Negotiating Respectability: Migrant Women Workers’ Perceptions of Relationships and Sexuality in Free Trade Zones in Sri Lanka

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.