Skilling Migrant Workers in South Asia: Rhetoric and Reality

“I Should Get Married as Soon as Possible, but the Relationships I Start Do Not Work”: Marital Prospects of Ethiopian Female Return Migrants from the Arabian Gulf

“…They acknowledged that some of the Ethiopian migrant women in the Arabian Gulf and Middle East are involved in prostitution or have multiple sexual partners, but not them. They externalize the issue of sexual experience as applying only to “others.” A study by Thimothy and Sasikumar (2012) also confirms that Nepalese women returnees from the Arabian Gulf refrain from sharing their experiences because of the negative attitudes of society and stigma involved, which is partly due to activists and the media in the Nepal raising awareness about the negative experiences of women migrating in the Arabian Gulf.…”

“…This makes their reintegration in the home community difficult. For example, Bangladeshi return migrants (Afsar, 2009; Bélanger & Rahman, 2013; Dannecker, 2005) and Nepalese female return migrants (Thimothy & Sasikumar, 2012) are stigmatized and marginalized upon their return because of the gendered attitude that women’s place is in the home. In these contexts, migration is considered a threat to norms about femininity and women’s roles.…”

“…In these contexts, migration is considered a threat to norms about femininity and women’s roles. Female migrants are perceived to have led a sexually loose lifestyle while abroad, which is a threat to their marriage or marital prospects upon their return (Afsar, 2009; Bélanger & Rahman, 2013; Dannecker, 2005; Thimothy & Sasikumar, 2012; Ullah, 2013). On the other hand, De Regt and Tafesse (2016) note that Ethiopian women returning from the Arabian Gulf are perceived to have been sexually abused, which makes them undesirable for marital relationships.…”