Health Care for Women International
Volume 35, Issue 6, 2014, Pages 658-676

Negotiating Respectability: Migrant Women Workers' Perceptions of Relationships and Sexuality in Free Trade Zones in Sri Lanka (Article)

Jordal M.* , Wijewardena K. , Öhman A. , Essén B. , Olsson P.
  • a International Maternal and Child Health (IMCH), Department of Women and Children's Health, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
  • b Department of Community Medicine, Sri Jayawardenapura University, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
  • c Umeå Centre for Gender Studies; Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden
  • d International Maternal and Child Health (IMCH), Department of Women and Children's Health, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
  • e International Maternal and Child Health (IMCH), Department of Women and Children's Health, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden

Abstract

Migration has implications for women's sexual and reproductive health and rights. Our purpose with this study was to explore unmarried migrant women's perceptions of relationships and sexuality in the context of Sri Lankan Free Trade Zones. Sixteen semi-structured qualitative interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. We found that the women's perceptions were influenced by gendered hegemonic notions of respectability and virginity. Complex gender relations both worked in favor of and against women's sexual and reproductive health and rights. Programs for improvement of migrant women's health should be informed by contextualized analysis of gender relations with its various dimensions and levels. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

urban population perception Interpersonal Relations psychological aspect Single Person interpersonal communication human Negotiating sexuality middle aged Women's Rights rural population ethnology family size qualitative research human relation Sri Lanka interview Humans Interviews as Topic female Article adult migration Transients and Migrants
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84901691869&doi=10.1080%2f07399332.2013.862799&partnerID=40&md5=118633ce3df4250ef808c394b21fe8e7
DOI: 10.1080/07399332.2013.862799
ISSN: 07399332
Cited by: 5
Original Language: English