MIGRATION OF WOMEN & INDIAN DIASPORA IN MODERN PERIOD

MIGRATION OF WOMEN & INDIAN DIASPORA IN MODERN PERIOD

Dr. BHARATHI DEVI ANCHULA

Assistant Professor Department of Economics

Acharya Nagarjuna University Ongole Campus, Ongole, Andhra Pradesh

&

Dr. K. PADMASREE

Associate Professor Department of Commerce

Central University of Karnataka, Gulbarga, Karnataka

Key Concepts: Labour, Migration, Trafficking, Trans-culturality, Transformations

A hallmark of states in the modern era has been the principle of sovereignty, the idea that the government of a nation-state constitutes the final and absolute authority in a society, and that no outside power has the right to intervene in the exercise of this authority. The modern era of migration is the challenge posed by international migration (Zlotnik 1998, 429-468) to the sovereignty of states, specifically to their ability to regulate movements of people across their borders. The extensiveness of irregular migration around the world has probably never been greater than it is today. Paradoxically, efforts by governments to regulate migration also are at the all-time high and involve intensive bilateral, regional and international diplomacy.

The movement of people across borders have shaped states and societies since time immemorial, what is distinctive in recent years is their global scope, their centrality to domestic and international politics and their enormous economic and social consequences. Migration processes may become so entrenched and resistant to governmental control that new political forms may emerge. This would not necessarily entail the disappearance of national states indeed, that prospect appears remote. However, novel forms of interdependence, transnational societies and bilateral and regional cooperation are rapidly transforming the lives of millions of people and inextricably weaving together the fate and States and societies.

In the modern era women play a significant role in all regions and in most types of migrations. In the past most labour migrations and many refugee movements were male- dominated, and women were often dealt with under the category of family reunion. Since 1960s, women have played a major role in labour migration. Today women workers form the majority in movements as diverse as those of Cape Verdians to Italy, Fillipions to the Middle East and Thais to Japan. Some refugee movements contain a significant majority of women. Gender variables have always been significant in global migration history, but awareness of the specificity of women in contemporary migrations has grown.

FACTORS DETERMINING FEMALE MIGRATION

Movements of people from one area to another if it isn‘t caused by some natural disaster are primarily the direct result of inadequate economic (Boyle 2002, 531) and social opportunities in the country of origin and (presumably) superior opportunities in the area of immigration.

Women as well as men migrate with the hope for better living conditions, to support their children, to escape political chaos etc. Impoverishment and the need to support family provide women and men alike with strong reasons for migrating (Srivastava 1998, 765-72). However, poverty does not always contribute to decisions and capabilities of women to migrate. It also depends on State (Cohen 2000, 76) and community settings, traditions and on family and individual circumstances.

Among other factors that may contribute significantly to the decision to migrate are for example, increasing labour demand on the service (Shanthi 1991, 335-46) market in countries of destination, family obligations, unemployment, low wages, limited social and economic opportunities and the desire to expand their horizons. Women generally face more drastic decision-making and financial restrictions than do men, which can pose obstacles to freedom of movement. Yet income-earning opportunities can empower women and loosen traditional constraints on female mobility.

Economic and social upheaval can also provide the impetus to leave: educated women unable to overcome employment discrimination in their own country migrate in search of an opportunity to find work that is more likely to better utilise their skills and that is better paid. Female migration is also motivated by other non-economic factors, including surveillance by communities and patriarchal traditions that limit opportunity and freedom, getting out of a bad and abusive marriage, fleeing from domestic violence, and desiring equal opportunities. Discrimination against certain groups of women - single mothers, unmarried women, widows or divorcees also drives many to move elsewhere. A significant number of women still migrate as wives, and therefore their migration status is tied to that of their spouses. In many countries, if domestic violence occurs, women risk losing their residence rights if they decide to leave their spouses.

Women also migrate for the purpose of marriage. Arranged marriages are quite common in some cultures, especially among emigrants from the Indian subcontinent, where both men and women migrate for this purpose (Zachariah and Rajan 2001, 93-136). For many, arranged marriages can lead to a lifelong supportive partnership, but some of them can be accurately described as forced. Moreover, mail-order bride businesses can act as facades for recruiting and trafficking women. Other contributory factors that are usually taken into account when considering migration are women‘s age, their power position within the family and their stage in the life cycle the capacity of the household to do without them, and the presence of other women able to replace them in their domestic activities.

Migration processes with a female focus should be more closely scrutinised in order to prevent hidden risks and promote new opportunities for women and their families. Women‘s decisions to migrate depend on many factors: labour market conditions, discrimination and exclusion, unfavourable legislation, risks, the impact on people left behind etc (Premi 2001, 49- 59). As well as problems and risks, women migration also brings new opportunities. In societies where the migration brings the increasing contact between different countries and their people, the living entails new existential challenges and trans-cultural dialogue between different groups and subgroups gains more importance.

Given the formative role that women play in the receiving societies, and given that they are usually charged with the care of children in their early childhood years the most malleable years in a person‘s life they have a great influence on the openness of new generations to other cultures. Indeed, depending on the kind of relationship they establish with the local population, and with other migrants, they can be agents of trans-culturality.

CONCLUSION

In synthesis there is evidence that female migration has its specific features, which are sources of risks, but also opportunities. It is not only an increase of figures that induces to talk about Feminisation of Migration, but rather the fact that women increasingly migrate independently from families and become the bread winners of their family. This has sometimes dramatic implications on the families, and more specifically on the children left behind. However the decision to migrate and its factual happening depend very much on the social and economic contexts and the level of poverty and gender equality. In places with a high level of poverty and significant gender inequality, migration is not likely to happen. Another interesting feature is that female migration is clustered around a labour demand (Tyner 1999, 193-209) in the care sector where predominantly jobs performed by women are found.

Female migration of highly qualified persons is less visible then the one of men. Apart from the still existing wage inequality female migrants often work in either highly unregulated sectors or in those with low wages. In spite of that, their attitude concerning remittances is different than that of men: they keep their expenses under tight control and invest in the wellbeing of the family as a whole. We can perhaps conclude that women are more focused on the well- being of others than in their own advancement, even when they have the skills to take up better positions. And it should certainly not be forgotten that during the migration journey, women are double if not triple vulnerable (as a woman and as a migrant, aggravated by specific forms of migration, flight, trafficking and undocumented migration). The political response still seems to think in male categories. Although the issue of rights for women is in almost everyone’s mouth, it has not translated into a migration policy that takes the specific needs and rights of women into consideration. This makes them easy prey for smugglers and traffickers. It could thus be concluded that migration for women bears a high price, with little rewards, apart from more personal freedom. This is by no means meant to depict women as the victims of circumstances who have no say and no influence. On the contrary many of them are brave, outspoken and an example to others. And this is probably part of the solution. There is the need of more of them to speak out and claim their rights.

REFERENCES

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