Badkar et al. (2007).

Female migrants from India in specific skilled sectors Some evidence is available on female migration from India for specific skilled occupations. However, there is hardly any analysis of this phenomenon in terms of its characteristics, its social and other dimensions and its policy implications. The following discussion highlights the cases of the IT, health care and education sectors. In the global market, India occupies an important position in both IT and IT-enabled services (ITES). The strategy for successful careers in IT for both genders in India is charted out keeping in mind the educational prerequisites in the IT sector and marriage preferences for a person with a similar background. There are both positives and negatives. On the negative side, skilled Indian women are hampered in their migration prospects in the IT sector due to the eventuality of career transitions following marriage or the demands arising from career progression of the spouse. Their international mobility prospects are also influenced by the needs of the entire family. In the Netherlands, although Indians were the largest group of migrant knowledge workers in 2006, women constituted only 10 per cent compared to 40 per cent in the case of Chinese migrant knowledge workers (Kofman 2013). On the positive side, it has been observed that international migration provides Indian women IT workers with an opportunity to move upward socially. Also, such women face fewer doubts about their technical capability and gain greater access to engineering jobs. With respect to international migration of female health care providers, evidence is mostly available from the nursing profession. India ranks among the leading global suppliers of nurses. The recruitment of nurses from India to other countries such as the USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East is mainly from certain Indian states, led by Kerala, which has provided nurses to the West and the Middle East since the 1960s. Interestingly, unlike migration

International mobility of skilled women    99

of nurses from Kerala which is predominantly female, nurse migration from Punjab is dominated by men, indicating how social and cultural norms and educational status in the source locations affect the gender dimension of migration. In India, nursing, owing to its migration prospects, is taken up by a good number of women. Parents invest in nursing courses keeping in mind the beneficial outcomes from future emigration. A nurse working abroad is believed to have better marriage prospects. A part of the remittance sent back by female nurses is used for the dowry for the nurse herself. Immigration and labour market policies are important in shaping the migration of Indian nurses. In their study on nurses migrating from Kerala to the Netherlands and Denmark, Kodoth and Kuriakose Jacob (2013) find that though both countries are facing shortages of nursing staff, there remains a mismatch between their immigration policies and the demands of employers. They argue that the concerted ‘Work in Denmark’ programme proved ineffective in recruiting nurses from India, mainly due to the poor management of the process while the direct recruitment of nurses by hospitals, driven mainly by personal and social networks, was more effective. With respect to the mobility of Indian women in the education sector, there is very little information available. According to Sharma (2013), Indian teachers are sought after to teach English, mathematics and science all over the world, including traditional host countries such as the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE, and Kuwait as well as other less common markets such as Tanzania, Liberia, Qatar, Oman, and the Maldives. While the statistics do not provide much breakdown of the trends in teacher migration by gender, there is evidence that suggests emigration rates tend to be higher for Indian women in this profession. In a case study on the migration of Indian teachers, Sharma (2013) finds that the number of female migrant teachers is thrice the number of male teachers. The findings also indicate that female teachers migrate because of the migration of their spouses. Caravetti et al. (2014) find that 44 per cent of the female Indian migrant teachers under their survey migrated as a following spouse. They were given little time to go through the terms and conditions of their own teaching contract and also lacked a detailed understanding of the legal framework of the destination country. Overall, however, paucity of organized and countrywise comparable data makes it difficult to track the migration of teachers internationally and specifically for India, let alone by gender.

100    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda

Concluding thoughts The preceding discussion has highlighted the need for further research on skilled female migration. As is evident, migration policies often do not take into account the specific needs and expectations of skilled women. The lack of attention to gender-specific factors that shape the skilling and migration process can give rise to unequal migration outcomes for skilled women. Hence, migration policies need to be gender-sensitive even in the context of skilled female mobility. They need to recognize that male and female roles differ and are governed by the prevailing economic, social and political contexts of both sending and receiving countries. A gendered analysis of migration requires knowledge about broader social factors that influence women’s and men’s roles and their access to resources and services. The discussion also highlights the need for gender-segregated data on migration to better understand the nature of these flows so as to design appropriate polices. Furthermore, given the many cross-cutting issues pertaining to international female mobility, initiatives are required at various levels; in host countries and source countries, by international agencies and research institutions; and in cross-country dialogues on migration management. Within countries, at the institutional level, different ministries and agencies need to come together to devise appropriate labour market and migration strategies. An investigation into the disparities facing women at all stages of the migration process and in the host’s labour market is also required to devise policies for skilled female migrants. Policies in both sending and receiving countries also need to be directed towards facilitating the employment and integration of skilled migrant women into the labour market. In sum, a gendered lens to understanding skilled migration requires interdisciplinary research. Cross-country, country-specific and occupation-specific studies are needed to shed light on issues such as the factors that influence female skilled migration differentially from male skilled migration; how the migration process and integration into the host country’s labour market differs for the two groups; what role marital status, familial ties and socio-economic background play in the migration of skilled women; how aspects such as wages, career progression, deskilling, and return and reintegration in the source market differ for skilled female versus male migrants; how the migration experiences of same versus different profession couples vary; what kinds of discriminatory barriers skilled women face in general and in specific sectors and occupation when

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they migrate, among other issues. Analysis of these gender dimensions would greatly help advance thinking on skilled migration as a whole.

References Badkar, Juthika, Paul Callister, Vasantha Krishnan, Robert Didham and Richard Bedford. 2007. Patterns of Gendered Skilled and Temporary Migration into New Zealand. Wellington: Department of Labour, New Zealand. Buchan, James and Delanyo Dovlo. 2004. International Recruitment of Health Workers to the UK: A Report for DFID. London: Department For International Development Health Systems Resource Centre. Caravetti, Marie-Lousie, Shannon McLeod Lederer, Allison Lupico and Nancy van Meter. 2014. Getting Teacher Migration and Mobility Right. Brussels: Education International. Cully, Mark. 2011. ‘Skilled Migration Selection Policies: Recent Australian Reforms’, Migration Policy Practice, 1(1): 4–7. Dolishney, Vanessa. 2012. ‘ “Proving Yourself” in the Canadian Medical Profession: Gender and the Experiences of Foreign-trained Doctors in Medical Practice’, Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. Fernandez-Zubieta, Ana, Marinelli Elisabetta and Susana Elena Pérez. 2013. ‘What Drives Researchers’ Careers? The Role of International Mobility, Gender and Family’, Sociología y tecnociencia/Sociology and Technoscience, 3(3): 8–30. González Ramos, Ana M. and Núria Vergés Bosch. 2011. ‘Moving for What? International Mobility Strategies of Women in ICT Careers’, International Journal of Gender, Science and Technology, 3(2): 501–516. Hawthorne, Lesleyanne. 2011. Competing for Skills: Migration Policies and Trends in New Zealand and Australia. Wellington: Department of Labour, New Zealand. Immigration Policy Center. 2010. Immigrant Women in the United States: A Portrait of Demographic Diversity. New York: Immigration Policy Center. Kodoth and Kuriakose Jacob. 2013. ‘International Mobility of Nurses from Kerala (India) to the EU: Prospects and Challenges with Special Reference to the Netherlands and Denmark’, Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) Working Paper No 405. Kofman, Eleonore. 2013. ‘Towards a Gendered Evaluation of (Highly) Skilled Immigration Policies in Europe’, International Migration, First published online: 24 July 2013, DOI: 10.1111/imig.12121. ———. 2011. ‘Gender and Skilled Migration in Europe’, Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales, 30(1): 63–89.

102    Sudeshna Ghosh and Rupa Chanda Kofman, Eleonore and Neil Kaye. 2012. ‘Migrant Women’s Integration in the Labour Market in Six European Cities: A Comparative Approach’, Brussels: European Network of Migrant Women and European Women’s Lobby. Kumari, Jayanti and Rashmi Sharma. 2013. ‘Gender Migration, Return and Development: Emerging Trends and Issues with Special Reference to India’, in Gabriela Tejada, Uttam Bhattachrya, Binod Khadria and Christiane Kuptsch (eds), Indian Skilled Migration and Development, DOI: 10.1007/978–81–322–1810–4_13, Springer India. Li, Wei and Lucia Lo. 2009. ‘Highly-skilled Indian Migrations in Canada and the US: The Tale of Two Immigration Systems’, IMDS Working Paper Series, WP 4. Mani, Sunil. 2009. ‘High Skilled Migration from India, An Analysis of its Economic Implications’, Centre for Development Studies (CDS) Working Paper 416. Martin, Susan. 2007. ‘Women, Migration and Development’, Transatlantic Perspectives on Migration, Policy Brief #1, Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM), Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, Washington DC, United States. Mejia, Alphonso, Helena Pizurki and Erica Royston. 1979. ‘Physician and Nurse Migration: Analysis and Policy Implications’, Report on a WHO study, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. OECD. 2008. ‘The Looming Crisis in the Health Workforce: How Can OECD Countries Respond?’, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Permits Foundation. 2009. International Survey of Expatriate Spouses and Partners: Employment, Work Permits and International Mobility. The Hague: Permits Foundation. Poster, Winifred R. 2013. ‘Global Circuits of Gender: Women and High-tech Work in India and the United States’, Gender, Sexuality & Feminism, 1(1): 37–52. Preston, Valerie and Wenona Giles. 2004. ‘Employment Experiences of Highly Skilled Immigrant Women: Where Are They in the Labour Market?’, Paper presented at the “Gender & Work: Knowledge Production in Practice” Conference: October 1–2, York University, North York, Ontario, Canada. Raghuram, Parvati. 2014. ‘Skilled Migration and Labour Markets’, Presentation in the Expert Group Meeting “Harnessing knowledge on the migration of highly skilled women”, April 3–4, Geneva, Switzerland. ———. 2004. ‘The Difference That Skills Make: Gender, Family Migration Strategies and Regulated Labour markets’, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30(2): 303–321. Roos, Hannelore. 2013. ‘In the Rhythm of the Global Market: Female Expatriates and Mobile Careers: A Case Study of Indian ICT Professionals on the Move’, Gender, Work and Organization, 20(2): 147–157.

International mobility of skilled women    103 Rubin, Jennifer, Michael S. Rendall, Lila Rabinovich, Flavia Tsang, Constantijn van Oranje-Nassau and Barbara Janta. 2008. Migrant Women in the European Labour Force: Current Situation and Future Prospects. California: RAND Corporation. Sharma, Rashmi. 2013. ‘Teachers on the Move: International Migration of School Teachers from India’, Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(3): 262–283. Thimothy, Rakkee and S. K. Sasikumar. 2012. Migration of Women Workers from South Asia to the Gulf. Noida: V.V. Giri National Labour Institute and New Delhi: United Nations Women South Asia Sub Regional Office. UNDESA. 2006. 2004 World Survey on the Role of Women in Development: Women and International Migration. New York: United Nations (UN), Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW). UNDESA and the OECD. 2013. ‘World Migration in Figures’, http://www. oecd.org/els/mig/World-Migration-in-Figures.pdf. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. 2013. http://esa.un.org/unmigration/TIMSA2013/migrantstocks2013. htm?msax (accessed 25 August 2014). Vergés Bosch, Núria and Ana M. González Ramos. 2013. ‘Beyond the Work-Life Balance: Family and International Mobility of the Highly Skilled’, Sociología y Tecnociencia/Sociology and Technoscience, 3(3): 55–76. Wojczewski, Silvia and Ruth Kutalek. 2014. African Centre for Migration & Society. Seminar Series. http://www.migration.org.za/entry/20/ highly-skilled-female-health-professionals-on-the-move-experienc (accessed 6 August 2014). Zietsma, Danielle. 2010. ‘Immigrants working in regulated occupations’, Perspectives. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

8

Indian international students A gender perspective GUNJAN SONDHI Introduction Globally, India makes up the second largest outward flow of international students after China. Part of the global trend, according to Global Education Digest (GED) 2009, is that men and women are equally represented in this overall global movement. While the 50:50 ratio proposed in GED is broadly representative of the stock of international students from most Western countries, the Indian case shows a very different story. An examination of select sending countries reveals that the gender ratio of International Student Migration (ISM) flows has a strong relation to the rate of female participation in tertiary education (UIS 2010). For example, for China, the rate of female participation in tertiary education is 46 per cent and women compose approximately 55 per cent of the internationally mobile student flow from China (UIS 2010). In India, the second country after China to send most students, there is a strong male bias in the tertiary enrolment ratio and mobility flows: women comprise 39 per cent of the total enrolment of the tertiary institutions in India and 27 per cent1 of the international student mobility flow. And yet, there is little to no research that examines student mobility through a gender optic. This gap is surprising for two reasons. Firstly, feminist scholarship over the past 25 years has shown that the migration process is gendered. Secondly, within the Indian patrifocal context (Mukhopadhyay and Seymour 1994) gender inequality and differential access of women to education and mobility is a stark and unfortunate reality. The international mobility of women from India for education has thus far been left unexamined. This is an oversight since this particular mobility flow speaks to the transformations of India’s social and economic milieu within the contemporary transnational context.

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In an effort to cover this gap, a project was undertaken, entitled ‘Gendering international student mobility: an Indian case study’, as part of the author’s doctoral project. This chapter presents and analyses the results of this research. Specifically this chapter paints a broad demographic picture of Indian international students (IIS), their motivations to study abroad and the role of family in the decision to study abroad. This chapter is organized into five sections. The following section outlines the limited body of statistical evidence available at present on IISs. Section three discusses the research methods for data collection. Section four presents the research findings of this research project. Section five concludes this chapter.

IISs – the data thus far Generally speaking, there is very little data on Indian students studying abroad. This is surprising considering the colonial history of students moving from India to the UK. Indian students now represent the largest flow into the US and second largest in the UK (IIE 2009; IIE Network). Trailing behind the US and the UK are Australia, Canada and New Zealand as the next most popular choices of destination for higher education. Current research that presents data on Indian students is also limited. Of these, two studies stand out that present quantitative data specifically on Indian students. One study, by Mkherjee and Chanda (2012), draws on multiple data sources to review and analyse trends of Indian student mobility into European countries – specifically the UK, Germany and France. A second study was conducted by Rajan and Wadhawan (2014) with prospective international students across five cities in southern India. The survey consisted of 155 questionnaires with 63 per cent male and 37 per cent female See, Rajan, (ed) 2014. With such limited statistical studies, the IIS survey, the results of which are presented in this chapter, was designed to gather data to provide an overview of this population of Indian students abroad through a gender lens.

Methods Using mixed-methods approach, the researcher conducted multisited fieldwork for 14 months in Canada and India. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 65 respondents: 22 current students in Toronto, 23 family members/parents in New Delhi and 20 return students in New Delhi. An online survey was also hosted for a

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duration of 13 months, November 2010–November 2011; 157 fully completed questionnaires were collected. Respondents identified themselves as following: 50 per cent as currently studying abroad (CSA), 20 per cent as studied abroad and living abroad (LA), and the remaining 30 per cent as studied abroad and living in India (LI). The gender ratio (M:F) for the respondents was balanced for those in CSA (51:49) and LA (45:47) categories; there was a clear male bias in the sample of the respondents in the LI category (65:35). The overall sample comprises 55 per cent males and 45 per cent females.

Gendering IISs The data gives a broad picture of the students from India. The online survey was open to people around the world who were from India and had studied abroad since 2000. Respondents were recruited using multiple methods – e.g. primarily emails, social media. The in-depth interviews were conducted with students identified in Canada and in India. The diversity of the Indian population becomes visible when the sample’s demographics are examined; place of birth and residence, languages spoken, religion and caste, and the countries in which they studied were all identified along a wide spectrum. The respondents’ place of birth and last place of residence before leaving to study abroad span all across India: 22 out of the 28 states, and 2 out of the 7 union territories appear in the survey responses. At least 20 languages were identified as the first language of communication. Five languages – Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Bengali, and Marathi – were identified by 65 per cent of the respondents; lesser-known languages spoken in India such as Portuguese and Saurashtra also appeared in the survey results. Respondents associated themselves with 10 different religions and 20 castes and subcastes. There are no emerging gendered trends in the above indicators; however, gendered trends emerge when data on age, level of study and field of study of the respondents is examined. We now present the main results of the survey. The focus of the discussion is on four themes: (a) the demographics of the respondents: age, programme of study and discipline; (b) factors that shape the potential to move: parents’ socio-economic class, and individual and family migration history; (c) motivations of the individuals; and (d) role of family in the decision to study abroad. Intertwined with the presentation of the survey data are discussions that contextualize the data within the ISM literature and the Indian context.

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Demographics Age The mean age of the sample (N=157) is 27 years. However, 43 per cent of all respondents are between 21 and 25 years of age, making this the largest age group. The male respondents are spread evenly between two age groups: 21–25 and 26–30 at approximately 38 per cent and 36 per cent each, whereas the majority of the female respondents, just under 50 per cent, are aged between 21 and 25 years. Women who are part of the ISM flow (current and past) are younger than their male counterparts. This could be a reflection of the changing dynamics of access to higher education in India. Historically, enrolment of women in higher education in India has been very low due to various factors such as cultural preferences that place greater value on the education of sons over the daughters. Data from the University Grant Commission (UGC) of India indicates that since the 1960s there has been a continual increase of women’s enrolment in higher education and a particularly significant jump in enrolment since the 1990s. Women represented 41 per cent of total enrolment in 2009 (UGC 2011); 28 per cent of the total enrolment in 2000–2001 and 22 per cent of the total enrolment in 1990–1991. The increase in enrolment in the recent years can be attributed to two factors: firstly, the generation of women before who completed higher education and are now encouraging their daughters to pursue higher education and secondly, to transforming social and cultural norms which are diminishing (though slowly) gender disparity across various social classes and castes. Thus, while fewer women of an earlier generation may have gone abroad for education, the current growing cohort of women graduating from universities with an undergraduate degree is reflected in the increasing number of women pursuing the next level in higher education abroad. The relationship with parents’ education is examined in more detail presently. The age group in the cohort 21–25 years, for both men and women, is also indicative of the India’s education structure: i.e. students start higher education at the age of 18 years and complete their undergraduate programme or other technical school programmes by the age of 21. Most undergraduate programmes are three years in length (UGC 2012) and by the time students complete their first degree, they have completed 15 years of formal education. The large cohort in the age group of 21–25 is therefore indicative of the level of study the students have completed before going abroad, and also

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the level they will pursue while studying abroad. The next section presents the data on level of study.

Level of study Most of the respondents (45%) were enrolled in masters’ programmes. This was the preferred level of study for both men (48%) and women (41%). The second most popular level of study for men was an undergraduate degree (19.5%) and for women a PhD (18.5%). Mirroring the results of Rajan and Wadhawan (2014) study, 72 per cent of respondents undertook postgraduate level of studies. Of this, 45 per cent were women and 55 per cent men. The preference of a postgraduate programme is also reflected in the US statistics on students from India. Approximately 14 per cent of the students in the US in 2010/2011 were enrolled in undergraduate programmes, 61 per cent were enrolled in postgraduate programmes (Open Doors 2012).2 The UK, France and Germany show similar trends (Mkherjee and Chanda 2012). The inclination toward a master’s degree programme over an undergraduate or PhD is shaped by several factors including length of programme and financial positions. The cost of education as an international student usually means paying twice if not more than the fee for domestic students. For instance, according to the British Council the annual tuition fee for degree (undergraduate or postgraduate) in arts/social sciences in the UK ranges between £7,000 and £12,000. The upper range increases to £25,000 for science programmes, and up to £34,000 for MBA.3 In Canada for the year 2014/2015, tuition fee for an undergraduate programme was approximately CDN $20,000 and for graduate programmes was CDN $13,934 (Statistics Canada 2014). The duration of the programme therefore becomes important, since the student would have to pay for one or two years for a master’s degree versus 3–4 years for an undergraduate or PhD programme, a difference which becomes especially significant if the students have no funding. The survey findings highlighted that 62 per cent of the respondents were self-funded or have parental support. A three-to-four year undergraduate degree or PhD (in some countries completing PhDs can take up to six years) may not be a financially viable choice. Furthermore, the young age cohort has implications as well. Youth in India, especially around the age of 21–22 years, have little or no assets to their name. They have no credit history or financial resources; they are entirely dependent on their parents for financial resources. Even when they are abroad, unless they work or have funding, these young

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adults are entirely dependent on their parents to cover their living expenses. A heavy financial burden is placed upon the family when a student goes to study abroad. This, among other factors that will be discussed later, shapes the potential to go abroad.

