Women's agency during the COVID-19 pandemic in the absence of male migrants: changing gender roles and social relations

Abstract

This article is an account of the expression of women’s agency during the COVID-19 pandemic in the absence of male migrants and the subsequent changes in gender roles and social relations in a patriarchal Muslim society in rural Bangladesh. In doing so, the study explores the patterns of local and transborder networks of women during the pandemic and their strategies for household survival amid hardship. The study is based on 25 in-depth interviews, 10 life history interviews and 3 informal group discussions with women and men from migrant and returned migrant households. The findings of the study indicate that although there is no significant change in the roles of women in extended or joint households, some women in nuclear households are engaged in income-generating activities and are active for the survival of household members during the COVID-19 pandemic whereas in some exceptional cases, women consider the time as an opportunity to increase the household income by applying their intelligence and wisdom. The study follows intersectional and post-structural approaches and suggests that the pandemic period creates a situation, in which some women in migrant households get the advantages to widen their room for maneuver within patriarchal social codes. The study thus contributes to the field of migration and feminism