Introduction

Taslima, an 18-year-old widow from Satkhira, is one of the many Bangladeshi women struggling to eke out a living in India. After her husband died of stomach cancer merely two years into their marriage, she and her one-year-old son were shunned by her in-laws. One of her relatives introduced her to a dalal (‘broker’), who promised her employment in Mumbai for a fee of about US$65. She now works as a labourer at a construction site some 300 kilometres away from Mumbai making a little over US$70 per month. Although the work is strenuous, she says that she prefers it to scrubbing pots and pans in exchange for meals at a relative's house in Bangladesh. Women like Taslima display agency in deciding to migrate for employment, given that their choices are limited by their geographical, social, and economic positioning. However, since their migration experiences do not fit into the statist conceptualizations of trafficked, coerced, or at-risk women, their vulnerabilities remain largely unaddressed within the migration paradigm.

Migration in South Asia follows gendered binaries: while most males are considered economic migrants, women are often seen as dependent migrants accompanying males – especially because of the prevalence of systems like virilocal marriage. The stereotypes of ‘exotic mail-order brides, docile domestic workers, and/or distressed refugees and sex workers’ typify the image of women migrants within this region (Joseph & Narendran 2013: 12).