Discipline of study There was not a significant gendered difference in the level of study; however, there is a very strong relationship between gender and discipline of study. Overall, 43 per cent of the respondents enrolled in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programmes. There is clear and statistically significant male bias in STEM courses; of the total students enrolled in STEM programmes, 69 per cent were male and 31 per cent were female. This male bias is not unique to this survey. Enrolment at Indian universities (UGC 2012) as well as globally in STEM courses is dominated by males (UIS 2010). The next popular courses are social sciences (24%) and business (23%). Females comprise approximately 70 per cent of the total respondents enrolled in social sciences. The gender composition is reversed for those enrolled in business courses – females make up 40 per cent of this group. However, business is the only main programme of study in this survey where the gender bias is rather small. In the remaining courses, there is a clear male or female bias.

Factors shaping potential to move Many factors shape the potential of students to move abroad for education. In the next sections, two aspects are highlighted that were identified from the survey data. This section discusses the influence of parents’ social class and the migration history of the individual and his/her family on the likelihood of students from India to move abroad for higher education.

Social class of the family The growing literature on international student mobility shows that it is a family pursuit rather than an individualistic one (Brooks and Waters 2011; Findlay et al., 2006). Studies on ERASMUS and UK students studying abroad show that social class – indicated through parents’ education and profession – has a strong positive impact on the student’s mobility behaviour (Brooks and Waters 2011; Findlay et al., 2006; Findlay and King 2010; King et al., 2010). Brooks and Waters

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(2011) further state that studying abroad is an exclusive pursuit for the middle classes and that this exercise can be seen as an instance of enacting and reproducing those specific class relations. Parental education levels were one predictor of student mobility behaviour, which was particularly the case where mothers had completed higher education. The results of our survey mirror the results on the impact of parents’ education. PARENTS’ EDUCATION

There is a strong and significant relationship between gender and parents’ education, especially between the student women and their mothers’ education level. Survey results show that 54 per cent of male respondents have mothers who are university educated and 75 per cent have fathers who possess university education; by contrast nearly 80 per cent of the female respondents have mothers who are university educated and a more or less equal number have fathers who are university educated. The differing status of parental education places males and females in different social locations. Specifically, women who move abroad for education are able to do so because of their parents’ education, especially their mothers’ education. These women who studied abroad represent a particularly privileged and ‘educationally advantaged’ class (Brooks and Waters 2011; Thapan 2009; Waters 2006, 2008). PARENTS’ OCCUPATIONS

The parental occupations provided by the respondents were grouped in the general categories. There is no significant difference between the proportion of women and men and the breakdown of the father’s occupation. However, there is a clear difference between the mother’s occupation for male and female respondents. Nearly 65 per cent of the male respondents have a mother who is a homemaker4, whereas for women the largest category was comprised of mothers who worked as ‘professionals’ at 47 per cent, followed by at 43 per cent who were homemakers. Data suggests that women who study abroad come from families of higher social class, where parents are highly educated and work in higher income positions, whereas men’s family background stretches across the large and complex Indian class system. For women, mother’s education and occupation places women in a position of advantage, which facilitates their participation in the overseas migration stream.

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Migration history INDIVIDUAL

Data was also collected from the online survey on both internal and international migration of individuals. For UK students, Findlay et al. (2010) highlight that there is a positive relationship between previous migration experience and future migration for education. Reflecting these results, nearly 60 per cent of the respondents in our study have moved at least once before they moved for their studies abroad. Further, 42 per cent of the respondents moved internally (in India) from their place of birth at least once before they moved outside of India for their studies. A smaller number, though not inconsiderable, 17 per cent had experience of international migration before heading off for their international studies. FAMILY (PARENTS AND SIBLINGS)

Data shows that 66 per cent of the respondents have at least one member of their family (parents and siblings) who has undertaken migration. Here the category of parents refers to at least one parent who has migrated – for work or study (international); and siblings refers to at least one sibling who has moved internally or internationally for study. Approximately 75 per cent of the female respondents have at least one member of their family who has some history of internal or international migration, compared to only 60 per cent of the men. Also, approximately 30 per cent of the female respondents have two or more members (both parents and siblings) of their family who have undertaken migration, compared to only 16 per cent of the men. Family history of mobility clearly has a positive correlation with the decision to apply for study abroad, especially in the case of women’s international mobility.

Why study abroad In this section we summarize the motivations from the survey questionnaire and corroborate them with the results from the in-depth interviews. The survey asked the respondents to rank the main determinants of their decision to study outside of India.5 The top two ‘very important’ determinants in the decision to study abroad are attending a world-class university and the desire for an international career: 58 per cent selected ‘I was determined to attend a world-class university’ as a very important determinant, followed by ‘I want an international career and this was the first step towards it’,

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selected by 56 per cent of the respondents. The interviews revealed concerns with the national-scale structures of Indian higher education and labour markets. Hence, the top two determinants that shape the potential to move are discussed further in the context of Indian education system and labour market. Family – the desire of parents that their child studies abroad was selected by only 14 per cent of the respondents. This was surprising since family is the central site for decision-making in the Indian context. The role of family is discussed in the section on ‘Role of family’ – and in doing so, the in-depth interviews reveal why this ‘determinant’ scored low while simultaneously playing a significant role in decision-making process.

World-class university The idea of the ‘world-class university’ has been identified as a significant factor in research on international students across countries. The results were no different for the Indian case. However, the reasons for the desire for the ‘world-class’ university outside of India was influenced by the experiences of students in Indian universities, and on a broader level by the education system. To some extent, studying abroad is seen as a way to mitigate the fear of failure (Brooks and Waters 2011; Waters 2006) that emerges out a highly competitive education system, such as the one in India, at least for entry to the top institutions. The Indian higher education system is extremely competitive as a consequence of rising demand for higher education, and limited availability of spaces at highly regarded institutions of higher education. In order to manage the high demands for higher education, the government has allowed the establishment of private universities, and campuses built by overseas universities. The interview respondents revealed their frustrations with the universities in India. A common theme was that universities did not offer the courses or type of approach that the students wanted to pursue beyond undergraduate level. This was especially the case with the doctoral students. The majority of the interviewees worked in India before they took up the PhD programme in Toronto. Some of the students left their jobs in India to pursue master’s courses in the UK or US, and then chose to come to Canada for a PhD. Some worked in the university environment and others outside. They all wanted to pursue further higher education, and felt that the Indian universities did not offer the courses they wanted to pursue. These students felt

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disappointed by the approaches of the programme – that topics of research focused primarily on their policy application especially in programmes such as biology, economics and geography. A second factor that shaped the choice to pursue education abroad was the constraint put upon students by the institutions based on their previous education. A few of the respondents found out that they could not continue further education in their topic of interest because it was not linked to their undergraduate degree. They could only pursue a masters and then doctoral level course in the field of their undergraduate study. This policy of higher education institutions in Indian fails to account for the shifting and transforming interests of students as a result of their personal and professional life trajectories. The third reason that led to the decision to study abroad is the low opinion of the Indian society and community on those who pursue non-STEM related fields. According to the respondents, pursuing undergraduate degrees in non-STEM courses is frowned upon and disapproved by family and the community at large, especially for men. This disapproval is so heavily embedded within cultures of certain areas that some high schools (grade 11 and 12) only provide university entrance courses that cater to STEM fields. Students, those who can afford to do so, find that they may have to move to an urban centre to enrol in courses in non-STEM-related fields to pursue higher education. This ‘stigma’ of possessing non-STEM education is circumvented, and in fact turned into a positive attribute when that education is pursued abroad. Pursuing a non-STEM programme abroad leads to social capital accumulation (Waters 2006). Hence, the idea of a world-class university is linked to dissatisfaction with the Indian education system. Students’ motivation to study abroad is to fulfil the need for quality education for future prospects, to acquire further training, gain exposure to different methods, and study a course/programme that may not be available or accessible in India.

Career Study abroad is seen to provide skills and cultural capital that enables students to enter international labour markets as well as provide a more competitive stance in ‘home’ labour markets (Brooks and Waters 2009). Hence, this venture is an investment by parents and the students in their future – 56 per cent of all respondents, male and female, identified their interest in pursuing higher education abroad as the

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first step towards building an international career. As one respondent stated, ‘studying abroad has many struggles and hardships but a big time investment for bright future though’. A factor that shapes the desire to go abroad for international career is the Indian job market and limited access to it. Approximately 50 per cent of the online survey respondents held jobs in the information technology (IT) industry; others held jobs in business processing firms linked to banks in Australia, in the medical field and others in media/communication. One of the reasons these individuals left their jobs in India was because they felt there was no room for professional progression unless they upgraded their education/skills and also gained international experience. The respondents referred to their transforming interests as they worked. As they continued their employment, some going abroad on contracts and others working in positions of increasing responsibility, all claimed to feel a level of dissatisfaction from the job, their teams and the institutions. The need to pursue a career in their chosen field – that differed from their jobs – led them to look for employment elsewhere. A few recognized that employment outside of India offered them the opportunity to pursue their interests. However, in order to pursue their careers, they needed more education in an international context. Secondly, while some of the respondents were able to secure jobs based on their merits and contacts, other respondents felt they were not as successful within the Indian job market. This group is one whose families had financial resources to support higher education, but they and their families lacked the social contacts to navigate in the highly competitive job market (Jeffrey 2010). Nepotism over meritocracy still remains at core of the most social and economic transactions, and particularly within the job market. Exacerbating the situation further are other factors that create differentiated access to labour market and career progressions. The gender inequalities of the Indian labour market (Gupta and Sharma 2002; Parikh and Sukhatme 2004) emerged continually throughout the narratives of women who studied abroad, as well parents whose daughters studied abroad. In professional fields such as engineering and IT, while women have made substantial headway in breaking into these industries, their progression is significantly hindered by the gendered inequalities embedded in the system. Research has shown that women in the Indian labour market are often relegated to lower positions and earn significantly less than their male counterparts (Gupta and Sharma 2002; Parikh and Sukhatme 2004). This is not specific to India; labour market gender inequalities persist

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in all countries/societies (Mills 2003). However, they exist at different levels. Parikh and Sukhatme (2004), for instance, highlight instances of Indian engineering firms that have policies against hiring women. Hiring practices of other organizations give preference to men over women based on the assumption that women will discontinue work after they are married or when they have children. This also limits the progression of women within the management hierarchy. Parents’ concerns underscore the gender inequalities that exist at national level in the labour market. Hence, the motivation to study abroad for a career is also a result of the underlying gender discrimination that women may face if they enter the labour market in India.

Role of family Existing research on the motivations of international students has framed the role of parents as the supporters and facilitators of study abroad (Baas 2010; Waters 2006). The results of our study mirror this finding, but also reveal another aspect of this issue. The survey results show that respondents did not feel that parents played a significant role in the decision to go abroad for education. And while on some level that may be – true – in that the individuals decided for themselves that they wanted to go abroad; however, they would have been unable to do so without their parents support. It is in the negotiations of gaining that support that we see significant gender differences; and one of the key unique findings of this study emerges – that parents of sons expressed a greater reluctance for their sons to go study abroad than parents of daughters. Parents have divergent and conflicting interests on the migration of their offspring. As expected, within the Indian context, many parents and female students interviewed spoke of the disagreements, discussions and negotiations that took place in order to gain parents’ support to go abroad. The discussions between parents and daughter to secure (un)material support was through negotiating parents’ narratives of: ‘daughters’ shouldn’t leave home unless married’, ‘I don’t want my daughter to be alone because I worry for her safety’, ‘she is of marriageable age, and if she continues more studies she will be too old to get married’, and lastly ‘how are we going to pay for this’. This spectrum of reasons covers the array of cultural and individual opinions and class positionalities within the Indian context. As the above cultural narratives were negotiated, parents’ reason to support their daughters’ mobility for education was shaped by their desire

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for their daughters to have better future than one they would if they stayed in India for education, work and/or marriage. Education and work experience abroad would be an investment in their daughters’ future in order for them to overcome the barriers and struggle many women may face as a result of the inequalities and disparities within the broader Indian social, cultural and economic milieu. The surprising and interesting finding about the role of the family was in respect to the sons. The parents of sons were the most reluctant about this movement. Parents’ narratives of reluctance were comprised of their references to the gender roles of sons within a patrifocal family – to ensure that care arrangements are provided for the older members. While parents sought to ‘send’ their daughters abroad for a ‘better future’, parents of sons were concerned that their son might not return. A movement away of the son makes the future of care uncertain since there are no other definite or familiar arrangements. This reluctance of parents also makes visible the failure of the state in providing options for care for the ageing population (Raghuram 2012), and especially not for the middle classes (Fernandes 2006). This narrative of reluctance of the parents of sons was particularly relevant since families of men who go to study abroad are not necessarily as affluent of those of women. As the survey results discussed earlier show, men’s families fall within a wider range of Indian class hierarchy, and therefore they (especially ageing parents and grandparents) are not likely to possess the resources to care for themselves in the absence of the future breadwinner/supporter of the family – the son. The position in which the son leaves (Sondhi 2013) – a ‘youth’, a student, unemployed and likely single – also does not provide families with assurances of future remittances. For some students, both men and women, they were able to overcome this reluctance by securing funding for their education thereby negating the financial burden on families (Sondhi 2013). However, for families with sons, the uncertainty of the ‘student’ stage of life course greatly shapes the degree of reluctance of parents to support their son’s decisions to go abroad for higher education.

Conclusion This chapter has painted, in broad brushstrokes, a portrait of the IIS. This group of highly educated youth are leaving India in increasing numbers for greener pastures elsewhere and becoming a part of the global talent mobility flows. The survey results highlight the dominance of a young age cohort of 21–25 year-olds, a preference of shorter duration courses and a bias toward STEM courses, especially for men.

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Deeper analysis of the data reveals that more women than men who go abroad for higher education are likely to have mothers who are university educated and work outside of the home in occupations that require non-reproductive labour. The family, as is the case for other migrant groups, is a key site for decision-making and support for migration. Hence, students first had to overcome reluctance of family members and garner their support. Both men and women had to overcome parents’ reluctance – which emerged due to the expected gender roles. And while women’s gender role expectations are transforming with the Indian society, as evidenced by their increased international mobility for education, men are still heavily embedded in their traditional gender role expectation – that of taking care of ageing parents. The discussion on motivations to go abroad for education highlighted macrolevel issues surrounding the Indian higher education system and the labour market. The limitations of the higher education system with regards to courses offered, pedagogy and access led students to seek other options globally. The second macroissue was the differential and unequal access to the Indian labour market. Despite the credentials and merit, it emerged that lack of personal and social contacts places opaque walls rather than glass ceilings which the individuals could not, or would not be able to break through. Interviews revealed that this was more likely to be a significant barrier for women than for men. Hence to circumvent these barriers, people – particularly women – sought studying abroad as a means of entering a labour market elsewhere where they would be more likely to be evaluated on their merit and not just their social contacts. The preceding discussion has clearly shown the role gender plays in shaping the potential to move abroad for education. Secondly, it has shown that Indian women’s participation in the global talent mobility flow is a reflection of the gender disparities that limit women’s access to the labour market.

Notes 1 This statistic is calculated by the UIS using data from five countries: Canada, UK, France, South Africa, and Australia. There is paucity in ISM statistics that are disaggregated by gender. 2 http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/ Fact-Sheets-by-Country/~/media/Files/Corporate/Open-Doors/ Fact-Sheets-2011/Country/India%20Fact%20Sheet%20-%20Open%20 Doors%202011.ashx

118    Gunjan Sondhi 3 http://www.educationuk.org/UK/Article/UK-course-fees-forinternational-students 4 I used the category of homemaker to refer to work that is often done within the household – reproductive labour. This category also appears in the fathers’ occupation table, but expectedly there is a much larger percentage of women who are homemakers than men due to the social and cultural norms of Indian society. 5 This scale was based on the survey designed and used by Findlay and King (2010).

References ———. 2010. Imagined Mobility: Migration and Transnationalism among Indian Students in Australia. London: Anthem Press. Brooks, R. and J. Waters. 2011. Student Mobilities, Migration and the Internationalization of Higher Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Fernandes, L. 2006. India’s New Middle Class: Democratic Politics in an Era of Economic Reform. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. Findlay, A. M. and R. King. 2010. Motivations and Experiences of UK Students Studying Abroad. BIS Research Paper series. Findlay, A. M., R. King, A. Stam and E. Ruiz-Gelices. 2006. ‘Ever Reluctant Europeans: The Changing Geographies of UK Students Studying and Working Abroad’, European Urban and Regional Studies, 13(4): 291–318. Gupta, N. and A. K. Sharma. 2002. ‘Women Academic Scientists in India’, Social Studies of Science, 32(5–6): 901–915. IIE. 2009. Open Doors 2008. New York: Institute of International Education. IIENetwork. Atlas of Student Mobility, 2009/10/18/14:13:25. Available from http://www.atlas.iienetwork.org/?p=48047. Jeffrey, C. 2010. ‘Timepass: Youth, Class, and Time among Unemployed Young Men in India’, American Ethnologist, 37(3): 465–481. King, R., A. Findlay and J. Ahrens. 2010. International Student Mobility Literature Review. Bristol: Higher Education Funding Council for England. Mills, M. B. 2003. ‘Gender and Inequality in the Global Labor Force’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 32: 41–62. Mkherjee, S. and R. Chanda. 2012. Indian Student Mobility to European Countries: An Overview. Florence: Migration Policy Centre. Mukhopadhyay, C. C. and S. Seymour (eds). 1994. Women, Education, and Family Structure in India. Boulder: Westview Press. Parikh, P. P. and S. P. Sukhatme. 2004. ‘Women Engineers in India’, Economic and Political Weekly, 39(2): 193–201. Raghuram, P. 2012. ‘Global Care, Local Configurations–Challenges to Conceptualizations of Care’, Global Networks, 12(2): 155–174. Rajan, S. I and N. Wadhawan. 2014. ‘Future Diasporas? International Student Migration from India to UK’, in S.I. Rajan (ed.), India Migration Report 2014, pp. 149–167. New Delhi: Routledge.

Indian international students    119 Rajan, S. I (ed.). 2014. India Migration Report 2014. New Delhi: Routledge. Sondhi, G. 2013. ‘Indian International Students in Toronto: Exploring Young Men Resisting Their Family’s Expectations’, South Asian Diaspora, 5(2): 223–235. Statistics Canada. 2014. ‘University Tuition Fees, 2014/2015’, The Daily, 11 September 2014. Available at: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ daily-quotidien/140911/dq140911b-eng.htm (accessed 12 September  2014). Thapan, M. (2009). Living the body: Embodiment, womanhood and identity in contemporary India. New Delhi: SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd. UGC. 2011. Higher Education in India: Strategies and Schemes during Eleventh Plan Period (2007–2012) for Universities and Colleges. New Delhi: University Grants Commission. ———. 2012. Higher Education in India at a Glance. New Delhi: University Grants Commission. UIS. 2010. Global Education Digest. Montreal: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Waters, J. 2006. ‘Geographies of Cultural Capital: Education, International Migration and Family Strategies between Hong Kong and Canada’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 31(2): 179–192. Waters, J. 2008. Education, Migration, and Cultural Capital in the Chinese diaspora: Transnational Students between Hong Kong and Canada. New York: Cambria Press.

