African and Black Diaspora
Volume 11, Issue 1, 2018, Pages 20-32

Rethinking the future-seeking narrative of child migration: the case of Ethiopian adolescent domestic workers in the Middle East (Article)

Jones N.* , Presler-Marshall E. , Emirie G. , Tefera B.
  • a Social Development, Overseas Development Institute, London, United Kingdom
  • b Independent Consultant, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
  • c Department of Social Anthropology, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • d Independent Consultant, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Recent research on child migration has largely departed from the early trafficking narrative and has tended to highlight young people’s agency and the ways in which children’s migration can play a key role in their ‘future-seeking’. While we acknowledge that Ethiopian girls migrating to the Middle East in order to undertake domestic work primarily move voluntarily for economic reasons, our research–which used a multi-layered, qualitative research approach with girls and their families in the West Gojjam and North Wollo Zones of the Amhara National Regional State–found that the financial, physical, and psychological costs of such migration can far outweigh the benefits. Indeed, we conclude that the earlier trafficking narrative may, in this case, represent the most appropriate lens through which to view girls’ choices and experiences. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Author Keywords

Migration domestic work Adolescent girls Ethiopia Human trafficking

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85023180973&doi=10.1080%2f17528631.2017.1342983&partnerID=40&md5=2336fcc11d6110f13be436f0abf4af4b
DOI: 10.1080/17528631.2017.1342983
ISSN: 17528631
Original Language: English