Migrant Girls in Bangladesh and Ethiopia

SÉMINAIRE/ SEMINAR

CFEE Seminar on Contemporary Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa (2015-2016)

1^ère séance / 1^st session : Time to look at girls: Migrants in Bangladesh and Ethiopia, par/by Katarzyna E. GRABSKA et/and Marina de REGT

Projection du documentaire / Screening of the documentary “Time to look at girls: Migrants in Bangladesh and Ethiopia” (2015, 31 mn), réalisé par / directed by Marco Speroni, produit sous la direction scientifique de / produced and researched by Katarzyna E. GRABSKA, Nicoletta DEL FRANCO, et/and Marina de REGT.

Suivie par un échange avec / Followed by a discussion with Katarzyna E. GRABSKA et/and Marina de REGT

Mardi 20 octobre 2015 (17h-18h15) / Tuesday, October 20^th 2015 (5 – 6:15 pm). Lieu / Venue : Bibliothèque d’études éthiopiennes Berhanou Abebe (CFEE) / Berhanou Abebe Library of Ethiopian Studies (CFEE).

The increasing number of girls who move to cities is a momentous global change. Why are adolescent girls migrating and what happens to them? How are their families and close ones affected? What are the constraints and opportunities linked to migration for adolescent girls?

Bangladesh and Ethiopia are two examples of countries where girls’ independent migration is on the rise. This film explores the circumstances, decision-making, experiences and consequences of migration for adolescent girls in Bangladesh and Ethiopia. It is based on a research project “Time to look at girls: adolescent girls’ migration and development” (January 2014-December 2015), that explores the links between migration of adolescent girls and economic, social and political factors that trigger their movements. It shows the agency and choices being made by adolescent girls in their diverse migration experiences.

More migrants move within their own country or region than migrate to Northern countries. Bangladesh and Ethiopia have been experiencing increasing high rates of the migration of adolescent girls to work. In Bangladesh they are found for example in garment and other manufacturing industries; working as maids; or in beauty parlours. In Ethiopia, migrant girls are mainly escaping early marriages, seeking better living conditions, or aspiring to continue their education. Most of them take up paid work as maids or sex workers.

The film is based on four parallel stories about the trajectories of migration of adolescent girls in Bangladesh and in Ethiopia. In Bangladesh, the film portrays Lota and Sharmeen who are employed in garment factories. In Ethiopia, the documentary follows the lives of Tigist and Helen, two internal migrant girls, who end up in sex work. This beautifully shot film provides space for the powerful voices of the migrant girls who speak about their own circumstances, experiences, dreams for the future.

Breaking away from the dominant focus on girls as victims of trafficking, this film gives evidence of the resilience, creativity and agency of young migrants girls who faced with difficult choices.

The film is based on research funded by the Swiss Network of International Studies, Girl Effect Ethiopia, Terre des Hommes Federation, University of Sussex, UK and the Feminist Review Trust.

The speakers

Katarzyna Grabska (PhD) is a Project Coordinator at the Global Migration Centre at the Graduate Institute of International Relations and Development Studies in Geneva. Her research focuses on social transformations in the context of forced displacement and return among southern Sudanese refugees. She is particularly interested in intersections of power, gender identities and gender and generational relations in forced displacement situations and the impact of (forced) migration on youth.

Marina de Regt (PhD) is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam. She is specialized in gender, labour, migration and development in the Middle East and North Africa. She worked for a number of years in development projects in Yemen (1991-1997), after which she returned to academia. Her current research focuses on migration between Yemen and Ethiopia.

Photo: Riccardo Russo.