9

Gendered mobilities

Negotiating educational strategies in Kerala SARA LÅNG Introduction: student mobility in a transnational context Kerala, in the south of India, is a region that is deeply linked to processes of transnationalism (Osella and Osella 2007). The region has a strong history of emigration to diverse global locations and these migratory trajectories often follow the flow of both economic and social remittances (Levitt 1998). In Kerala, today, roughly one person in every third household is living or working abroad (Zachariah and Rajan 2012: 31). The emigration of Indian workers significantly increased during the period of British rule when Indians were required to work on plantations in the various British colonies (Jain 2011: 24). A few decades into the twentieth century the emigration of highly skilled Malayalee1 workers began to expand, which sparked a debate surrounding the potential problem of a ‘brain draining’. The Middle East oil boom in the 1970s was the starting point for a new (and currently ongoing) – wave of labour emigration to the Gulf countries (Zachariah and Rajan 2012). The understanding of Kerala’s history of migration is of key importance in the exploration of existing spatial relations today. It is, however, important to distinguish between different rationales that people have to migrate and this chapter is devoted to the growing research field of student migration and the symbolic value of mobility (Brooks and Waters 2010; Findlay et al., 2012). According to the KMS 2007 report, students constituted the second largest population of outmigration from Kerala (25, 8%). Indian students also represent the biggest share of international students living in the US, and are the second biggest within the UK (Kumar et al., 2009: 35). The growing middleclass in India is enabling young people to go abroad and to enter foreign university programmes through either direct family funding or by utilizing educational loans

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(ibid.). These new and evolving patterns of student migration illustrate that it is an important area of research that deserves further attention. There is a risk though, that studies on youth mobilities are reduced to a Western focused phenomena, where empirics draw upon the migratory experiences that are only available to a smaller group of privileged students, and where ‘cosmopolitism’ comes to represent an elitist view (Devika 2012). Drawing on interviews with students conducted in a private, gender mixed, Christian upper-secondary school in Thiruvananthapuram I argue that young people’s perceived spatial restrictions in their everyday life is reflected in their future aspirations. Firstly, the discourse on girls ‘need’ to be protected is keeping young women from going to prestigious universities far away from home. The big cities, which are perceived as dangerous by some parents, are also important springboards for later wanting to go abroad. Secondly, in the girls’ stories related to future aspirations there is an emphasis on city life, which they relate to independence through both movement and anonymity. Thirdly, and finally, the life course perspective and the shared idea of ‘getting a family and settling down’ affect boys and girls negotiation of places and spaces differently. Going abroad to study is, and I address this aspect more deeply later in the chapter, a family strategy to obtain both symbolic and economic capital. Young people in Kerala are, due to the transnational context of the region, taught the value of such an investment within the formal education system as well as in more informal settings. The study’s theoretical approach draws on Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of capital (Bourdieu 1986) and explores how strategies of outmigration from Kerala to other parts of India, and emigration abroad, co-produces social positions through its symbolic value. The ‘post-Bourdieu feminist’ researcher Beverly Skeggs emphasizes that the ability to propertize culture in making of a self [. . .] becomes central to how class is made in the contemporary. The entitlement and access to the resources for making a self with value are central to how the middle-class is formed; they have access to others’ culture as a resource in their own self-making. In the relationship of entitlement class is lived and experienced. (Skeggs 2004: 177)

Although the students that take part in the study could all be said to belong to a middle class, their trajectories and future horizons are greatly differentiated. What they perceive as ‘the right way to go’

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in life is related to inherited and acquired assets (Bourdieu 1986). According to the majority of the interviewees, the US represents the best education system in the world. Despite the primacy of the US some students have alternative dreams that are bound to the Gulf countries, whilst others perceive Germany or France to be the best educational option. The chapter begins with sketching out the theoretical framework of the study, where gender inscriptions (Skeggs 2004: 12–13) are explored in relation to different forms of capital (Bourdieu 1986). It then moves on to describe the collected fieldwork material, the context of the study and some considerations of my role as a researcher. The empirical section, which is divided into four themes, sets out to explore how girls’ everyday experiences are reflected in their future aspirations, followed by a section on girls’ associations between city life and freedom. Thereafter, the chapter moves to focus more deeply on space and time restrictions, where boys’ and girls’ career choices are related to their social positions. In the final empirical section, boys’ and girls’ different expectations of family life and its implications for educational and career choices are highlighted. The chapter ends with a concluding section that summarizes the main findings and points towards new research questions that deserve attention.

Gender, mobility and education This chapter is written within the discipline and tradition of social and economic geography. Geography in the Western context has historically been a male-dominated subject, incarnated in a [white] male ‘explorer’ of new lands taking on the mission to ‘objectively’ map out the world. This legacy has created controversy and internal disciplinary battles. One of the most important of these battles has been the development of critical feminist geography, or more commonly referred to today as gender studies. In the 1970s the long-standing emphasis within the discipline on objectivity was redirected towards acknowledging the subject. With this shift the role of the researcher, the ‘master subject’, was critically questioned (Rose 1993: 6). New areas of research were also introduced, which underlined the importance of everyday experiences and statements like ‘the personal is political’ (McDowell 1997) became key. The major achievement arising out of the feminist turn was that ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’ became complicated and not viewed only as fixed entities. It became clear that they have to be understood in relation to empirical findings that may be contradictory, ambiguous and unstable. Furthermore, gender is not an autonomous system

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but a ‘particularly combinatory social category, one that infiltrates and influences every other category’ (Moi 1999: 288). The intersecting relations of caste, class and religion are understood in the study in relation to different forms of capital, an approach that has also been used by Filippo Osella and Caroline Osella (2000) and David Sancho (2012). It is therefore important to take into account, e.g. the parents’ educational background and professions, as these factors indicate a student’s educational and cultural capital (Bourdieu 1996: 139–142). The recent development of mass higher education that is taking place on a global scale, combined with a policy focus on the knowledge-driven economy, and an increasing emphasis on individualization, has created a feeling that everyone has the ‘opportunity’ to enter fulfilling and rewarding careers (Brown 2003: 142–80). The ability to navigate through the education system is, however, dependent on social background and acquired assets (Bourdieu 1986). Mobility patterns have been explored at different levels, such as gender ideologies of personal mobility, everyday travel patterns and uneven power dynamics that constrain movement (Conlon 2011:354). Recently, researchers have directed their interest towards the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ (Hannam et al., 2006) as a way of understanding contemporary processes of globalization. Tim Cresswell (2010) identifies these aspects of mobility as being: ‘getting to one place to other’, ‘representations of movement that give shared meaning’; and, finally, ‘the experienced and embodied practice of movement’ (p.19). In this study, I focus on the latter two aspects, and additionally I explore boys’ and girls’ potential mobility patterns. There has been an ongoing and justified critique towards gender studies developed in Western contexts. The research field has neglected gender experiences outside of Europe and North American contexts and has fallen short in acknowledging the close relationship between ethnicity and gender. I have been cognizant of this critique and scrutinized my own research in ways that reflect a transparent choice of method and theoretical framework that can be responsive to the empirical material.

Framing the study The focus of the study is on future aspirations, and not actual outcomes. What is the benefit of such an approach? Firstly, studies on student mobilities often include students from Asia in a Western ‘hosting’ context, where the move has already taken place. From a retrospective perspective, decisions to migrate may be rationalized

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and reconstructed to ‘fit’ the story. It also leaves no room for comparison with peers in secondary schools who did not choose to move. A few international students then become representative of a local context that may contain a much more varied horizon, or the context of origin is absent from the analysis. Secondly, the aspiration itself may say a lot. It enables, e.g. an exploration of what makes certain futures visible, obtainable and preferable; and for whom? Furthermore, it says something about the equality of choice and the accessibility to a potential market of education and employment. Is there an experience of a great number of choices being present in a transnational context like Kerala? The chosen field location is Thiruvananthapuram, located in the former administrative district of Travancore, which held a matrilineal rule amongst at least half of the population up until 1940 (Lindberg 2001 p. 52). Regarding the status of women (literacy, health, demographic factors) Kerala has been advanced compared to other parts of India (Ramachandran 1997: 233). There has, however, been criticism of a process of idealization of the “Kerala model” that risks covering up inequalities and internal disparities (Devika 2010; Lindberg 2001). Devika (2006) explored the gender paradox in Kerala, where ‘high levels of literacy, better access to health care, weaker taboos on educated women’s employment, rapid acceptance of smaller families, and so on, have not brought greater mobility to women or expanded their range of life-choices’ (p.44). Nonetheless, the history of migration rooted in Kerala, together with a rather unique history of gender development makes this an especially interesting case study. Young people in Kerala are, however, a diversified group with as many horizons as there are participants of the study. Thiruvananthapuram is everyone’s place of birth within the study and has been a part of their environment as they have been growing up. This geographic and environmental commonality provides a shared standpoint, and to some extent a shared horizon. This intersection of individual and shared horizons is perhaps another way to understand the purpose of the study. The results presented later in this chapter draw on a qualitative study of students in 12th standard in a Christian private school in Thiruvananthapuram. Defining the middle class is not an easy task, but sending children to private schools, with a good reputation, is one way that researchers have distinguished the middle class (Jeffery 2008). Those students who are represented in the study live in an urban part of Kerala. This urban area is not comparable to major cities by Indian standards, but rather functions as an administrative

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and educational centre with about 7,50,000 inhabitants in the city area. The primary fieldwork method included semi-structured interviews which covered on a broad range of topics such as everyday life, future aspirations, social relations, experiences from other places in India and abroad, as well as family expectations. There were 17 boys and 21 girls taking part in the study from both Indian Certificate for Secondary Education (ICSE) and state syllabus enrolled students in both the science and commerce groups. In addition to the interviews I did formal and informal interviews with school staff as well as unstructured observations in the school. The students do not appear with their real names in the study, but the changed names still reflect the parents’ religion.

‘Protecting’ the girls and thereby constraining geographical mobility Although the topic of the chapter is students’ mobility, I begin this section by discussing immobility and spatial restrictions in youth’s day-today life, and then return to how this is a key issue for future aspirations later in the chapter. Everyday routines, which may initially be considered as trivial, are bound in power structures which limit and confine youth. These experiences of being ‘female’ and ‘male’ in different spaces becomes inscriptions (Skeggs 2004: 12–13), and a part of our disposition from which we develop future strategies. These inscriptions that guide our acts may be both conscious and unconscious (Bourdieu 1984: 170), which is something that is reflected in the interviews. Both boys and girls experience family life, school and the future as gender neutral and equal. In the interviews, examples of inequality are taken from the media, images of brutalities against infant girls, or rape cases. The dowry system, where the family of the bride is expected to give expensive gifts and cash to the bridegroom’s family, is also brought to attention in the discussion of gender equality. None of the informants found examples of inequality in their own everydaylife. In the gender analysis I have therefore excluded the specific questions about gender, and instead looked at their everyday practices and experiences that addresses these issues in an indirect but telling way. Usha is a 17 year old enrolled in ICSE. Her father is a contractor and her mother is a dentist. She was one of several girls who addressed the issue of calculating risk while moving around in the city. Several of the girls described themselves as being ‘protected’ by their parents, something that was not mentioned in the interviews with the boys. There are real security issues in the local urban area,

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where it might not be safe to go out at night, yet there is also a socially constructed risk of damaging the family reputation. There are expectations on girls to represent dignity and pride by being ‘appropriate’. The importance of maintaining the image of one self and the image of the family play an important role in feelings of respect and honour. This was also reflected upon by 18-year-old Geetha, both of whose parents are working as bank managers: Sara: Geetha:

The people in Thiruvananthapuram, what are they like? They are, in generally they are good. Everybody is willing to help you. But, they are too judgmental, like, they don’t let people go in other ways. They have to follow the typical patterns, the same culture. Otherwise, they will look at you in a negative way.

Several girls expressed that Kerala is a conservative part of India. This was noticed in their everyday practices of moving around in Thiruvananthapuram, as well as in the future horizon. It is expected that younger generations are more progressive in their thinking, but also earlier studies have drawn attention to Kerala as a region where values and traditions are preserved (Devika 2012). A number of the girls expressed that their parents did not approve of them going to study at a university outside Kerala. They were considered to be too young, and that it was unsafe. The most prestigious schools, within a certain field, might then be off limits to them due to various safety precautions. In the case of 17-year-old Nila, her parents – father an engineer and mother a home maker – were planning to move as a family unit to Delhi if she got accepted to a particular school there. This kind of an engagement also shows the two-sided involvement of parents’ in their children’s education. On the one hand they invest money and time in their children, building up expectations and anxiety, and on the other showing proof of commitment and personal sacrifices. In other cases, like with Seema, 17 years old – her father who was a businessman and mother a pharmacist, both with five years of education respectively, did not want her to move. Seema: Sara: Seema:

I don’t like Kerala that much. You don’t? Cause . . . I don’t know, I want to explore and I want to be in different places, /. . ./ my mum, she says it’s more safe here, you know, the localities are more safe compared to other, any other state in India. She wants me to stay here.

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Girls are deprived of the same academic opportunities as the boys when they are not given the same chance to go to one of the bigger university cities. It is a double punishment in that sense. First, girls are threatened by the patriarchal and sexist structure of society. Second, they have to be ‘protected’ from this structure and thereby miss out on equal opportunities. The ‘choice’ to stay has to be understood in relation to what is recognized as valued by the dominant structures in society (Bourdieu 1984: 64). That is, prestigious universities outside Kerala, which boys and girls may have different opportunities to access.

The city: educational prestige and a symbol of independence After finishing upper-secondary school several of the students planned to move from Thiruvananthapuram to go and study at a prestigious university in Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, or Mumbai. Universities in Kerala are, according to the interviewed students, not considered to measure up well to national standards. A prestigious university in Delhi would also be an important springboard to go abroad and study in the US or the UK. The dream of going to a big city and engage in study differed between boys and girls. The girls were keener to discuss life outside the university and emphasized ‘student life’ as an important motivator. The boys, on the other hand, focused on education, and did not mention life outside the university as an enticement to move. The girls thought of the ‘freedom’ of living in a big city, e.g. by going out by oneself and using the transportation system. The meaning of urban travel has been explored, by Ole Jensen (2009), amongst others. Jensen finds that transportation has to be understood as something more than simply getting from point A to point B. It is about knowledge mastery, as well as a part of the daily ‘identity construction of the mobile urbanities’ (p.152), to which I would also like to add a ‘production of gendered experiences’. The girls interviewed frequently expressed a longing for independence. Sara: Sankar:

Sara: Sankar

What kind of opportunities do you have there? Like it’s more outgoing, and. . . You learn to travel by yourself go places and do stuff by yourself. It’s not like that. . . I don’t really get to go out by myself, someone always come with me. It is a conservative place. If I grew up somewhere else I would be more independent. Is that something you wish for? Yes, at times I think it would have been better; it is easier to be independent.

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The girl from the above quote was Sankar, 18 years old and enrolled in ICSE, who has a mother that is a home maker and a father with five years of higher education. She goes on to explain how there is a spatial restriction where she and her girlfriends are not permitted to move around freely by themselves in Thiruvananthapuram, and especially in the evenings. Several of the girls expressed that they – similar to the boys – would like to meet up with friends in the evening instead of staying in the house. Their parents were afraid that people would ‘start talking’ if they moved around by themselves or in the company of the wrong person. The longing for independence in a big city was related to their experiences of restriction in their everyday life in Thiruvananthapuram. Cities like Delhi then become an alternative, something different and a way of life associated with a big city.

The diverse middle-class: overcoming time/space restrictions This section is devoted to space and time divisions in young people’s everyday lives that co-produce young people’s identity as well as their career paths. Students in the 12th standard go to school during the day and many have signed up for extra tuitions before and after official school classes. When they get home at night it is only to get started on tomorrow’s homework. It is not unusual that boys and girls sleep only five or six hours per night. There is a reason as the final year is said to ‘make or break you’ (Sancho 2012). There are mainly two professions that ‘count’ within an upwardly striving middle class in Kerala, and those are medicine and engineering. There were more girls than boys pursuing medicine, drawing on a ‘discourse of care’, while more boys were to be found within engineering. To be left with only these two career alternatives was a common perception in the interviews. Here Remya, 17 years old with a mother who works as a clerk and father who is a government employee, both with five years of education: Remya:

Honestly, I mean I wasn’t interested in medicine, so . . . naturally, as opposite to medicine, the only other field here is engineer.

Only a few students were encouraged by their parents to do ‘whatever they want’ and these students came from families rich in educational and social assets that felt that they could trust their children

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to ‘do the right thing’, rather than openly pushing them in a certain direction. These families had social networks in Kerala and India, as well as abroad, that played an important role in sharing experiences and information about alternative educational routes. One boy, Abraham, was looking to pursue a university degree in fashion in Delhi. Although, his parents were surprised of his choice, the symbolic value of the prestigious school was an accepted compensation for the unusual career path. The parents were well educated, both with master degrees. He dreamt about going to the US to work with ready-to-wear fashion, but had some worries that the training he would get in India would not be valued in either the US or Europe. Another student, Ashok, whose parents are head of research institutions in India, and had spent a few years in the US. Ashok:

[. . .] if you are a creative person, or you really persistent about your originality, I think the place to go is the US or UK.

Going abroad to study is a way to distinguish yourself from others by being original and different (Heilbron 2001; Fourcade 2006). A key driver of international student mobility in this study, as elsewhere, was the desire to obtain a qualification that would make them stand out from other graduates within the same field (Waters 2006; Xiang and Shen 2009). Not everyone had the support of their parents in pursuing a non-traditional stream of education. For example, there was one girl who was interested in psychology, another in English literature and a third girl in journalism. These students had all been advised against pursuing their interest as a formal career. They were instead encouraged to have their interest as a hobby, something they very well could do, but only after attaining a degree within a more ‘secure’ stream of education. The problem is, however, that due to the limited amount of time, these students had no chance to practice their interests. The teachers and parents did not have to actively express negative feelings towards the children’s hobbies; rather – due to the strict time divisions – it would take its natural course and ultimately become a forgotten dream. Sara: Elsi:

So you mean to be an engineer? Well, actually, I like to pursue literature, but then, just, you know, my parents feel, that, for us, if you have an engineering course it’s kind like a.. you can get a job, so,

130    Sara Lång

I can go for that research after my engineering course. So, I definitively want to go for literature, that my, that’s what I want to do, but then. . . this is just for a, you know, safe. Elsi’s passion for English literature was presently overshadowed by homework and tuitions and at the time of the interview she could not find enough time to read. She is enrolled in state syllabus2, with a mother working as a receptionist and father working with technical machine work. The dream was important to Elsi, and she emphasized that engineering was something temporary, an obstacle she has to overcome before she could follow her heart. While engineering and medicine are opening some doors, they are closing others. This also highlights the added value of using qualitative methods since it complicates career choices that would have remained invisible in a quantitative study. Again, youths’ aspirations are altered in relation to what is valued, not only by themselves or the family, but also by what is commonly agreed upon as an educational capital. There is a difference between the students who understand what is valued ‘over there’, in the US or UK e.g. and those who plan to go abroad, but are seeking recognition from people in their home surroundings. The students who were actually planning to study psychology, fashion or literature abroad carried a cultural and educational capital where the two streams of education – e­ ngineering and medicine – were not considered the obvious norm. Gender, therefore, always has to be understood in relation to the students’ social ­position. The ‘middle class’ is, however, too broad a definition and the interviews reflect students different compositions of economic, social and cultural capital.

