Post-doc: Migration, livelihoods, gender
Two-year full-time postdoc Migration, livelihoods and SRHR: A triple case-study of young female migrants (YFMs) in Dhaka, Bangladesh
The Jahangir Nagar University (JU), Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB) and the Anthropology Department at the VU University are looking for a post-doc researcher for the two year WOTRO funded project "Migration, livelihoods and SRHR: A triple case-study of young female migrants (YFMs) in Dhaka, Bangladesh". This call pertains to the case-study of young female migrant workers in the Ready Made Garments Industry. The post-doc will be stationed in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Description of the project: Existing SRHR policies and programs in Bangladesh are predominantly geared to reducing fertility through family planning and safe motherhood. However, SRH is more than fertility and contraceptive use. An increasing number of NGOs are now working towards the improvement of adolescents' and women's SRHR in rural and urban Bangladesh. Their programs are geared towards the awareness-raising of SRR and the improvement of SRH interventions. Nonetheless, Bangladesh still has the highest fertility rate for adolescent girls in the world. The scale of gender violence is unprecedented, and (access to) SRH service is extremely limited. There is still much work needed to assure women and men of their SRHR.
This project focuses on three different groups of young female migrants (YFMs) in Dhaka: ready-made garment workers, Garo beauty parlor workers, and female sex workers. Consistent economic growth for three decades has caused a rapid increase of female participation in the workforce and rural-urban migration. A focus on these separate cases of highly vulnerable young women allows us to acquire a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of gender, age, class, ethnicity and religions, income generating activities, sexuality and migration. The project approaches SRHR as grounded and contextualized in the daily lives of YFMs. It will identify their needs, desires, knowledge, possibilities and (structural) restraints regarding SRHR. We will look at how self-determination and sexual autonomy of young (unmarried) women living and working in the urban context are enhanced or obstructed through their income-generating activities. A high degree of collaboration is expected between the three cases. The project contains different knowledge sharing and capacitating activities aimed to transform academic knowledge into policy or practical knowledge and skills. The project will use an array of qualitative methods which includes ethnographic methods and Participatory Action Research.
Research Questions:
1. How do existing national and local policies, legislation and services affect YFMs and help or obstruct them to exercise their SRHR?
2. What are the needs, desires and knowledge regarding SRHR of vulnerable female migrants?
3. How does YFMs' pre-migration situation contribute to the choices they make in their migrant trajectory?
4. How is the self-determination and autonomy regarding the sexuality of (unmarried) young women living and working in the urban context enhanced or obstructed through their positions as migrants?
5. How do the different types of income activities of this group of migrants create conditions that positively or negatively affect their sexual and reproductive health?
• Completed applications should be emailed to Meghna Guhathakurta, Ainoon Naher, Ellen Bal, and Lorraine Nencel.
