Structural Violence against Emigrant Domestic Workers and Survival in the Middle East: The Effects of Indian Emigration Policy

Indian emigration policy’s emphasis on restrictions on the mobility of women domestic workers to the Middle East has created conditions in which they are subject to exploitation and abuse in the emigration process as well as in overseas employment. Indian policy has made way for unscrupulous recruiters, raised the costs of migration and reduced returns. It is underpinned not by economics, but by a gendered, caste- and class-based nationalism that regards the emigration of women domestic workers as degrading. In the Middle East, where the ‘kafala’ system of sponsorship endows sponsors–employers with extraordinary powers over immigrant workers, the lack of support from Indian embassies reinforces structural violence. Push factors and the demonstration effect of previous migration motives women to disregard state regulation. Domestic workers survive multiple pressures, tolerate abuse and strive to gain the sponsor’s patronage or defy the system with the help of social networks to tap the gains of informal/illegal employment. JEL: J 619, K 370 and Z 00