Educational investment: a life course perspective The issue of marriage has different meanings in the girls’ and the boys’ stories. In Kerala it is customary for the girl to be a few years younger than the man at the time of marriage. In the interviews girls expressed a concern to attain a final degree before their wedding occurred, and thereby had to negotiate between a dream of doing a PhD and their parents and grandparents wishes of marriage for them at the age of 22 or 23. Shaftna, 17 year old and enrolled in the state syllabus with a father working in the Gulf

Gendered mobilities    131

with three years of education and a mother who works as a nurse, expressed concern if she would have time for a PhD before getting married. Shafta:

Yeah, usually, if there is a course and it last a long time, then you would be usually blocked away from it, because it’s too long and you get too old and, they say you have to get married and get settled down before that, so they ask you to choose a shorter course.

StellaRaj, also enrolled in the state syllabus, had thoughts on how marriage, and all that comes with being a girl, affects dreams and expectations. She does, however, refer to girls as ‘they’ and thereby do not include herself as being part of the same pattern. StellaRaj: Yeah, that is, because. . . Girls they expect to finally get married to someone and settle down and take care of children, that’s what they are brought up, but boys, they think they can do anything. It is not the way they are brought up, even, even, in other things, boys are almost always allowed to do whatever they want, but girls they say ´”no, it’s not safe” or “you shouldn’t do that” or you’re a girl, you shouldn’t do that. So, I think it has affected their way of thinking too, so they don’t dream as high as the boys. Another aspect of marriage is to find an equal partner. The educational level between husband and wife should be rather similar, and enable fruitful discussions between the two. Therefore an investment in education is not only a matter of career, but it also sets a certain standard for a potential future wife or husband. Although many planned to go abroad for study or work, almost all students wanted a partner from Kerala or India. About half of the students were positive to arranged marriages, usually following family tradition. Educational level is a type of proof of you being knowledgeable, but does it mean different things depending on if you are a man or a woman? In the interview it is possible to see that it could be even more important for a girl to be educated than for a boy, in relation to gaining respect. Education could therefore serve in a compensatory role for structural gender differences, where women have to prove

132    Sara Lång

themselves to be better than their gender. Anitha, a 17 year old in state syllabus, with a mother with five years of education and a father who went to upper-secondary school, says: Anitha:

So she [her mother] wants me and my brother to reach a high position like her. Because she thinks that education, if you’re educated people give you respect, and especially for women and all that, if you need respect you should be educated, so she wants both of us to be educated.

The interviews also raised issues of masculinity, and the role of the ‘man’ in the family. In the interviews the boys expressed concern, in a way that was not similarly present in the girls’ stories, about taking responsibility for their parents. The shared ideal was that they should do well in school, go to a prestigious university and ‘make them proud’ and also provide for them economically and care for them. This is a responsibility not only towards the parents, but also towards the country. Gratitude – or put differently, guilt – is causing distress amongst the interviewees when they are planning to go abroad. The boys in particular express their primary sense of responsibility towards their parents, and secondly towards India. Young people are formally and informally educated to develop transnational horizons, while at the same time closely tied to both family and national responsibilities. The contested process of nation-building and international education is also evidenced in other studies on youth mobilities (Holloway et al., 2012; Madge et al., 2009)

Conclusion: transnational horizons and local meaning-making The perceived potential mobility, and values attached to mobility, have to be understood in relation to the commonly agreed upon value of mobility as a symbolic capital in the regional context. The experienced gender differences of potential mobility may, in this case, therefore be problematic and a matter of injustice. In a few cases girls, e.g. were not allowed to go and study at a university located far away from their parents’ home, which excluded them from going to the most prestigious schools and attain the most

Gendered mobilities    133

recognized educational capital. In the chapter this phenomena was described as a double punishment, where girls first are protected from a sexist structure, and then restricted by that same structure in their aspirations and dreams of the future. Furthermore, it is clear that there is a gender divide when it comes to the students’ meaning-making of their potential mobility. The girls related student life in the city to feelings of independence, and mobility itself – e.g. within city transportation system – was an important part of that freedom. Growing up, being ‘protected’ both from potential dangers and from hurting the family reputation lead to the geographic distance between home and the offer of anonymity in a big city, to become tempting. The life course perspective also uncovered different expectations of boys and girls, where several girls mentioned marriage as an endpoint of educational and career development. The boys, on the other hand, had conflicting thoughts on their responsibilities of caring for the family and the nation, while at the same time fulfilling [perceived] individual goals of going abroad. The interviews also show that not only the geographical reach is depending on the family’s social position in the community, but also on social networks reaching beyond Thiruvananthapuram. Thinking ahead, there are several research questions on gender and mobility that needs further attention. For example, how do potential mobility of boys and girls differ amongst students from more diverse social backgrounds? Future research should continue to explore mobility patterns, and combining qualitative and quantitative methods to map and predict migration patterns, and equally important, study individual trajectories and strategies to maintain and accumulate social assets across space.

Notes 1 Malayalee, or Malayalis, is a member of a Malayalam-speaking people chiefly inhabiting the Indian state of Kerala. According to the Indian census of 2011, there were about 33 million Malayalis in Kerala, making up to 96.7 per cent of the total population of that state. 2 The Secondary School Certificate (SSC), or state syllabus, depends on the state where the school is located. Normally the state syllabuses are considered to be easier than the other syllabuses in India such as Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE).

134    Sara Lång

References Bourdieu, Pierre.1984. Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgement Of Taste. [New ed.] London: Routledge. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. ‘The Forms of Capital’, in Richardson J. G. (ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, pp. 183–198. New York/London: Greenwood Press. Originally published as Ökonomisches Kapital, kulturelles Kapital, soziales Kapital, in Soziale Ungleicheiten (Soziale Welt, Sondershaft 2) edited by reinhard Kreckel. Gottingen: Otto Schartz & Co., 1983. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1996. The State Nobility: Elite Schools in the Field of Power. Cambridge: Polity Press. Brooks, Rachel and Johanna Waters. 2010. ‘Social Networks and Educational Mobility: The Experiences of UK Students’, Globalisation, Societies and Education, 8(1): 143–157. Brown, Phillip. 2003. ‘The Opportunity Trap: Education and Employment in a Global Economy’, European Educational Research Journal, 2(1): 124–80. Conlon, Deirdre. 2011. ‘Waiting: Feminist Perspectives on the Spacing/ Timings Of Migrant (im)Mobility’, Gender, Place and Culture, 18(3): 353–360. Cresswell, Tim. 2010. ‘Towards a Politics of Mobility’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 28:17–31. Devika J. 2006. ‘Negotiating Women’s Social Space: Public Debates on Gender in Early Modern Kerala, India’, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 7(1): 43–61. Devika, J. 2010. ‘Egalitarian Deveopmentalism, Communist Mobilization, and the Question of Caste in Kerala State’, The Journal of Asian Studies, 69(3): 799–820. Devika, J. 2012. ‘Migration, Transnationalism, and Modernity: Thinking of Kerala’s Many Cosmopolitanisms’, Cultural Dynamics, 24(2–3): 127–142. Findlay, Allan, Russel King, Fiona M. Smith, Alistair Geddes and Ronald Skeldon. 2012. ‘World Class? An Investigation of Globalisation, Difference and International Student Mobility’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 37(1): 118–131. Fourcade, Marion. 2006. ‘The construction of a Global Profession: The Transnationalization of Economics’, American Journal of Sociology, 112(1): 145–194. Hannam, Kevin, Sheller Mimi, John Urry. 2006. ‘Mobilities, Immobilities and Moorings’, Mobilities, 1(1): 1–22. Heilbron, Johan. 2001. ‘Échanges culturels transnationaux et mondialisation: quelques réflexions’ Regards Sociologiques, 22: 141–154. Holloway, Sarah L, O’hara Sarah L and Pimlott-Wilson Helena. 2012. ‘Educational Mobility and the Gendered Geography of Cultural Capital: The Case of International Student Flows between Central Asian and the UK’, Environment and Planning A, 44: 2278–2294.

Gendered mobilities    135 Jain, Prakash C. 2011. ‘British Colonialism and International Migration from India: Four Destinations’, in S. Irudaya Rajan and Marie Percot (eds), Dynamics of Indian Migration Historical and Current Perspectives, pp. 23–48. New Delhi: Routledge. Jeffery, Craig. 2008. ‘Kicking away the Ladder: Student Politics and the Making of an Indian Middle Class’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 26: 517–536. Jensen, Ole B. 2009. ‘Flows of meaning, Cultures of Movements – Urban Mobility as Meaningful Everyday Life Practice’, Mobilities, 4(1): 139–158. Kumar, Perveen, Shantanu Sarkar and Sharma Rashmi. 2009. Working Paper: ‘Migration and Diaspora Formation: Mobility of Indian Students to the Developed World’, International Migration and Diaspora Project, Nos. 7–9 May, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Levitt, Peggy. 1998. ‘Social Remittances: Migration Driven Local-Level Forms of Cultural Diffusion’, International Migration Review, 32(4): 926–948. Lindberg, Anna (2001). Experience and Identity: A Historical Account of Class, Caste and Gender among the Cashew Workers of Kerala, 1930–2000. Lund, Sweden: Diss. Lund. Madge, Clare, Parvati Raghurum and Patrricia Noxolo. 2009. ‘Engaged Pedagogy and Responsibility: A Postcolonial Analasys of International Students’, Geoforum, 40: 34–45. McDowell, Linda. 1997. ‘Women/Gender/Feminisms: Doing Feminist Geography’, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 21:3: 381–400. Moi, Toril.1999. What is a woman?: and other Essays. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Osella, Filippo and Caroline Osella. 2007. ‘Experiences of “Transnationalism” and the Transnational Family: Women and Gulf Migration from Kerala’, in S. Koshy and T. Modood (eds), South Asian Diaspora, pp. 23–52. Durham: Duke University Press. Osella, Filippo and Caroline Osella (eds). 2000. Social mobility in Kerala: modernity and identity in conflict. London: Pluto. Ramachandran, V. K.1997. ‘On Kerala’s Development Achievements’, in Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen. (eds), Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Rose, Gillian. 1993. Feminism and Geography: the Limits of Geographical Knowledge. Cambridge: Polity Press. Sancho, David. 2012. ‘ “The Year that Can Break or Make You”: The Politics of Secondary Schooling, Youth and Class in Urban Kerala, South India’, Submitted for Doctor of Social Anthropology, University of Sussex, June 2012. Skeggs Beverly. 2004. ‘Context and Background: Pierre Bourdieu’s Analysis of Class, Gender and Sexuality’, in Lisa Adkins and Beverley Skeggs (red.), pp. 19–33. Feminism after Bourdieu, Oxford: Blackwell.

136    Sara Lång Waters, Johanna. 2006. ‘Emergent Geographies of International Education and Social Exclusion’, Antipode, 38(5): 1046–1068. Xiange, Biao and Shen Wei. 2009. ‘International Student Migration and Social Stratification in China’, International Journal of Educational Development, 29(5): 513–522. C. and S Irudaya Rajan. 2012. Kerala’s Gulf Connection, Zachariah, K.  1998–2011 Economic and Social Impact of Migration. Delhi: Orient BlackSwan.

10

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’

Cross-border migration experience within South Asia NABESH BOHIDAR AnD NAVnEET KAUR Introduction Vulnerabilities faced by migrants, especially women, within the South Asian region are less documented. This chapter seeks to enrich knowledge gained from a quasi-experimental study and project data from the Enhancing Mobile Populations Access to HIV and AIDS Services and Support (EMPHASIS) project.1 This pilot action research project was for a period of five years starting in August 2009. The project worked with migrants in specific locations (Table 10.1), across the mobility continuum over two mobility routes. External evaluators carried out a final quantitative evaluation of the project based on a quasi-experimental design. This chapter is based on the findings of this study, and new analysis carried out with a focus on woman migrants and women who stayed behind. This chapter also uses project data (especially for the section on violence) apart from drawing on already published data emanating from the project.

The context The India–Nepal context Migration across the Indo–Nepal border, as with most regions in South Asia, has a long history, due to cultural and geographical affinities. An open border since 1950, further facilitated this process.2 The number of people migrating across the border has been extremely difficult to estimate. Estimates put the number of long-termand short-term migrants from Nepal to India between 1.5 million

138    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur Table 10.1 Locations across two mobility routes India–Nepal route Source locations Accham and Kanchanpur districts

Transit locations Destination locations Gaddachauki–Banbasa Selected locations and Bhairwa–Gaurifanta in Delhi-NCR and border areas Mumbai/Thane

India–Bangladesh India route Source locations Transit locations Destination locations Jessore and Satkhira South 24 Parganas border Selected locations in South districts 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai/ Thane

and 7 million (National Centre of Competence in Research [NCCR] 2011, Bhattarai 2007). In Nepal, the Far-West region of the country is one of the least developed regions and witnesses huge migration to India. In the context of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the Far-West region of Nepal has seen a disproportionate rise in HIV prevalence, having a close linkage with migration to India. In India, migrants from Nepal are generally welcomed, even in places like Mumbai, where migrants (even from other states of India) face pressures. Nepalese migrants generally work as nightwatchmen, guards and in restaurants (EMPHASIS 2014).

The India–Bangladesh context Migration across the closed border is usually undocumented and invisible, though it is one of the world’s busiest corridors (World Bank 2011). Migration between Bangladesh and India has a long history, and continues in the context of close socio-cultural ties and a porous border. Continuing migration coupled with a strong anti-migrant political discourse has meant that these migrants remain invisible in India.

Vulnerabilities Quantitative data (Wagle et al., 2011) from the baseline study indicated that only 10 per cent of respondents in India and 27 per cent of the respondents in Nepal faced problems while in India. Shortage of finances (51%) was the most common problem mentioned by respondents in India. However, 46 per cent of circular migrants and returnees and 39 per cent of migrants in India reported loneliness – most of them males. Further, 31 per cent of returnees

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’    139

in Nepal and 54 per cent of migrants in India expressed fear of imprisonment. A very different picture emerges from the qualitative data, with most Nepalese migrants in India saying that they faced discrimination. In the quantitative findings very few respondents talked about violence. In the qualitative findings (Sultana et al., 2011), Bangladeshi migrants reported violence at various contexts, such as harassment by the border security force (BSF) during their return journey. Getting caught by the BSF usually resulted in being sent to jail and having to pay a fine of around 200–3,000 taka. Many Mumbai respondents reported getting caught by police and facing harassment. Captured undocumented migrants at destination generally face imprisonment and a large amount of money is required for their bail. Female migrants reported violence across the route. A 25-year-old woman returnee in Bangladesh shares how she felt stigmatized both in destination and in source: In Mumbai people discriminated against me. They looked at me as if I was a thief. Sometimes I felt that they were whispering about me. After coming back to Bangladesh I felt that people here didn’t like me, they hated me. They said that ‘she came from Mumbai’; they whispered that I am a sex worker. I feel ashamed.

Findings from the qualitative study also portray some of the helplessness felt by the female spouse of a migrant at source, ‘My husband likes to have new women frequently as sex partner. Being a woman and housewife I have nothing to do to stop him’.

Data and methods End-line survey The end-line survey study (Ravesloot and Banwart 2014) collected information from Nepalese mobile population (NMP)3 and Bangla-speaking population (BSP)4 in the destination cities of Delhi and Mumbai, and source locations in Nepal and Bangladesh. The external evaluators followed a robust and rigorous approach, allowing key indicators to be measured for comparisons between end-line impact populations and purposefully selected end-line control populations. The study was carried out in India, Nepal and Bangladesh and the sampling was broken into eight strata; impact and control population in Nepal and Bangladesh, impact and control among BSP and NMP in India.

140    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

Project monitoring data on violence The EMPHASIS project set-up is a robust monitoring system, including a registration process for all migrants in the intervention areas. The monitoring system was appreciated by the external evaluators. The project documented all cases of violence that were encountered. Data was collected from all areas through a printed format filled by field workers. Each case was followed up (unless the violence survivor moved out).

Baseline study A baseline study was carried out in 2010–2011 for the two routes India–Nepal and India–Bangladesh and the findings are used in this chapter.

Respondent characteristics Demographics The end-line survey resulted in similar proportions of female respondents across strata within Nepal and within Bangladesh. The majority of respondents in both source countries were females; however, in Bangladesh only marginally so (Table 10.2). In the destination, the proportions of females were similar for the BSP among the control and impact strata. Among the NMP, however, the females among the impact strata were double that of the control ones. The proportion of respondents currently married in the source countries closely matches among the control and impact strata. In the destination country, the proportion of married in the impact strata is marginally higher than the control ones (Table 10.3). Importantly, the proportion of single respondents and married respondents across the end-line impact and control stratum are closely aligned and homogeneous, lending further evidence that the control locations Table 10.2 Percentage of female and total number of respondents Percentage of female respondents Source country Nepal Bangladesh Destination country India (NMP) India (BSP)

Total number of respondents (N)

EL – CTRL

EL – IP

EL (CTRL)

EL (IP)

  79.4 57.7   21.1 41.1

  77.7 51.7   50.1 37.1

  448 443   417 426

  466 444   473 411

Male

  72 67.3   68.8 70.5

 

Source country Nepal Bangladesh Destination country India (NMP) India (BSP)

  92.8 95.2   83.3 84.2

Female

Total

  88.2 81.9   76 75.6

  78.1 58   82.3 78.1

Male   92.7 97.7   93 84.6

Female   89.7 81.7   84.6 80.8

Total

EL – IP

 

EL – CTRL

Married respondents

 

Table 10.3 Percentage currently married

92.8 96.5 86.4 84.4

77.4 74.1

Female

75 62.9

Male

Combined

80.5 78.1

88.9 81.3

Total

  466 444   473 411

 

EL (IP)

  448 443   417 426

 

EL CTRL

890 837

914 887

Combined

Number of observations

142    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

have similar sociodemographic characteristics as the impact population strata. Overall across all populations, more female respondents were married than were males. Unsurprisingly, respondents in the destination country who are married are largely not living with their spouses (Table 10.4). When comparing the levels of education between end-line impact and control populations, there is small, and barely statistically significant, difference in the levels of education between the control locations and the impact population’s locations. As with marital status, education status of respondents is relatively equal between the EMPHASIS impact populations and their associated control populations (Table 10.5). This, coupled with the marriage information, Table 10.4 Percentage of married respondents not living with spouse Stratum Source country Nepal Bangladesh Destination country India (NMP) India (BSP)

Number of observations

EL – CTRL

EL – IP

EL (IP)

EL (CTRL)

  45.5 22.2   83.7 79.1

  61.6 12.0   76.0 74.6

  466 444   473 411

  448 443   417 426

Table 10.5 Education: destination and source countries Stratum EL – CTRL NMP Nepal No education Middle school India (NMP) No education Middle school BSP Bangladesh No education Middle school India (BSP) No education Middle school

Number of observations EL (IP)

EL (CTRL)

 

 

 

 

16.5 42.6

16.5 42.7

448 448

466 466

18.0 64.5  

19.0 64.3  

443 443  

444 444  

or less

15.8 69.8

10.2*** 69.3

417 417

413 413

or less

23.0 54.2

25.3 66.9***

426 426

411 411

or less

or less

EL – IP

Statistically different at the 10 per cent (*), 5 per cent (**) or 1 per cent (***) levels (unmatched t-test).

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’    143

lends further quantitative evidence towards the effective purposeful selection of control respondent locations. As the sociodemographic characteristics between the control and impact strata were similar, combined values are also taken into account.

Working conditions, rights and entitlements of migrant workers As international migration into India from Nepal and Bangladesh is undocumented, and as many feel that it is not in the best interest to reveal their identities, data as well as interest about their vulnerabilities and entitlements is missing. The EMPHASIS project, though focused on reducing vulnerabilities to HIV, gradually expanded the range of vulnerabilities to learn about and to pilot strategies for addressing them (EMPHASIS 2014). In the EMPHASIS baseline study (Wagle et al., 2011), the main occupations of Nepalese included restaurant workers, house servants, bar workers, watchmen, and factory workers. Negligible proportions had reported that they were employed by government or were daily wage earners. Less than 10 per cent were employed by resident/ market committee (6%), (especially males) or self-employed (8%), (especially females). Among Bangladeshis in India, (Sultana et al., 2011), 40 per cent of the males worked as casual labourers, followed by vending and petty trading. However, about a quarter of the females worked as housemaids.

