It is disheartening to note that most of the Bangladeshi women who go abroad to pursue a so-called better life fall victim to sexual abuse and exploitation by their employers.
According to a report published in this daily on Monday, around 49,924 female migrant workers returned home from 21 countries amid the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of such victims who return home every year shared their ordeals of sexual harassment, abuse and torture. Many of these women are now mentally ill experiencing horrific torture or carrying children and some even return as corpses.
Experts opine that these incidents surface after the workers have endured for a long time as they don’t have any way to act on these incidents. Awareness campaigns and enabling them to access this help are also very important.
The government should take a holistic
approach to establish standard terms
of employment for our female migrants
These directions regarding where they can get immediate help or what they can do in these situations should be repeatedly broadcast through media outlets.
As the embassies overseas lack manpower, involving the expatriates of Bengali communities as volunteers so that it becomes possible to communicate with the female migrant workers once every month.
The government along with other authorities concerned should take necessary steps to make a unit completely dedicated to women's employment abroad. We know that the local governments are very crucial for addressing issues at the grassroots level and therefore, they need to be concerned about women migration issues.
Most importantly smooth coordination is needed among the embassies in destination countries. All in all, the government should take a holistic approach to establish standard terms of employment for our female migrants.
