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Socio-economic factors behind decline in India's women migration

The growing harassment and exploitation are bringing down overseas migration of women labourers, an international meet on gender equality being held in Kerala noted.
India's migrant women force currently makes around 29 per cent of the total migrants. Speaking at a session on 'Gender and Collective Bargaining' with a focus on old and new forms of labour mobilizations', experts said the number was coming down.
Hyderabad-based social worker Dr Lissy Joseph attributed this to socio-economic and cultural factors. Dr Lissy, who works with National Domestic Workers Movement in Telengana, called for stringent laws against exploitation and harassment of migrant women labourers, in both the countries sending and receiving them.
The migrant women force is more into health care and domestic work sector particularly in the Middle East region," she pointed out. A state-wise break-up showed Uttar Pradesh ranking first in labour migration of Indians to abroad, pushing Kerala and Tamil Nadu to the second and third positions respectively. As for the country that tops when it comes to receiving Indian migrant labourers, it is Saudi Arabia, she added.
Dr Sumangala Damodaran, associate professor at Ambedkar University Delhi, stressed the need for strengthening the collective bargaining power of women migrants to end their exploitation and harassment. She pointed out the successful Munnar protest of female plantation workers in Kerala as an example.
Prof Naila Kabeer of London School of Economics highlighted the 'anti sweatshop movement' which campaigned to improve the conditions of the labourers characterised with low wages and poor working conditions in United States, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom.
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