Results from the end-line quantitative study The study finds that a majority of the Nepalese migrants in India is working as watchman (51% male and 3% female) while some are working in factories (15% male and 3% female), as unskilled casual labour (6% male and 4% female) and in restaurants (3% male). A higher proportion of females are working as housemaids/domestic servants (7%) as compared to male migrants (4%). Nepalese migrant females at destination are mostly taken up cutting and tailoring as an employment (48%), followed by 31% who are housewives. On the other hand majority of the male migrants from the Bangla-speaking community are factory workers (25%), followed by hawkers/vendors/or in petty trade (22%), unskilled labour (18%), and rag pickers (11%). Most of the females among the Bangla-speaking population are housewives (57%) while almost 13 per cent are working as housemaids/domestic servants. Further, 16 per cent of the females mentioned that they are currently unemployed while 6 per

144    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

cent of the females are involved in rag picking work and 5 per cent work as unskilled labour.

Reducing vulnerabilities linked to working conditions EMPHASIS end-line results have shown a positive and significant impact among the impact population when comparing to the endline control population (Table 10.6). The results suggest that the EMPHASIS project is having a positive and significant effect on workers’ entitlements in India. The figures show a clear difference between the end-line impact population and control populations when looking at the access of employer accident compensation. This effect is significant and large. In terms of indicators on receiving health care benefits and overtime pay there is a positive effect of EMPHASIS on Bangla-speaking impact population compared to the control group; however, the effect is not large in magnitude or statistically significant. This is because of the huge difficulties faced by the BSP in terms of continuously being under the radar and live fearfully. The BSP in India, however, indicate a significant positive

Table 10.6 Entitlements at place of work: comparison between impact and control strata Regression treatment effect (ATT)

Point estimates EL – IP (2014)  

Total

Male

Female

EL – CTRL (2014) Total

Male

Female

IP – CTRL Treatment Total

Percentage of migrants currently in India who are provided accident compensation from their employer NMP  8.7  9.7  5.0  1.2  2.4 0.0 7.9*** BSP 10.0 16.5  0.6  1.2  1.9 0.0 9.1*** Percentage of migrants currently in India who are provided health care benefits from their employer NMP  5.9  6.4  4.0  0.7  1.4 0.0 5.5*** BSP  1.2  2.1  0.0  0.9  1.5 0.0 1.0 Percentage of migrants currently in India who receive same type of overtime pay as their Indian counterparts NMP 50.1 57.6 22.0 23.7 41.8 5.7 10.0*** BSP 27.5 39.3 10.7 21.8 31.0 6.3 4.9 Statistically significant at the 10 per cent (*), 5(**) per cent or 1 per cent (***) levels. NMP = Nepalese mobile population BSP = Bangla-speaking population

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’    145

impact as far as accident compensation is concerned (Table 10.7). This was because this was one of the key focus of engagement with employers and was done without reference to identity as cross-border migrant. In contrast, the effect for the Nepalese impact population is both large in magnitude and statistically significant when comparing the end-line control population. However, as the overall figures suggest, the proportion of migrants (whether impact or control) getting a favourable working condition is extremely low. The project has been successful in making a difference with regards to working conditions at the destination in general for both NMP Table 10.7 Working conditions at destination: comparison by gender

Point estimates Destination country

EL – CTRL

EL – IP

Regression Treatment Effect (ATT) CTRL – EL Treatment

Number of observations EL (CTRL)

Percentage of migrants currently in India who are provided accident compensation from their employer India (NMP) 1.2 8.7 7.9*** 417 Female respondent 0 5 0.2 209 Male respondent 2.4 9.7 8.4*** 208 India (BSP) 1.2 10 9.1*** 426 Female respondent 0 0.6 0.7 158 Male respondent 1.9 16.5 13.5*** 268

EL (IP)

473 100 373 411 169 242

Percentage of migrants currently in India who are provided health care benefits from their employer India (NMP) Female respondent Male respondent India (BSP) Female respondent Male respondent

0.7 0 1.4 0.9 0 1.5

5.9 4 6.4 1.2 0 2.1

5.5*** 0.3 5.8*** 1 0.7 1.6

417 209 208 426 158 268

473 100 373 411 169 242

Percentage of migrants currently in India who receive same type of overtime pay as their Indian counterparts India (NSB) Female respondent Male respondent India (BSP) Female respondent Male respondent

23.7 5.7 41.8 21.8 6.3 31

50.1 22 57.6 27.5 10.7 39.3

10.0*** 1.3 8.7** 4.9 0.4 7.9

417 209 208 426 158 268

473 100 373 411 169 242

Statistically significant at the 10 per cent (*), 5 per cent (**) or 1 per cent (***) levels.  

146    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

and BSP populations and figures indicate positive changes across all strata and gender categories. The results indicate that in general, all migrant categories, whether BSP or NMP have shown positive and statistically significant changes (except BSP in the last two indicators). However, among all the categories of migrants (BSP or NMP) it is only the males that show significant and positive changes. While at the destination areas, the focus of the intervention was on the male migrants and in reducing their vulnerabilities, the nature of work also determined the levels of change achieved. While intervention with employers and stakeholders was able to bring about significantly positive changes in employment categories such as factory workers and watchmen (employing two-thirds of the NMP males), the same level of change was not achieved in employment categories such as ‘service provider’ (employing about half of the NMP females) as they were mostly individual enterprises. Among the BSP males though a larger proportion worked in factories, it is in the services (barber, tailor, etc.) category that they get the most benefits, whereas BSP females mostly worked as domestic workers or unskilled casual labourers. This indicates the challenge for implementers and policymakers in reducing vulnerabilities of the cross-border migrants with regards to working conditions, especially for females. As the EMPHASIS project started learning about and initiating interventions to reduce vulnerabilities of cross-border migrants at the workplace, much later in the project, the results indicate the strategies adopted are robust (brings about positive changes) but bringing about the same level of changes for women may take longer to achieve. The challenge of cross-border migrant women workers working at the destination is reflected through the story of a woman from Kapashera, Delhi. She says When I first came here, I worked for a paint making company. They paid me Rs1800 per month, while the Indians were getting Rs2600. I worked for about one and a half years quietly. One day the owner made sexual advances towards me, and tried to molest me. I did not go back to work. Our family condition was not good, so I next went to work in another factory where they make bulb holders (light bulbs), here again I was unfairly paid because I am Nepali and so I left. After some time I took up another job, the factory made vehicle parts, but the staff weren’t women friendly and I continuously faced harassment. I had to work more hours than the men. I left that job as well.

Currently she does not work, but with the support of EMPHASIS has become an educator for other women in the locality. She assists other women workers who face violence in their lives.

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’    147

Thus in some areas, workers are getting aware about their rights. In many individual cases factory workers and domestic workers have been successful to make their claims granted by their employers but still there are a lot to do in terms of advocacy at different levels in order to make a larger impact for the benefits of migrant workers community, especially for females. There is a need for protection of worker’s rights and at a minimum ensuring equal wages, insurance, health and safety coverage, humane working hours, safe and healthy working conditions, savings facilities, safe remittance services, and protection against violence.

Creating an enabling environment The end-line study also looked at whether the project has made an impact in creating an enabling environment for migrants and their spouses at the source. The end-line results indicate a positive change among all categories compared with the control strata (Table 10.8). The results also indicate that the project has been successful in making a positive difference, more for females at source areas. As empowerment of women was a key strategy in the project women groups effectively rallied around and supported each other to create an enabling environment at the source and destination (EMPHASIS 2014). Though these women groups enabled positive changes even with regards to working conditions at the destination, significant change had not yet materialized. However, in the source areas the levels of change for creating an enabling environment, in comparison, were achieved to a much greater degree.

Table 10.8 Creating an enabling environment: source

 

Stratum

Regression Treatment Effect (ATT)

Number of observations EL (CTRL) EL (IP)

 

EL – CTRL

EL – IP

CTRL – EL Treatment

Source country Nepal Female respondent Male respondent Bangladesh Female respondent Male respondent

  3.1 2.9 4 5.2 3.9 6.5

  8.4 8.9 6.3 8.6 10.9 5.3

  3.1 3.7 0.5 5.6*** 8.5*** 1.4

  448 348 100 443 229 214

  466 370 96 444 256 188

Statistically significant at the 10 per cent (*), 5 per cent (**) or 1 per cent (***) levels.

148    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

The results indicate the success of the project strategy in reaching migrants across the mobility continuum. It also validates the success of adopting a differential strategy (EMPHASIS 2014) that the project adopted with regards to the Indo–Bangladesh route due to the sensitivities involved.

Violence faced by cross-border migrants EMPHASIS, while engaging with Nepalese and Bangladeshi migrants (at the source, transit and destination) as a part of the programme activities, was faced with, repeated reporting of instances of violence faced by cross-border migrants. The project took the initiative to record the details of such cases to understand the prevalent patterns and vulnerabilities, with the aim to be able to suggest appropriate counter measures for safe mobility. The cases documented were from the violence survivor herself/himself and was recorded through a ‘case recording format’. Cases were documented from January 2013 to April 2014 in the locations that EMPHASIS worked. All the cases during this period were captured. Even though, trained male and female counsellors ensured confidentiality and an enabling atmosphere for the violence survivors to talk, there may have been those who never mentioned about their experience with violence and thus were not captured in the formats (Table 10.9). Cases of 228 individuals were documented across two migration routes. Among them 76 per cent were documented on the Indo–Nepal route and the rest (24%) from the Indo–Bangladesh route. Within the Indo–Nepal route, 73 per cent were males and 27 per cent were Table 10.9 Number of individuals whose experiences were documented

 

 

Male     Source   Transit   Destination Female     Source   Transit   Destination Total  

India– Nepal NMP source 43 6 29 8 40 2 22 13 83

84 2 70 12 7 0 6 1 91

Indo– Nepal route 127 8 99 20 47 2 28 14 174 (76.3%)

India– BSP 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 3

Bangladesh source 9 1 3 5 42 6 14 22 51

Indo– Bangla route

Total cases

9 136 1 9 3 102 5 25 45 92 6 8 14 42 25 39 54 228 (23.7%) (100%)

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’    149

females. In the Indo–Bangladesh route, however, a larger proportion (83%) constituted of the females and was documented mostly in the source country. Along the Indo–Bangladesh route most of the cases happened at the transit and destination, but recorded at source when they are back home.

Indo–Nepal Route Though it is generally believed that migrants from Nepal are less vulnerable due to an open border, they do face violence during their journeys and at borders. Incidence of theft, harassment for money, threats of violence, and poisoning during the journey were reported as the most common ones on the Indo–Nepal route (Graphic 1). Among the incidents reported, about a quarter (24%) were robbed (theft) and was followed closely by those reporting harassment for money (19%). Thefts were mostly during travel during the journey back to Nepal. Among those who faced harassment for money, named transport workers (rickshaw pullers and horse carriage drivers, ‘tanga wallahs’) and stakeholders (whose support is taken for exchanging Indian rupees in lieu of Nepalese rupees, such as hoteliers, and exchange agents) as the main perpetrators. Threats (12%) were faced by the migrants mostly at the border and at the destination, aimed at demoralizing them and not to speak out against injustice. Poisoning was mentioned in 10 per cent of the cases and occurred during the journey back to Nepal with the intention of robbing money. These happened usually on the bus, through food offered by fellow passengers. The story of a Nepalese male exemplifies the issue on the border. He was on his way to his hometown, when a co-passenger befriended, poisoned and robbed him. He was carrying over Rs. 2 Lakhs in cash on himself – his own hard earned annual savings, as well as money he was carrying on behalf of his friends and relatives back to their respective families in Nepal. All the money and his possessions, with the exception of Rs. 2600 and a mobile phone, which was kept in an inner pocket, were robbed. The last he remembers is accepting water from another Nepalese travelling in the same bus, after which he fell unconscious, only to wake up in a hospital in Tanakpur, Uttarakhand. He was forced to return to Delhi without visiting his family in Nepal, as he did not want to go home empty-handed.

Bribes (6%) were demanded along with verbal harassment mostly on the border and the perpetrators were border customs or security officials. The baseline study also found that migrants face harassment

150    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

in carrying back money from India to Nepal at the border, as there are strong regulations (it is illegal to bring denominations of more than 100 Indian rupees into Nepal), having to show receipts for all their goods, which is not possible in many cases, and having to bribe border officials for smooth passage. As one Nepali male in India explains: We have to pay money for the goods we take with us to Nepal. Since we do not have any bank accounts we carry a large amount of money we earned in the form of 500 and 1,000 Indian rupee notes. We feel sad and unhappy to hand over our hard-earned money in the form of bribes, saved under duress and sacrifice to ensure security of our families back home.

Suspected trafficking cases (5%) were also documented (all on the border). In these cases, stakeholders such as, hoteliers, transporters, or police detected women and children moving in suspicious circumstances and intercepted them. Further there were cases where project staff found women or children at the border without a clear idea of the destination or the means to go there. In all the cases, they were referred and handed over to non-governmental organizations (on the Nepal side of the border), who had adequate support services for people requiring emergency support. Transporters were stated as the perpetrators in almost one-third of the cases (31%) of violence. These incidents took place during transit across the long route from the source village to the destination locality. Not all these violence cases were at the border alone; Mathura, on the route from Nepal to Mumbai was stated by a number of people as a location where it happens. People from the local community in both source areas and destination areas were also identified as the perpetrators in 19 per cent of the cases. In the source areas, it was essentially with regard to harassment of the wife/family of the male migrant, while at the destination it related to both males and women. Poisoning and theft on the journey happened through fellow passengers and fellow NMP and to certain extent through transporters (Figure 10.1). Almost three-fourth of the incidences of violence occurring along the Indo–Nepal mobility route happened at the transit locations (Indo–Nepal border) and in places such as Mathura. Analysing incidents by location shows that instances of monetary harassment is most common at transit locations (38%). Theft occurs mostly at source (27%) followed by at transit locations (17%), a higher proportion of cases of verbal harassment are found at the destination.

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’    151 Figure 10.1 Types of violence and perpetrators at Indo–Nepal route sexual harassment

2.1

sgma

2.1

domesc violence

3.8

physical abuse

4.7

violence

4.7

suspected trafficking

5.1

bribe

5.6

verbal haraament

6

poisoning

10.3

threats

12

monetary harassment

19.2

the

24.4

hoteliers landlord custom officials money exchange agents broker employers family members local police fellow NMP fellow passengers people from local community transport workers 0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Likewise, cases of suspected trafficking are found mostly at source (14%) and transit (14%), incidence of poisoning are more frequented at transit (9%) as well as destination (8%). Across the cases recorded for sexual harassment almost all cases (11%) occurred at the destination and related to females. Incidents of theft, threats, poisoning, and demand for bribe were more common on the Nepal side of the Indo–Nepal border; while cases of harassment for money, verbal harassment/abuse, suspected trafficking, physical abuse, and sexual violence were higher on the Indian side.

152    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

Along the Indo–Nepal route, males were more vulnerable to multiple types of violence in one incident. While females constituted 37 per cent of the migrants on the Indo–Nepal route, their proportion in facing multiple types of violence in one incident was only 19 per cent. Males were clearly more vulnerable carrying money while coming back home to Nepal, while females were more vulnerable to sexual and verbal abuse.

Indo–Bangladesh Route Unlike the Indo–Nepal border, the Indo–Bangladesh border is a closed one and Bangladeshi citizens need passports and visas to enter India, however, with very little chance of coming to India for work through formal channels, many enter without documents. As the process of mobility is undocumented, it is beset with fear and potential for violence. The incidents of violence on the Indo–Bangladesh route were reported mostly in Bangladesh by returnee male and female migrants. Incidents of sexual harassment of female migrants on the Indo–Bangladesh was highest at (37%), followed by physical abuse (22%). Both were reported by the female migrants. Among the instances of sexual harassment more than half (58%) were at the destination in India and one-third (32%) at the border transit. The main perpetrators of sexual harassment involve landlords and brokers. Besides this, physical abuse was another common form of violence at both transit and destination. As many of the females work as house maids, the perpetrators were their employers/landlords. One female migrant recounted her story to a field staff: Everything was fine, until the employer’s son came back from university. During his stay the son kept asking her for sex. She refused him several times. One day when all family members were out the son repeatedly raped her. Afterwards he threatened her about keeping her mouth shut. Another day the son and some of his friends offered her money for sex. When she refused, they again threatened her and forced themselves on her. She was gang raped. She passed out. When she came to, there was nobody in the house. She gathered up her things and left with whatever money she had.

Though the number of cases recorded on the Indo–Bangladesh border was relatively lower, the majority of the migrants reported more than one form of violence in the same incident. There were a small proportion of cases (10%), which reflected the verbal abuse

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’    153 Figure 10.2 Types of violence and perpetrators on the Indo–Bangladesh route the bribe monetary harassment violence sgma domesc violence threats verbal harassment physical abuse sexual harassment 0

5

10

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Money Exchange Agents employers people from local area family members fellow passengers local police security agencies landlord broker 15

20

25

30

35

40

faced at the source. There is also a common belief that females who migrate to India engage voluntarily in commercial sex work once there. As the baseline study found, she may, therefore, face stigma and exclusion on their return, as a female returnee explains: ‘After coming back to Bangladesh I felt that people here don’t like me, they hate me. They said that I came from Mumbai; they whispered that I am a sex worker. I lived in Mumbai, I should feel ashamed’. Another states that she faces discrimination from health workers at source, presumably because they judge her based on what they think she did in India (Figure 10.2).

154    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

There were major differences in the type of violence encountered by females and males on the Indo–Bangladesh route. Two-thirds of the females experienced sexual harassment. Females experienced more types of violence in one incident than males. While females on the Indo–Bangladesh route constituted 68 per cent, their proportion in experiencing multiple violence in the same incident was 74 per cent. Sexual harassment by the broker or security agencies on the border was the most common type of violence.

Project response The EMPHASIS project tried out specific strategies for reducing violence and discrimination across the mobility continuum. These strategies though initiated later in the project consisted of providing informational materials, for safe mobility, training grassroots project staff to respond effectively, enlisting stakeholders (many of them perpetrators of violence) in creating an enabling environment for the migrants, creating safe spaces, and mobilizing men and women groups (EMPHASIS 2014). A total of 60 per cent of all cases of violence were addressed either by reporting the case to appropriate authorities or by providing emergency support (Table 10.10). Each time field staff interacted with someone who had faced violence, they ensured that the person is provided adequate support. Among the cases, that were supported, about a fourth (27%) were provided with psychological counselling. These counselling was carried out by trained field staff, usually in the drop-in-centres set-up as safe meting spaces by the project. Monetary support was provided to Table 10.10  Percentage of cases addressed

 

 

 

 

Male       Female        

  Source Transit Destination   Source Transit Destination  

India– NMP Nepal  

 

38 5 27 6 29 2 22 5 67

54 0 47 7 6 0 5 1 60

Indo– Nepal route  

%

92 72.4 5 62.5 74 74.7 13 65.0 35 74.5 2 100.0 27 96.4 6 42.9 127 73.0

Indo– India– Bangla BSP BD route  

 

0 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 3

1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 6 9 1 1 4 4 1 4 7 10

 

%

Total cases  

11.1 93 0.0 5 33.3 75 0.0 13 20.0 44 16.7 3 28.6 31 16.0 10 18.5 137

% 68.4 55.6 73.5 52.0 47.8 37.5 73.8 25.6 60.1

Reducing vulnerabilities of ‘women in migration’    155

20 per cent of the cases. This was possible due to the support from migrant community groups at that location, who donated money as emergency support. In the transit points where the frequency of cases was higher, the local stakeholders instituted a specific fund (Akshay Patra) for support to migrants needing support. Another 20 per cent of the people were referred to other service providers for support5.

