The Plight of Migrant Women Workers of India During COVID-19: Looking at ‘Ghar Wapsi’ Through a Gender Lens

Abstract

The unforeseen and abrupt lockdown measures during the Covid-19 pandemic have led to the loss of jobs and back wages for migrant workers worldwide. Large-scale reverse migration of workers from countries, cities and towns has deepened the existing gender fault lines and severely constrained their agency. This chapter highlights the gender dimensions of migration encompassing women’s safety, security and integrity during the migrant worker exodus in India during the pandemic. A thematic analysis of the reports on migration during the Covid-19 pandemic brought out by various international agencies, news reports and findings from rapid assessment surveys done by multiple non-governmental organisations, along with the case studies of transnational and interstate migrant women undertaken by the authors, expose the gravity of migrant women’s issues during the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors suggest the need for gender-sensitive recovery strategies to restabilise the women migrant workforce, enabling and enhancing their productive capacities and agency.