Return of International Female Domestic Workers and Their Reintegration: A Study of Six Villages in Kerala, India

Reshmi R.S., International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Sayeed Unisa, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The present paper, based on primary data collected from six villages in Kerala, focuses upon return migration and reintegration of women domestic workers who migrated internationally. The analysis reveals that the major reason for return was related to health. While a substantial proportion had returned because of unfavourable conditions they had to face abroad such as non-payment of salary, and verbal, physical and sexual abuse, some others had returned because of other familial reasons such as children’s education and other family responsibilities. About three-fourths of the migrants had faced financial stringency after return and some of them faced some kind of tensions in the family because of their return. A large proportion of them wanted to migrate in the future and the intention of future movement was found to be higher among women who had faced some kind of problems in the family because of their return.