Conclusion Data from the EMPHASIS project provides information on Nepalese and Bangladeshi migrants and their families in India, Nepal and Bangladesh. The characteristics of migration and mobility across the Indo–Nepal route and the Indo–Bangladesh route are very different. There are differences with regards to the kinds of occupation that Nepalese in India have in comparison to Bangladeshis in India. Further, these differences are even starker and provide varying degrees of protection depending upon whether one is a male of a female. Similarly, the type of violence faced by migrants and their families differ according to route and differ in type and intensity according to gender. For example, female migrants from Bangladesh face more sexual and physical violence than any other category. Secondly, they are more likely to face multiple types of violence in one incident than any other category. The quasi-experimental study and project data validates the success of project strategies in intervening with these populations and the data provides valuable insights for implementers and policymakers to take the lessons forward. Though the project started intervening on vulnerabilities related to conditions of work, enabling environment and violence at a later stage (after two-and-half years), significant changes were visible. However, bringing about similar levels of change especially for females at the destination and males at the source may require a longer intervention period. The extremely low levels of protection and entitlements enjoyed by cross-border migrants within South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal and India), needs to be urgently raised and addressed by policy influencers and policymakers across the three countries. At a time when there is much attention on migration from South Asia to other parts of the world, it is also time to focus on migrants within South Asia.

Notes 1 Enhancing Mobile Populations Access to HIV and AIDS Services and Support (EMPHASIS) was a five year initiative of CARE International,

156    Nabesh Bohidar and Navneet Kaur

2 3 4

5

supported by The BIG Lottery Fund, and was the only project in to work with migrants across the mobility continuum (source, transit and destination). India and Nepal signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship in 1950, ensuring an open border and privileges for each other’s nationals. Nepali mobile population refers to Nepalese migrants to India and their spouses back at home. Bangla-speaking population (BSP) refers to Bangladeshi migrants in India. The project used this term to enable research and project intervention in India. The EMPHASIS project did not provide services directly but strengthened existing service providers and built their capacity for providing migrant-friendly services. These service providers provided a range of services (health and non-health) and belonged to both private and government services.

References Bhattarai, Raju. 2007. Open Borders, Closed Citizenships: Nepali Labor Migrants in Delhi. The Netherlands: Institute of Social Studies. http:// www.mtnforum.org/sites/default/files/publication/files/1139.pdf. EMPHASIS Learning Series: Towards Safety, Dignity and Better Health of Migrants, CARE, 2014, EMPHASIS Regional Secretariat, Kathmandu. National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South. 2011. Nepal Migration Year Book 2010. Kathmandu: NIDS. http://www.sasnet. lu.se/sites/default/files/pdf/migration_year_book_2068.indd.pdf. Ravesloot, B. and L. O. Banwart. 2014. EMPHASIS End-line Survey Report. Nepal: CARE. Sultana, T., A. Das, M. Sultana, F. Samuels and M Niño-Zarazúa. 2011. Vulnerability to HIV & AIDS: A social Research on Cross Border Mobile Population from Bangladesh to India. EMPHASIS Project. Lalitpur, Nepal: CARE. Wagle, S., N. Bohidar, F. Samuels, M Niño-Zarazúa. and S. Chakraborty. 2011. Vulnerability to HIV & AIDS: A Social Research on Cross Border Mobile Populations from Nepal to India. EMPHASIS Baseline. Lalitpur, Nepal: CARE. World Bank. 2011. Migration and Remittances Factbook, 2011, Second Edition.

11

Adivasi women in India’s migration story INDRANi MAZUmDAR ‘Namal Jaoa’ is the most commonly used term for seasonal agricultural migration in the districts of Bankura, Puruliya and Medinipur (West Bengal). Its literal meaning in the local language is – to go to the east. It thus provides an ‘apt description’ of the phenomenon of seasonal migration from the south-eastern reaches of the rolling hills of the Chota Nagpur plateau located within the above three districts, to the plains of Bengal further east. Namal was originally restricted to a single community, viz. the Santhals and their brethren of Kherwar origin, such as Deshwali Majhis.”1 Seasonal migration to the plains of Barddhaman originated in the colonial period, and the continuity and expanding destination areas was later maintained due to increasing degradation of the source region as opposed to increasing industrial and agricultural development of the destination points, particularly due to improvement in irrigation facilities.2 As irrigation expanded, so also did intensive rice cropping and the practice of agricultural migration by adivasi labour that expanded further in the post-independence period. In 1991, Banerjee and Ray estimated that seasonal migrants accounted for 40 to 60 per cent of annual agricultural labour days in the destination villages for Namal goers. However, 10 years later, Rogaly et al. (2001) made a calculation for the Barddhaman district as a whole and arrived at the figure of a requirement of half a million migrants for the Aman harvest (November–December) and even more for the transplanting. The source region for Namal had once been famous for its forest – in what the Mughals and the British called Jungle Mahals, part of a compact forest tract inhabited mainly by the Santhals and Bhumij.3 The forest had provided the wherewithal, food and land for subsistence agriculture as well as other forest produce for supplementing diets and incomes. Such a situation changed dramatically from the late nineteenth century, when due to the rising value of timber with

158    Indrani Mazumdar

the opening of the railway in Bankura and Puruliya, large areas of forest were cleared of trees by several interest groups – the zamindars, timber contractors and the people, both tribal and non-tribal – to meet the demand of the rail companies and particularly the spikes in demand during the two world wars. Although officially declared ‘protected forests’, a second phase of devastatingly intensive deforestation came during the mid-fifties. This latter phase occurred during the interregnum between the demise of private ownership claims of the zamindars over forest lands (with zamindari abolition) and before the government’s forest or revenue departments established full control, a short period during which forest trees were open for anyone to fell. Later experiments in joint forest management from 1988 remained of an ad hoc nature and at the discretion of the Forest Department, for whom forest villages had become largely only a source of labour. The longue durée of erosion of the balance between the forest economy and cultivation that had marked the survival pattern of tribals in the area, had thus long given rise to and sustained the pressure for seasonal migration. The specific tribal features of such seasonal migration are at the same time inextricably linked to the reconfiguration of land tenures/ ownership and agrarian relations in the Jungle Mahals during the colonial period. Although pioneer tribals had reclaimed virgin lands in the area to make them arable, and were indeed encouraged to do so by both rent-seeking zamindars and the revenue-hungry colonial administration throughout the nineteenth century, most of the good land at the bottom of the valleys did not ultimately remain with them. In pre-colonial times, much of the Jungle Mahals had remained inaccessible to the Mughal land surveyors and under the Mughal zamindari system – in the area covered by the study – it was the autochthonous Bhumij who had first set-up villages. These villages were largely rent free or with token rent (paid to the zamindar), under what was known as the Ghatwali system. A stratified socio-political order thus emerged among the Bhumij with the chiefs acquiring greater control over land and forest wealth. The Santhals, on the other hand, were not autochthonous to the area, and were associated with the Pradhani or Mandali system. In this system, a band of settlers led by a pradhan or mandal, undertook to reclaim jungle land by paying a stipulated lumpsum to the zamindar. The Santhal reclaimers were not, however, the virtual owners of the reclaimed land as was the case for the Bhumij. With the entry of colonial administration and its systems of land settlement and with trading and commercial concerns like

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    159

the British-owned Midnapur Zamindary Company making inroads into a developing local land market – vigorous measurement of land holdings, payments of stiffer rents and revenues in cash, and an associated enlarged presence of non-tribal moneylenders/traders/peasants/artisans etc. played havoc with the non-competitive mode of tribal existence.4 Rampant indebtedness among the tribals and loss of land was the consequence. By the first quarter of the twentieth century, the pradhani/mandali villages were completely bought over by non-tribal proprietors of land converting the Santhals into rack-rented tenants/sharecroppers or landless labourers, while even the Bhumij chiefs/zamindars and Ghatwals became victims of money-lending Mahajans, and finally lost their forests and surplus land following zamindari abolition. Boxed into agriculturally less productive land and with depleted access to forest produce, the tribal peasants and agricultural labourers were left without sustenance in their home villages for a large part of the year. The pioneer adivasi settlers were thus pushed into survival oriented intermittent labour migration as a way of life that continues till the present.5 While, there are indeed area- and tribe-specific features in the above story of conversion of sections of the adivasi peasantry into migratory labour, its essential processes – set in motion by colonial rule and its practices – are repetitive across larger tracts and regions in middle India. Addressing questions of tribal social transformation at a wider level, Singh (1982) has argued that (1) the British survey and settlement operations introduced in previously unsurveyed tribal regions acted as an instrument for the transformation of tribes into peasants, (2) the colonial system ended the relative isolation of the tribal society; brought it into the mainstream of a new administrative set-up, put an end to the political dominance of the tribes in the forested territories they occupied, (3) tribal communities which had earlier been spared the strain of surplus generation were roped the into a new system of production relations, and (4) while following a policy of strengthening the feudal crust of the tribal societies, formed by the rajas, chiefs and zamindars, the colonial regime simultaneously created conditions in which their economy and political system were undermined by ‘rampaging market forces’. Labour historians tracking the migration of labour drawn from the Chota Nagpur tribes (primarily Santhal, Munda and Oraon) for the Assam tea plantations have pointed to the continual decay of an agrarian economy characterized by monocrop rice cultivation, poor soil condition, lack of irrigation and drainage facilities, soil erosion, and deforestation that had made Chota Nagpur’s ‘peasants and tribesmen’ into a reservoir

160    Indrani Mazumdar

of cheap labour and transformed the region into a ‘labour catchment area’ (Das Gupta 1986). Drawing on detailed crop and arable land data in some of its subregions (Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Singhbhum), Mohapatra has shown that extension of arable land in forested landscapes (albeit unevenly), demographic pressures as well as colonial land tenure arrangements, had also impacted the cropping patterns of the tribal economy with rice gaining at the expense of more drought-resistant crops in many areas.6 The shift in crop actually made local agriculture less resilient against failure of the rains and more susceptible to famines and the heaviest outmigration from Chota Nagpur in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was actually from the areas of where the most rapid intensification of arable farming had occurred (Mohapatra, P. 1991). In general, there is agreement that arable expansion in tribal areas brought in a range of non-tribal rentier interests and their retainers, who were soon able to acquire land in the tracts that were earlier controlled by tribals. Resistance to such depredations through a spate of tribal rebellions was militarily crushed by the British and ‘pacification’ policies led to the creation of an enormous population that had to move out of their regions in search of livelihood (Kaushik Ghosh 1999). The colonial policy of ‘pacification’ through sedentarization of semi-nomadic tribes in defined areas and their actual expulsion from much of the better quality lands thus both operated in tandem. As the survival economy of tribal communities became more tenuous and fraught, perennial mortgage of their land and labour became a prominent feature of their integration into the broader agrarian economy under colonial rule. These features persisted into the twentieth century, despite belated experiments in protection of their ‘customary’ rights in some designated areas.7 From the late nineteenth century onwards, the ‘Agency system’ was put in place by the British, whereby the normal operations of ordinary law were not applied in ‘scheduled areas’ to protect tribal lands from takeover by outsiders. Part of the ‘pacification’ drive in response to tribal rebellions, such an enclaving policy was based on the principle of supposed non-interference into the affairs of the tribals and isolation. Yet, even where restrictions on alienation of tribal land to non-tribals were enforced, market forces remained at work, and while mortgage of land to non-tribals became impossible, intratribal stratifications and transactions in land between tribals and tribals emerged, that spawned the emergence of a class of tribal or ‘insider’ moneylenders as well (Singh 1982). Further, exploitation of forests for timber and related plantations through reorganized forest administrations in the

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    161

latter half of the nineteenth century effectively transferred much of the wealth of the forests out of the hands of tribal residents, and pushed forward the conversion of the hitherto largely autonomous tribal indigenes into a subordinate ‘coolie’ labour force.8 Historical researches for the colonial period spanning the entire middle India girdle of tribal homelands, have documented the process of ‘dissolution of entire economies that were nomadic or forest based, the conversion of land into a scarce commodity, and a growing ethnic cleavage in access to the means of production’ (Bates and Carter 1992, p 208). Beyond Chota Nagpur, in the central provinces (in the present day M.P., Chhattisgarh, western Orissa) too, adivasis were ‘fairly consistently among the group who suffered expropriation’ either during or shortly after the colonial settlement period.9 Even when the rate of expropriation slowed, they were left cultivating the worst quality soils, resulting in their becoming ‘one of the most heavily coerced elements in the migrant workforce and the first resort of nearly every recruiting agent’ (Bates and Carter 1992).10 Whether it was the Gonds and Baigas in the central provinces and Berar, or the Bhils of Khandesh (Maharashtra), Malwa (Madhya Pradesh) Mewar and Wagad (southern Rajasthan), the broad contours of the story followed similar trajectories; as tribals lost their autonomous or semi-autonomous modes of existence, large numbers became indebted peasants and agricultural labourers; as their earlier survival patterns were eroded by deforestation and restricted access to the forest commons and its products, many of them were converted into subordinate ‘coolie’ labour and seasonal migrants. The first super profits earned by the Europeans from indigo production in Bengal and Bihar were to a great extent dependent on the availability of cheap seasonal migrant labour from the Chota Nagpur area, as was the spread of intensively cultivated wet rice fields in the Bengal plains. Similarly, in the central provinces and Berar agricultural development in the Narmada valley wheat zone and the Nagpur–Berar cotton zone was made possible by the seasonal migration of primarily Gond tribals from the upland regions, while Bhils were drawn upon to fulfil the seasonal demand for labour in the cotton-growing areas of Khandesh as well as the canal zones of the Bombay Deccan. It has been argued that such seasonal migrant labour in fact played a pivotal role in the continuing reproduction of agricultural underdevelopment in the upland areas of tribal concentration as well as the greater levels of development in the lowland areas that they migrated to (Bates 1985).11

162    Indrani Mazumdar

In the first half of the nineteenth century, ‘Boonooahs’,12 ‘Dhangars’13 or ‘Hill coolies’ were the terms used by the British to refer to adivasi labour of Chota Nagpur (usually from Santhal, Munda and Oraon tribes), who migrated seasonally during the winter months to various districts in Bengal (then including Bihar) for employment in the indigo plantations and factories,14 for harvesting of the winter rice crop, for road building and land reclamation around Kolkata. ‘Chaitharas’ was the popular name for the adivasi seasonal migrants (predominantly Gond) in the wheat zone in the central provinces.15 ‘Dhangars’ were among the first (if not the last) to be sent as indentured labour to foreign lands, when following the abolition of slavery, the global colonial plantocracy was in search of pliable and controllable labour to replace their erstwhile slaves (Kaushik Ghosh 1999; Sanjukta Das Gupta 2012,).16 It was in the latter half of the nineteenth century that the infamous recruiters of indentured labour for Assam’s tea plantations turned to the Chota Nagpur area as the ‘favourite hunting ground’ for the so-called ‘jungly coolies’ who were their labourers of choice (Samita Sen 2012),17 later extending their field further south to the tribal populations of the central provinces (Bates and Carter 1992). Tea plantation labour, however, was distinguished from the predominant pattern of circular migration of tribal labour. Most migrants for tea plantations were permanently divorced from their areas of origin, and their descendants in Assam, now referred to as ‘tea tribes’, still constitute a major part of tea plantation workforce both in Assam and the Dooars of West Bengal; they are still located within enclaves that combine agricultural and industrial characteristics, and also still largely socially segregated from the rest of the local population.18 The indigo fields and factories have long disappeared, colonial style land clearing/reclamation using tribal ‘coolie’ labour long reached its historical limits, and the migration stream of middle India adivasis to north-eastern tea plantations came to a close within a decade or so after independence, but the legacy of conditions and pressures that led to conversion of tribal communities into a surplus labour force that is most easily corralled into and dependent on labour migration for survival, continues to operate in contemporary times. The adivasis still remain a significant social component of particularly the rural migratory workforce of twenty-first-century India, concentrated in hard manual labour based occupations. They are today predominantly to be found in agriculture, construction and brick kilns.

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    163

The transformation into migratory wage labour is also a feature of some tribal communities, whose modes of life and sustenance were somewhat different from those mentioned above. The nomadic lambadas/lambanis/Banjaras, e.g. were cattle raisers/traders, long-distance transporters of goods, supplying grain to even the Sultanate and Moghul armies in their campaigns (Shyamala 1984). Recent research has outlined how the Lambadas’ encounter with colonialism also economically displaced, dispossessed and converted large sections of them into hired and even conscripted labour, albeit along a more community specific historical route. When cotton and salt, the two prized items, which the Lambadas traded throughout the subcontinent, became an East India Company monopoly, the Lambada trader/transporters were shunted out of their pre-eminent role in long distance trade, and the establishment of faster modes of transport, the railways, etc. finally forced them to completely abandon their merchant caravans and turn to cattle raising and agrarian labour. Further, while legislations restricting access to forests and pasture lands then made the raising/grazing of cattle more difficult, the Lambadas were additionally subjected to ignominious physical restrictions on their own movements and were declared criminals under the infamous Criminal Tribes Act of 1871. Forced to settle on the inhospitable uplands outside the normal village boundaries (thandas) in the dry areas of the Deccan plateau, they were then conscripted and made to work as indentured labourers on colonial roads and railway construction projects, albeit often under police escort (Bhangya Bhukya 2010). The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed at independence, and its notified tribes denotified shortly after, but stigma and related social isolation of lambadas living in thandas persists. The agriculturally unproductive terrain of their settlements and chronic poverty has made for the community being a significant contingent of the migratory construction workforce in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra as well as other forms of nomad labour such as the sugarcane harvesters in western India.

