Migration and Vulnerabilities: Thinking from the Situation of Migrant Women Workers in Asia

Abstract

This article will try to explore the meaning of “vulnerability” in the context of migrant women workers in Asia. Numerous cases of human rights violation on migrant women workers have been reported, and in worse cases, the lives of migrant women workers are physically at risk amid the process of migration. Referring to the feminist arguments on “vulnerability,” “paternalistic” protection policiesy toward the migrant women workers by the labor sending countries will be examined. From the discussion, the limits of the “dignity” approach and the need of a paradigm shift of host countries toward migrant workers are proposed.