How are migrant women treated in Middle East?

By Jafreen Alamgir

When a child cries for food, it is a woman who works to make him or her happy. When a child laughs, it is a woman who feels that they have accomplished something. But these emotions cannot be explicitly shown or understood because it is the affection of a mother. And a woman is a mother. In order to protect her children, a mother can take any risks you ask from them without evaluating the cost and benefits of migrating to a foreign country. I am not saying that men are useless or worthless. More emphasis is being placed on the way women, especially South Asian women who are being ill- treated in countries like Middle East.

Harassment is the main thing that women encounter while working for people living in countries like Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and so on. Their employers don’t treat them properly. They are being deprived of basic human rights. They are made to stay in places where the quality of water and food is not good enough to survive. They are not paid salary in time . Their iqama are being snatched away from them and they are being trapped in houses of the owners. With insults, assaults and false allegations, they are being victims of psychological abuse.

It is sometimes argued that we need to encounter psychological abuses in order to have a practical view of the world. That is, a woman cannot expect her employer to be sweet and dedicated to her. But at least she should be at least treated like a human. She should not be made to work for more than 18 hours. That does not necessarily indicate the physical weakness of a woman, it is about her being a human, not a robot who can be made to work continuously for 24 hours. 

In the process of international migration, women may move away from situations where they are under traditional, patriarchal authority to situation in which they can exercise greater autonomy over their own lives. With the hope of fulfilling their dreams, they come abroad. And their wishes turn out to be a nightmare when they are mistreated by the employers when they are forced to have sex with the man and his acquaintances. If such cases happen, they are unable to ask for help from anyone around them. My question is why are women objectified like this? Are they no human beings like you?

Solutions only come when a person who does not just witness such cases, but use all their efforts to bring a change in the way women are viewed in the world. But I would ask more women to start a campaign that will be helpful for the governments of all countries to recognize the power of women.

Abortion regulations in Ireland:Are you ready?

Written by Jafreen Alamgir

When my parents used to give me a present during my childhood for doing well in my exams, it was a ticket to the place I desire to travel. So, isn’t it exciting when you can travel the world and explore and learn new things? But such feelings go away when you are in desperate need to go abroad.

This is what is happening to the women of Ireland. When they go abroad for abortion, they go in fear of their image in front of their society and the obstacles they might face while travelling.Many women in Ireland are unable to get access to abortions. It has been a significant issue which is less being taken into account by the government of Ireland. Abortion is the killing of child which is not born yet. Yes, may be it sounds like taking away a life of an innocent child. But it becomes crucial when she is suffering from medical problems which give her no other alternative other than abortion.

The first question is why women in Ireland aren’t given the opportunity to get access to abortion facilities as Ireland is one of the developed countries. Moreover, it is a modern knowledge economy which should have understood the importance of abortion rights for women. But the case is otherwise. Women in Ireland are not even made aware of when they should take the decision to abort despite having regular contact with gynecologists. They expect that the state is going to provide them with necessary information about abortion facilities. And the response has been inconsistent and disruptive which explains that the state barely wants to take into account of its capability for at least the provision of right information to the women of Ireland.

The second question is what obstacles women are facing when they have no other alternative other than abortion to solve the problems of pregnancy. Women might want to make decisions to abort, perhaps because they want to control the size of her family, forget the dark secret of a relationship, or when they face gynecological problems. Whatever is the issue, the matter should be kept personal since it is a matter of personal privacy and women of a developed country should not be deprived of that. Otherwise it will be too hard for the government of developing countries to understand the privilege of women who belong to their soils.

All in all, we as women should understand that we are the main contributor to the change in the way we are viewed in the society. And that is possible when we are innovative to bring up new ideas for the existence of the feminism around the world through discussing what changes we can bring to the anti-abortion movement.