Tribal women’s migration in contemporary times: a comparative profile One of the distinctive features of tribal labour migration streams has been the high participation of women. Significant numbers of women were involved in the more permanent migrations of tribal labour to the tea plantations of Assam and North Bengal as also in

164    Indrani Mazumdar

seasonal or circular labour migration across a wider set of regions and sectors from nineteenth century onwards.19 The habit of men and women migrating for work together in family or even larger tribal groups/gangs perhaps drew upon their heritage of moving together to reclaim land from the jungles for the establishment of new settlements whenever the need was felt, the practice of shifting cultivation, and nomadic/semi-nomadic ways of life. When transformed from autonomous indigenes and peasants into subordinate migrant wage labourers, many adivasis would still move or be recruited in bands that included women. A lack of any tradition of confinement/seclusion of women indeed distinguishes tribal society from other communities in India, among whom graded hierarchies are far more entrenched, and the seclusion of women has long been linked to higher social status. Nevertheless, women were and are not positioned as equals even within tribal society (Sinha 2005, Archana Prasad 2011). Further, in the wage economy, whether tribal or non-tribal, women workers were paid lower wages than men and this was true for migratory labour as well. Still, the traditional lack of any severe internal restraints on women’s labour and personal mobility in tribal societies has been an important factor in maintaining the higher rates of female work participation among adivasis and their relatively greater participation in wage labour based migration in comparison to other social groups in colonial as well as independent India.20 In general, female labour migration in contemporary India is poorly recorded by the official macrosurveys and it is difficult to derive a picture of tribal women’s work migration from these surveys. Since they define migrants as those who have changed their place of residence, women migrants vastly outnumber men in macrosurveys because of the widespread prevalence of village exogamy and patrilocal residence in marriage practices. Yet their estimates of female labour migration have remained notoriously lower than what field/ground experience/reports suggest. Since only one reason for migration is asked for, a significant amount of labour migration by women is camouflaged under other social reasons such as marriage or family movement. Further, the definitions followed by the official surveys have been slow to respond to the findings of microstudies that women’s labour migration is predominantly short term and circular in nature, both of which tend to be poorly recorded in official surveys. Even when special efforts have been made to bring temporary or short-term migration within the ambit of macrosurveys as was

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    165

done for 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), changes of definitions between the two survey rounds have made for difficulties in trend analysis. Nevertheless, the three migration surveys conducted by the NSSO between 1993 and 2007–2008 do provide some indications that a more significant presence of women is still a distinguishing feature of tribal labour migration, and also that tribal women’s migration for work is relatively more temporary in nature and more concentrated in rural areas. Firstly, the above three rounds of migration surveys (NSSO) consistently show that the proportion of migrant households among Scheduled Tribes (STs) is higher than among other communities. Since migrant households here refer to households migrating within a reference period of only one year preceding the date of survey, we may safely assume that the higher proportion of migrant households among STs is because more tribal women migrate alongside their men folk in comparison to other social groups, among whom more women may be left behind by male migrant workers or be migrating to join their men folk only much later. This is notwithstanding the fact that the overall female migration rates (i.e. proportions of the female population who have changed their usual place of residence) are lowest among ST women in comparison to women of other social groups. In other words, the NSS surveys indicate that relatively lesser proportions of tribal women effect more durable change of residence (whether due to marriage or employment reasons), but greater proportions of tribal women tend to migrate with their households for employment.21 The 1999–2000 survey further showed that STs were the single largest group among female temporary migrants for employment in rural areas but not in urban areas. Unfortunately the most recent migration report of NSS for 2007–2008 has not given the proportions of STs among the newly defined category of short-term migrants for employment. We can, however, fill some of the gaps in the report by referring to the findings of a recent set of surveys that were conducted by the Centre for Women’s Development Studies (CWDS) between 2009 and 2011, across 20 states in India that have been consolidated to present a mesolevel view of the broad patterns of women’s labour migration in India (Gender and Migration, CWDS 2012). The CWDS surveys again provide evidence of the relatively greater involvement of tribal women in female labour migration in contemporary times. They show that STs were over 26 per cent of the migrant women workers in rural destinations and 21 per cent in urban, which is close to 3

166    Indrani Mazumdar

times their share of the general female population in rural areas and close to 10 times in urban areas. With the application of a more nuanced typology of migration, some of the distinguishing aspects of tribal women’s migration that are only hinted at in the macrosurveys came out very sharply in the CWDS surveys. They showed that the most distinctive feature of adivasi women’s labour migration is their concentration in short term and circulatory migration – i.e. migrating and returning to their native villages every year or several times in a year. In comparison relatively smaller proportions of tribal women workers are involved in long-term- or medium-term migration for settlement or more durable residence in urban areas. Table 11.1 presents the consolidated findings of the CWDS surveys in relation to the distribution of types of migration among women migrant workers from different social groups.22 As Table 11.1 clearly shows, among the types of migration, the weight of short-term migration, circulatory migration of longer duration and circulatory migration of shorter duration is greater among ST women migrant workers than among all other communities/ social groups. When taken together, it is most striking that the great majority (59%) of migrant women workers from STs are involved in Table 11.1 Distribution of women migrant workers by type of migration (%) Type of migrant Long-term migrant Medium-term migrant Short-term migrant Irregular short-term migrant Circulatory migrant of longer duration Circulatory migrant of shorter duration Daily/weekly commuters Migrant for family care All Short-term and circulatory combined

General

OBC

MBC

SC

ST

44.51 30.02

41.56 22.98

21.51 30.11

25.98 17.36

20.81 10.48

3.93 6.42

11.91 1.13

10.75 1.08

14.54 1.08

25.16 1.45

2.90

9.93

5.38

19.52

22.10

4.55

6.95

4.30

6.06

10.00

4.97

3.69

25.81

14.67

8.71

2.69

1.84

1.08

0.81

1.29

100 17.81

100 29.93

100 21.51

100 41.18

100 58.71

Source: CWDS, 6/1/20152012.

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    167

short-term- and circulatory migration. This is a significantly greater proportion than the 41 per cent of such short-term- and circulatory migrants among SC women migrants, almost double the 30 per cent among other backward class (OBC) women and more than three times the proportion (18%) among the general/upper caste women migrant workers. Related to this high share of short-term- and circulatory migration is another finding of the CWDS surveys, namely that the destination areas of a majority of the tribal women migrant workers (56%) are rural in contrast to the majority of women migrant workers from the upper caste and OBC origin, among whom 71 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively were found to be migrating to urban destinations. Only among migrant women workers of SC background is the 62 per cent share of rural destinations higher than among tribals. The CWDS study found that types of migration were very closely correlated with sectors and occupations. Service occupations (white collared, intermediate combinations of mental and manual work, as well as menial services such as paid domestic work) and manufacturing (factory based or home-based) are more linked with long-term and medium-term migration. On the other hand, heavy manual labour based seasonal occupations in the primary or secondary sector that are generally attached to the most degraded conditions of work and where the figure of the labour contractor/recruiter/agent looms large, are more closely correlated with short-term- and circular migration. At an overall level, the CWDS study showed labour migration by women had led to limited occupational diversification and in fact had propelled their concentration in a relatively narrow band of occupations. Within this overall picture, tribal women were further concentrated in three sectors/industries, namely agriculture, brick kilns (in rural areas) and construction (in both rural and urban areas). These are the principal sectors/industries driving the short-term- and circulatory types of migration by women in contemporary times and for which recruitment, particularly in rural destinations is often of male female pairs or family units rather than individuals of any one sex (which partially explains why migrant households are more among STs).23 On the other hand, tribal women were found to be virtually absent in textile/garment factories, which have otherwise drawn in women workers from all other social groups/communities. The CWDS surveys showed that among tribal women migrants in urban India, it is not manufacturing, but, construction that featured as the most prominent employment, while in the feminized occupation of paid domestic work, adivasi women

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migrants were prominent among the ‘live-ins’, i.e. those who resided in their employers’ homes, but relatively insignificant in the larger sea of ‘live-out’ domestic workers who generally live with their own families in destination areas. Finally, although, the small sample of mine workers in the CWDS surveys did not reveal much, it is perhaps significant that the few mine workers covered by the survey were predominantly of adivasi origin.24 A corollary to the high share of short-term- and circulatory migration among ST women, was the finding that white collar services accounted for a mere 18 per cent of ST women migrant workers, among whom young women from the northeast were more prominent than the adivasis of middle India. The low proportions of ST women in white-collared employment was roughly the same as that of SC women migrants (19%), but strongly contrasted with the 66 per cent of upper caste women migrants and 36 per cent of OBC women migrant workers in white collar employment. Table 11.1 and the data it holds follows the constitutionally defined social group categories. The ST category thus makes no distinction between different groups of tribes or their differing social and regional histories. To our minds, however, there is indeed a need to differentiate between the migrants from the tribes endogenous to the northeast of the country and the adivasis from middle India since their migration and employment patterns are quite different. The CWDS surveys found, e.g. that women migrants from the north eastern tribes were actually more concentrated in urbanwards medium term migration for modern service sector employment that is salaried and requiring relatively higher educational levels (salesgirls, office workers, beauticians, etc.).25 Lack of opportunities in the north eastern states has no doubt propelled the relatively recent but noticeable phenomenon of work-/education-based migration by young women from the northeast to large cities in other parts of India. Studies have shown that their conditions of work are exploitative, stereotyped, difficult and trying, (Singmila Shimrah 2007), and often compounded by race- and culture-based targeting. Nevertheless, their relatively stronger educational backgrounds, their services oriented occupational profile and perhaps their initial context of exclusive rights over larger amounts of land and territory (relative to population) in their relatively more autonomous tribal homelands, has made for a qualitatively different social location from where women from the tribes of the northeast have made their entry into urban life in comparison to other adivasi migrant workers. Migrant women workers from the middle India tribes in urban destinations are more concentrated in casual labour in construction and

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    169

prominent among live-in domestics, and are even more concentrated in migration to rural destinations for agriculture, brick kiln work and again construction. Related to such a process of concentration are the other features of adivasi women’s labour migration – namely circularity, a greater level of involvement of intermediaries – labour contractors and recruiters, and a continuing living relationship with the agrarian tribal social order that is rarely sundered by migration. These features were spawned by the particularities of development of commercialization and enclaved capitalist enterprise under colonial rule. Why they should persist more than 60 years after independence, the specific role given to adivasi women’s labour and the differential manner in which they continue to be concentrated in the lowest echelons of the migratory semi-proletariat, are questions that cannot be answered without reference to continuities/changes in the sphere of labour processes and the impact of accumulation regimes on tribal labour, as well as the particular location of tribal populations in the broader agrarian economy and social order.

Conclusion Tribal community practices and cultures, particularly the lack of traditional restrictions on women’s work and labour, have indeed been a significant factor in bringing larger proportions of tribal women into more mobile forms of labour in comparison to other social groups in India. However, the higher propensity to labour migration among tribal women has not fundamentally altered their conditions of historical disadvantage in the agrarian economy, and in fact has integrated adivasi women in the developing labour market under capitalist development at several levels of additional disadvantage. It would appear that the predominantly survival oriented circular and short-term pattern of contemporary tribal women’s migration predicates a regularized mobility for irregular employment that simultaneously constrains and constricts possibilities of social, cultural and educational advance. British administrative systems had ended the isolation and political autonomy of tribal society, brought them into a system of production relations and surplus generation geared to colonial/feudal interests and extractive capital accumulation, and transformed even low population density tribal areas into labour-surplus economies. In the process, large segments of tribal populations faced resource dispossession, pauperisation and debt-based manipulation of their lives and labour. As peasants increasingly confined to agriculturally poor lands with a single agricultural season, and with reduced access

170    Indrani Mazumdar

to forest resources, adivasis were the most easily drawn into mortgaging their labour and intermittent migration that enabled greater commercial agricultural development in areas other than their own. The broad contours of such a constrained and disadvantaged social and economic location of tribal populations have persisted in independent India providing a continued basis for the dominant pattern of survival-oriented migration as opposed to social development oriented migration. Labour migration by tribal women in the post-independence decades has, however, served the interests of a wider range of classes than was the case in colonial India, enabling as well as pushing forward a greater level of class differentiation in Indian society since independence. Predominantly temporary or circular types of migration vests the majority of tribal women migrant workers with the dual characteristics of retaining agricultural origins even as their occupations may have become in great part industrial. Such a dual characteristic is partially linked to the value attached to agricultural livelihoods despite being unable to derive a living from such agriculture. At the same time, the particularly degraded conditions of tribal women’s migratory employment in agriculture and non-agriculture, the chronic cycle of debt-/advance-based recruitment, low incomes, wage reducing dependence on contractors, and related unfreedoms does not seem to be capable of providing any security of livelihood or settlement outside agriculture. Jan Breman’s formulation that migration has engendered a shift from local feudal bondage to neo-bondage in the developing capitalist systems of production most appropriately applies to tribal women’s experience of labour migration in contemporary India.

Acknowledgements This chapter was extracted from Occasional Paper 60, 2014 of the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, New Delhi.

Notes 1

Santhals are the largest tribal community in West Bengal (third largest tribe in India). In 2001, Santhals, numbering 2.28 million, constituted 52 per cent of the ST population in West Bengal. Deshwali Majhis (a community of largely Santhal origin who underwent religions transformation during the Kherwar movements of the late colonial period and became more or less assimilated into Hinduism) are considered semi-tribal, although they are officially classified as OBC.

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    171 2 Banerjee and Ray point out that by the end of the nineteenth century, more than 20 per cent of Barddhaman district’s population was supported by industry, commerce and other service professions. A form of seasonal migration for coal mining is also referred to in Dagmar Engels’ paper on Adivasi Women in Bengal (1993) where she mentions that Santhals and Bauris (Bauris are an SC, considered by colonial anthropologists to be a ‘tribal caste’, i.e. having been only tribal till very recently) formed the bulk of the labour force from the beginnings of coal mining in Bengal. The first coalfields in Raniganj, Burdwan were established in 1774, but regular mining actually began in 1820. Many of these workers used to back to their villages for agricultural operations, and in fact a substantial number were settled as agricultural tenants in nearby lands by the nineteenth century coal companies, thus maintaining an agricultural identity. 3 The Bhumij are a semi-Hinduised community of Mundari origin autochthonous to the area and forming even zamindaris (in the erstwhile estates of Manbhum, Barabhum and Dhalbhum in the present day Puruliya and Bankura). In 2001, the Bhumij numbered 336,436 in West Bengal, constituting around 8 per cent of the ST population in the state. 4 These were all areas where the Permanent Settlement (1793) was implemented by the British East India Company whereby the former landholders and revenue intermediaries (zamindars) were granted heritable, rentable and alienable proprietary rights (effective ownership) to the land they held and the land tax was fixed in perpetuity. Under the Permanent Settlement, on one side the landlord class acquired greater power than earlier, while on the other the Company’s policy of auction of any zamindari lands deemed to be in arrears created a market for land which previously did not exist. Intermediary rentiers proliferated increasing the rent and debt burden on tenant cultivators who were also unprotected from eviction/replacement by others. 5 The Bankura district Human Development Report of 2007, which highlights the otherwise rapid development of the district yet records the continuance of seasonal migration from the uplands. Government of West Bengal, District Human Development Report Bankura, 2007, http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/nationalreports/asiathepacific/india/ Bankura_india_hdr_2007.pdf 6 It is of course well known that rice can support more people per unit of land than most other staples (see Cambridge World History of Food). 7 K. S. Singh points out that it was in these enclaves that the concept of protection of the tribes as an ethnic community developed in stages. 8 The Tana Bhagat movement among the Oraon, in fact, arose started with a refusal by one Jatra Oraon to accede to the demand by the local police for unpaid coolie labour by the Oraon tenantry. This was at a time when the Oraon of that area (Bishanpur in the present day Gumla district, Jharkhand) were being subjected to excessive requisition of labour for the construction of the summer residence of the Lieutenant Governor on the Neterhart plateau (Sinha, S.P. 1993).

172    Indrani Mazumdar  9 In the central provinces, under the malguzari settlement system, ownership was conferred on those who had acquired a proprietary status on quasi-feudal conditions as jagirdar or talukdar (malguzars), including some tribal chiefs or their relatives, grantees of state revenue and others, but in contrast to Bengal, some measure of tenant right was also included. 10 For example, Bates and Carter have shown that the settlement regime in Mandla district granted proprietary rights to the Gond tribals, who constituted over half the population in the 1860s, in only 432 out of a total of 11,430 villages. The Baigas, who were 4 per cent of the population were granted only 20 villages. This pattern was repeated in all of the tribal districts in central provinces. In Betul, Seoni and Chhindwara where tribals constituted 35–40% of the population, less than 1 in 7 villages were allowed to remain in tribal hands. Within 20 to 30 years after these settlements, 270 villages were transferred in Mandla – mostly to Marwari moneylenders, while between 1869 and 1912 the number of Gond villages fell from 294 to 129 in Raipur (Bates and Carter p.213–214). 11 For the cotton zone across the districts of Nagpur, Wardha, Amraoti, Yeotmal, Buldana, and Nimar, based on cotton and other crop output data for 1890–91, Crispin Bates has calculated that the labour requirements of cotton in the late nineteenth century exceeded the capacities of local agricultural labour, at a time when cotton accounted for 30 per cent of the gross cropped area (GCA) and argued that the importance of migrant labour must have become of even greater significance over the next few decades as cotton rose to cover 44 per cent of GCA in the same zone by the 1920s. For the wheat zone of the Narmada Valley, Bates refers to specific contemporary descriptions of the intergenerational annual migration of Gond Chaitaharas from the Rewa Hills for 1867, 1901 and 1911. (Bates, 1985, ‘Regional Development and Rural Development in Central India: The Pivotal Role of Migrant Labour’, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 19, No. 3.) 12 Writing on indigo labour, Van Schendell described ‘Boonoah’ workers as primarily seasonal labour, and quotes a nineteenth century observer Machell as writing, “the Boonooahs are the inhabitants of the Boons or the Jungles . . . They are very ingenious in making mats, nets, baskets &c., and are supposed by some to be the aborigines of Hindoostan.” Willem Van Schendel, 2012, ‘Green Plants into Blue Cakes: Working for Wages in Colonial Bengal’s Indigo Industry’ in Marcel van Linden and Leo Lucassen (ed) Working on Labour: Essays in honour of Jan Lucassen, Brill, Leiden. 13 John Mackay, an indigo planter over a period of 28 years till 1836, with plantations in ‘Jessore, Dacca and Nuddea in lower Bengal; Patna, Tirhut and Bhaugulpoor in the province of Bahar’, claimed to have employed up to 500 ‘Dhangars’ at a time. He described these workers in the following words, “There are no mechanics among them, unless assistant brick makers may be so considered; many of them are good hands at mixing the

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    173 clay for brickmakers, and expert in forming tanks, but I would consider the Hill Coolies as fittest to be employed as labourers of the ground. . . [they] will travel a distance of 500 miles in, search of employment, and know the value of money, and carefully, save the wages they earn to carry back to their country to spend with their families.” John Mackay, Minutes of Evidence on Indian and British Immigration, House of Commons Papers, 1838, Vol. 22, p. 186. 14 Van Schendel, 2012, Working on Labour: Essays in honour of Jan Lucassen. 15 The term Chaitharas comes from the season of Chait (March–April), when the wheat crop is harvested. 16 For Dhangar and Hill Coolies, see House of Lords, Session papers, Session 1837–38, Vol. VIII, p. 44. 17 Between 1879 and 1890, 53.36 per cent of workers in Assam tea plantations were from Santhal Parganas and Chota Nagpur. 18 Despite being adivasis, “Tea Tribes” do not have ST status in Assam as they do in their states of origin. 19 Sugata Bose has shown that in the Jalpaiguri tea gardens (North Bengal Dooars), women in fact outnumbered men. In 1921 there were 65,938 female workers in the plantations of Jalpaiguri Dooars in comparison to 56,745 males. In the Assam tea plantations too, women ultimately constituted the majority of the workforce. Similarly Bates has shown that in the cotton belt, seasonal migrants were largely women and children. By his calculations, in the 1930s, typically 11.24 man-days and 17.74 woman-days were hired per acre in the Berar plains compared to average deployment of 3.88 man-days and 1.42 woman-days of family labour. For the post-independence period, Banerjee and Ray show that tribal women clearly led the way for women from other communities in seasonal migration to the rice plains of Bengal. 20 NSS’ 61st round employment survey for 2004–2005 shows that female work participation rates among STs stood at 44.4 per cent in comparison to 30.8 per cent among SCs, 29.9 per cent among OBCs and 21.4 per cent among others. 21 The lower migration rate among tribal women is, however, changing at a rapid pace. Between 1999–2000 and 2007–2008, the increase in the migration rate was highest among tribal women, having jumped from 35.7 per cent to 44 per cent bringing it much closer to the national average of a 47.7 per cent migration rate for the female population as a whole than before. 22 Source: CWDS, Gender and Migration: Negotiating Rights, A Women’s Movement Perspective, (Key Findings), 2012. 23 The CWDS survey showed that 42 per cent of rural women migrant workers had been recruited as part of a unit of labour that was either a pair or family based. 24 Most of the women workers encountered in mining areas of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh during the field work were of course descendants of

174    Indrani Mazumdar earlier migrants like in the tea plantations, which are also not drawing any fresh migrants. 25 Young women from the north east were also working as beauticians in more organized beauty parlours.

