Gender and migration policies in Asia

Abstract

This chapter examines the intra-regional migration of women in Asia by focusing on the roles of the state and market in domestic care work. First, it delineates the development of policies for migrant domestic workers in the major destination countries in East and Southeast Asia, and reveals how such policies were crafted in the context of broader economic development. Second, the chapter presents the development of bans and restrictions on women’s emigration from the migrant-sending countries, highlighting the reasons why women are treated differently from men in those emigration policies. Lastly, it examines the recent developments, including growing global movements to unite domestic workers, emerging global governance mechanisms and various local initiatives in destination countries.