References Banerjee, Narayan and Lokenath Ray. 1991. Seasonal Migration: A Case Study from West Bengal. New Delhi: CWDS, http://www.cwds.ac.in/ researchPapers/SeasonalMigration1.pdf. Bates, Crispin. 1985. ‘Regional Dependence and Rural Development in Central India: The Pivotal Role of Migrant Labour’, Modern Asian Studies, 19(3): 573–592. Bates, Crispin and Marina Carter. 1992. ‘Tribal Migration in India and Beyond’, in Gyan Prakash (ed), The World of the Rural Labourer in Colonial India pp. 205–45. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Bhukya, Bhangya. 2010. Subjugated Nomads: The Lambadas under the Rule of the Nizams. Delhi: Orient Blackswan. CWDS. 2012. Gender and Migration: Negotiating Rights, A Women’s Movement Perspective, (Key Findings), http://www.cwds.ac.in/researchPapers/ GenderMigrationNegotiatingRights.pdf Das Gupta, Ranajit (1986) ‘Popular Movements in Jalpaiguri District’ Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 21, No. 47 (Nov. 22, 1986), pp. 2064–2066. Das Gupta, Sanjukta. 2012. ‘Colonial Rule and Agrarian Transition in Singhbhum’, in Sanjukta Das Gupta and Raj Sekhar Basu (eds), Narratives from the Margins: Aspects of Adivasi History in India, pp. 153–177. New Delhi: Primus Books. Ghosh, Kaushik. 1999. ‘A Market for Aboriginality: Primitivism and Race Classification in the Indentured Labour Market of Colonial India’ in Gautam Bhadra, Gyan Prakash, Susie Tharu (eds), Subaltern Studies X, Writings on South Asian History and Society, pp. 8–48. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Mohapatra, Prabhu. 1991. ‘Some Aspects of Arable Expansion in Chotanagpur: 1880–1950’, Economic and Political Weekly, 26(16):1043–1054. National Sample Survey Organisation (Various Rounds), Migration in India, 1993, 1999–2000, 2007–2008. Prasad, Archana. 2011. Against Ecological Romanticism: Verrier Elwin and the Making of an Anti-Modern Tribal Identity. New Delhi: Three Essays Collective. Rogaly, Ben, Jhuma Biswas, Daniel Coppard, Abdur Rafique, Kumar Rana and Amrita Sengupta. 2001. ‘Seasonal Migration, Social Change and Migrant’s Rights: Lessons from West Bengal’, Economic and Political Weekly, 36(49): 4547–4559.

Adivasi women in India’s migration story    175 Sen, Samita. 2012. ‘Kidnapping in Chotanagpur’: Recruitment for Assam Tea Plantations in a ‘Tribal’ Area, in Sanjukta Das Gupta and Raj Sekhar Basu (eds), Narratives from the Margins: Aspects of Adivasi History in India, pp. 179–214. New Delhi: Primus Books. Shimrah, Singmila. 2007. North-East Women Workers in Delhi. New Delhi: CWDS mimeo. Shyamala, B. Devi. 1984. ‘Class and Caste Differences among the Lambadas in Andhra Pradesh’, Social Scientist, 12(7): 47–56. S. 1982. ‘Transformation of Tribal Society: Integration vs Singh, K.  Assimilation’, Economic and Political Weekly, 17(33): 1318–1325. Sinha, Shashank Shekhar. 2005. Restless Mothers and Turbulent Daughters: Situating Tribes in Gender Studies. Kolkata: Stree.

12

Gender dimensions of migration in urban India NISHIKAnT SInGH, KUnAL KESHRI AnD R.B. BHAGAT Introduction The gender dimension of migration is crucial as women have notably different migration intentions, motivations, patterns, options, and obstacles from men. Men and women tend to experience migration differently; the challenges of renegotiating work and care in a new setting often lead to a ‘feminization’ of women’s roles, as women find themselves taking up more traditional gender roles as wives and mothers (Ho 2006). In many cases, men make autonomous decisions while women migrate as part of family strategies where they are not in full control (Boyd 1989; Hugo 1995). The most common cause for female migration in India is considered to be marriage (Srivastava and Sasikumar 2003) and largely explained by the twin factors of marriage and dependency on the principal breadwinner (Premi 1980). Internal migration in India is highly differentiated, and women’s involvement in geographic mobility is also highly variable. The tendency to migrate and forms of migration depend on social and economic positions at origin, cultural differences and prescriptions for female behaviour and demand for female labour (Palriwala and Uberoi 2008). There is a need to focus on gender-specific migration in the current discourse on migration as women constitute an overwhelming proportion of migrants, although largely characterized by marriage and associational migrations (Premi 1980; Shanthi 1991; Banerjee and Raju 2009). Rural women were most mobile although urban women have picked up over the decades in form of gender-specific pattern of labour movement (Gulati 1997; Banerjee and Raju 2009). Changes in the rural economy also have contributed to this increased female migration. Increasing productivity in agriculture has been

Gender dimensions of migration in urban India    177

associated with decreasing opportunities for wage employment in agriculture for women as compared to that of men (Shanthi 2006). One of the biggest changes for gender roles in migration is the result of shift of the locus of work from the home to somewhere else (Davis 1984; Yabiku et al., 2010). There is no doubt that migration is gendered and it has been well established in the global migration literature (Hoang 2011) and gender matters in our consideration of migration and mobilities (Mahler and Pessar 2006; Lutz 2010). Nevertheless, issues pertaining to gender aspects are absent in much of the earlier migration literature in India, as of till now, migration is assumed to be mainly a movement dominated by men, with women either residual in the process or dependent followers (Bhatt 2009; Mazumdar et al., 2013). Migration of women is also validated by the fact that women are ready to work for low wages, and perceived as passive and docile, they are in great demand, contributing to feminization of labour migration (Shanthi 2006). Moreover, women migrate because there is an increasing educational level among them who do not like to be confined to household chores. On the other hand there is another group of women who migrate along with their husband and any other family member. There is a need to understand the characteristics of different types of women who migrate and also emerging trends in their migratory processes. Therefore, present study attempts to explore the gender dimension of migration in urban India and mainly focuses on the changes in the process of migration and tries to identify the possible reasons for migration in urban India. In addition to this, the changes in the factors influencing women’s migration are also focused.

Data and analytical strategies In India, there are two major data sources of migration: Census of India and Indian National Sample Survey (NSS). The former provides the detailed information on trends, patterns and differentials of migration by socio-demographic characteristics based on complete enumeration but not possible to analyze factors influencing migration (Kundu and Sarangi 2007). On the other hand, the later can be utilized for this purpose. The present study, therefore, utilizes the unit level data from 55th and 64th rounds of the NSS. The 55th round of the NSS was conducted during July 1999 to June 2000. It collected data on migration particulars of the members of the sample households, as a part of the ‘Employment–Unemployment’ schedule (we have utilized the data of schedule 10 only). This survey covered

178    Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

a sample of 1,20,578 households (71,417 in rural and 49,161 in urban areas) (NSSO 2001). Similarly, the 64th round also collected data on migration in its survey of ‘Employment & Unemployment and Migration Particulars’ (Schedule 10.2) for the period July 2007 to June 2008 which covered a sample of 1,25,578 households (79,091 in rural areas and 46,487 in urban areas) (NSSO 2010). Both data sources of NSS are used in this study. It is relevant to consider demographic compositions, which reflect the household’s exposure to risk and the household’s ability to respond to risk while examining the gender dimension of internal migration and evaluating the migration decision in India. From the neo-classical model, individual characteristics influence the migration decision in a number of ways. First, characteristics, such as education, experience, gender, and age, may influence the income and employment opportunities at each location. Secondly, individual characteristics as well as social conditions and technologies may influence the cost of migration (Massey et al., 1993; Davis and Winters 2001). Moreover, gender differences in the economic determinants of migration become relevant if the causes and patterns of female migration are significantly different from male migration (Davis and Winters 2001).

Results and discussion This section is divided into five subsections namely temporal changes in migration in urban India, reasons for migration, socio-economic status of migrants, work status of migrants, and finally factors influencing the migration in urban India excluding marriage as a reason for migration.

Temporal changes in migration There has been marginal decline (0.8 per cent) in male migrants during 2007–2008 as compared to 1999–2000, whereas there was an increase of 4.8 per cent among female migrants (Figure 12.1). Therefore, while male mobility has declined, female mobility has increased and the overall mobility has increased from 26.6 per cent to 28.5 per cent during 2000–2007. Declining male mobility seems to be an important development in the emerging pattern of migration in India. As urban areas are the main destination of migration, it would be interesting to see age composition of migration in urban areas. Overall distribution of migrants in urban areas by age group and

Gender dimensions of migration in urban India    179 Figure 12.1  Percentage of migrants, India, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 50

47.2 42.4

45 40 35 30

28.5

26.6

25

Female

20 15

Male

Total 11.7

10.9

10 5 0 1999-2000

2007-2008

Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey. Table 12.1 Distribution of migrants in urban India by age group, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 Male

Female

Total

Age group

1999– 2000

2007– 2008

1999– 2000

2007– 2008

1999– 2000

2007– 2008

0–14 15–24 25–34 35–44 45–59 60+ Total

13.5 18.5 19.7 19.5 19.9 8.9 100

12.9 18.6 20.8 17.8 19.8 10.1 100

6.9 15.6 25.9 22.1 18.7 10.9 100

6.3 14.2 24.2 20.8 22.9 11.7 100

9.5 16.7 23.5 21.1 19.2 10.1 100

8.7 15.8 23.0 19.7 21.8 11.1 100

Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

sex shows that in each age group there has been a decrease in the percentage of migrants from 1999–2000 to 2007–2008, except for 45–59 and 60+. Age pattern of migration by sex is not very different but the share of elderly migration (60+) has increased among both males and females (Table 12.1). Table 12.2 illustrates the streams of migration by sex during 1999– 2000 and 2007–2008. The rural-to-rural stream of migration shared 32 per cent among male migrants in 1999–2000 against 27 per cent in 2007–2008 while distribution of women migrants remains more or less the same. In contrast, among men, rural to urban stream of migration is dominant in both the rounds. There is 5 per cent increase in rural to urban migration among men and similar decline in rural to rural migration during 1999–2000 and 2007–2008, whereas

180    Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat Table 12.2  Distribution of migrants in India by streams of migration, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 Male Stream Rural to rural Rural to urban Urban to rural Urban to urban Total

Female

1999–2000

2007–2008

1999–2000

2007–2008

32.3 34.3 10.7 22.6 100.0

27.1 39.0 8.9 24.8 100.0

70.3 14.4 5.2 10.1 100.0

70.0 14.8 4.9 10.3 100.0

Source:  Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey. Table 12.3 Distribution of migrants in urban India by reasons for migration, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 Male

Female

Total

Reasons for migration

1999– 2000

2007– 2008

1999– 2000

2007– 2008

1999– 2000

2007– 2008

Employment1 Marriage Studies Others Total

58.0 1.6 4.1 36.3 100.0

55.9 1.4 6.8 35.9 100.0

4.2 58.5 1.4 35.8 100.0

2.6 61.2 2.2 33.9 100.0

25.8 35.5 2.5 36 100.0

22.9 38.4 4 34.7 100.0

Note: 1Employment-related reasons: In search of employment, in search of better employment, business, to take up employment/better employment, transfer of service/contract, proximity of work. Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

women’s migration has remained more or less identical. In case of urban to rural stream there is a decrease in migration for both men and women in 2007–2008 compared to 1999–2000. On the other hand urban to urban migration has increased among both men and women during 2007–2008 compared to earlier rounds.

Reasons for migration Table 12.3 shows that employment appeared as the main reason for males to migrate, whereas marriage seemed to be the main driver of female migration in urban India. This shows that employment related female migration is much lower than that of males, which led to a reversal of the declining sex ratio of migrants in recent times. This suggests that males in the recent past may have benefited more than women from the growing prosperity and employment opportunities

Gender dimensions of migration in urban India    181

(Bhagat 2010). Furthermore, there is a decline in employmentrelated migration from 1999–2000 to 2007–2008 among both men and women.

Socio-economic status of migrants Migration in India is mostly influenced by social structure and patterns of development. Table 12.4 suggests that there is not much difference among men, whereas women show considerable differences by their social status. Among women migrants, the others category of social groups constituted 43 and 48 per cent of all urban migrants in 1999–2000 and 2007–2008, respectively and the highest increase in migration is observed by others category of social group followed by scheduled castes, other backward classes and scheduled tribes. Results suggest that the migration of women of others category are more mobile compared to scheduled castes/tribes and other backward classes. Several migration studies have found a positive relationship between education and migration, particularly in urban areas (Todaro 1997). Education, though qualitatively is a very significant social factor, the wide ranging impact of education is possibly the most important matter to be considered in inducing rural–urban migration (Caldwell 1969). However, the linkage between migration and education is very context specific (Harttgen and Klasen 2011). It not only helps people to migrate for better job opportunities, but it can also improve access to education and educational outcomes in urban areas. Table 12.5 suggests that at macrolevel the propensity of migration is increasing with rising level of education. However, when compared with men, illiterate women have higher propensity to migrate than illiterate men. Table 12.4 Percentage of migrants in urban India by social groups, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 Male Social group Scheduled tribes Scheduled caste Other backward castes Others Total

Female

1999–2000

2007–2008

1999–2000

2007–2008

28.2 22.5 23.7

28.8 23.5 23.0

41.1 39.3 41.7

43.0 44.7 43.8

27.6 25.7

29.0 25.9

42.6 41.8

47.7 45.6

Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

182    Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat Table 12.5 Percentage of migrants in urban India by education level, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 Male

Educational level

Female

1999–2000

2007–2008

1999–2000

2007–2008

16.7 21.5

16.7 20.6

43.7 32.5

47.2 35.2

26.5

26.9

44.0

47.8

33.7

31.9

48.5

47.8

39.3

37.8

52.9

55.4

25.7

25.9

41.8

45.6

Illiterate Literate but below middle Middle but below secondary Secondary or higher secondary Graduate and above Total

Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

Table 12.6 Percentage of migrants in urban India by MPCE, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 Male MPCE Lowest Lower Medium Higher Highest Total

Female

1999–2000

2007–2008

1999–2000

2007–2008

12.8 19.1 23.4 31.7 40.1 25.7

12.0 16.8 25.2 32.4 41.8 25.9

34.5 39.6 41.7 45.5 48.4 41.8

38.5 42.0 46.6 48.9 52.8 45.6

Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

Information on migrants by monthly consumer expenditure of the households in urban India is presented in Table 12.6 which provides quite approximate view of economic conditions of the households in the absence of income data in the sample surveys (Keshri and Bhagat 2010, 2013). Results show that there is a clear gender gap in migration by income in urban areas. Among men the per cent distribution of migrants increases with rising economic status, whereas it decreases among women migrants. This situation holds true for both the rounds of survey with corresponding income categories.

Gender dimensions of migration in urban India    183

Work status of migrants In economic parlance, migration takes place when a person is likely to engage in a remunerative activity in a place where he or she is not a native or national. Therefore, the current work status of migrants by their income level in urban India is presented in Tables 12.7a and 12.7b for male and female migrants, respectively. Overall, urban migrants recorded about 69.5 per cent and 18.7 per cent of men and women as current working status, respectively, in 1999–2000 compared to 69.7 per cent and 14.3 per cent in 2007–2008. In addition to this, the per cent distribution of men migrants in self-employed and casual labour category decreases with rising income status, while among regular salaried men it increases with rising income status in both the rounds of the NSS. Interestingly, women migrants also present the similar trend regarding work status as found among men. In Table 12.7a  Percentage of male migrants in India by MPCE according to current work status, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 1999–2000 MPCE Lowest Lower Medium Higher Highest Total

2007–2008

SelfRegular Casual NonSelfRegular Casual Nonemployed salaried labour working employed salaried labour working 25.8 25.5 24.6 21.6 17.7 21.8

16.8 28.1 34.2 41.6 48.7 38.3

22.6 16.5 11.1 7.2 3.0 9.4

34.8 30.0 30.1 29.6 30.6 30.5

29.4 26.4 22.8 21.2 19.8 22.4

18.8 28.4 36.1 44.1 46.4 39.0

19.4 16.2 10.2 7.1 2.1 8.3

32.5 29.1 30.9 27.6 31.8 30.3

Source:  Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey. Table 12.7b Percentage of female migrants in India by MPCE according to current work status, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 1999–2000 MPCE Lowest Lower Medium Higher Highest Total

2007–2008

SelfRegular Casual NonSelfRegular Casual Nonemployed salaried labour working employed salaried labour working 13.3 11.5 9.3 6.6 4.6 8.8

3.4 4.5 3.9 5.3 10 5.9

10.7 5.4 3.9 2.4 0.5 4.3

72.7 78.7 82.9 85.7 84.9 81.3

7.8 7.1 4.7 3.9 3.6 5.3

Source:  Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

4 4.4 4.3 5.5 10.5 5.9

7.7 4.4 2.6 1.1 0.4 3.0

80.4 84.0 88.4 89.5 85.4 85.7

184    Nishikant Singh, Kunal Keshri and R. B. Bhagat

a nutshell, the share of working women migrants (i.e. self-employed, regular salaried and casual labour) decreased from 19 per cent in 1999–2000 to 14 per cent in 2007–2008 and non-working women migrants increased from 81.3 per cent to 85.7 per cent respectively (Table 12.7b). Undoubtedly, working status of migrants is highly gendered as huge disparity exists between men and women migrants in their current work status. After analyzing current working status of migrants it is also important to understand the changes in work status between pre and post-migration periods, which explicitly focuses on those whose status continued to be that of workers prior to and after migration as well as current work status of migrants (i.e. after migration work status) in 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 (Table 12.8). In 1999–2000, out of total working male migrants, 90.8 per cent are those who had worked prior to migration as well as after migration, whereas about 9 per cent migrants lost their jobs after entering in urban areas. The similar scenario again prevails in 2007–2008 in case of male migrants for their working status. In contrast, out of total non-working male migrants, about half of the migrants continued their job and half of them slack their jobs after migration in 1999–2000 while it is 53.4 and 46.6 per cent, respectively in 2007–2008. On the other hand among women, out of total working women, 61.1 per cent women sustained their working status, whereas 38.9 per cent lose it after migration during 1999–2000. Furthermore, 55.7 per cent women continued their work after migration while 44.7 per cent lose their jobs after migration in 2007–2008. Contrastingly, out of total non-working women, only Table 12.8 Changes in work status of migrants in pre- and post-migration period in urban India, 1999–2000 and 2007–2008 After migration Male 1999–2000

Female 2007–2008

1999–2000

2007–2008

Before NonNonNonNonmigration Working working Working working Working working Working working Working Nonworking Total

90.8 51.0

9.2 49.0

90.5 53.4

9.5 46.6

61.1 14.7

38.9 85.3

55.7 10.7

44.3 89.3

69.5

30.5

70.9

29.1

18.7

81.4

14.4

85.6

Source: Unit Level Data of National Sample Survey.

Gender dimensions of migration in urban India    185

14.7 per cent women started working after entering in urban areas, while a large proportion of women migrants (85.3 per cent) remain as non-working. The situation worsened in 2007–2008 as only 10.7 per cent women engaged in work force after migration compared to 14.7 per cent in 19999–2000. A comparison with earlier round shows that the working status of male migrants is more or less same but among women migrants it is reduced in 2007–2008 compared to 1999–2000. Probably, this can be attributed to increasing levels of education in rural areas, as a result migrant especially women are engaged in studies rather than work. A recent study on employment trend in India suggests that the improvement in the employment situation is also confirmed by the unemployment estimates which remain high for men but has declined considerably for females in rural as well as in urban areas.

Factors associated with migration in urban India in the age group of 15–59 (excluding marriage as a reason for migration) Results of multivariate analysis are presented in Table 12.9 to examine the association of key socio-economic factors with migration in urban India. Since migration of women is highly dominated in the form of post-nuptial migration, hence we have excluded those persons who migrated because of marriage. Results suggest that among male migrants persons who belonged to highest MPCE quintile are about five times more likely to migrate as compared to lowest MPCE quintile (OR: 5.35, p