Women and Remittances

Today's New York Times article about women and remittances in the Gulf region made me think about some of the problems related to reporting about women.  Much of it portrays women as carrying the weight when men do not (though subtle in this article, there is still a tone that women are "fueling" remittances), and applaud women for doing so.   

I find two main issues with the article. 

First, there is no mention of the negative consequences for women (and men) who work as migrant labor.  Reports and stories about the mistreatment of men and women in the Gulf region show that many are exploited.  Many are trafficked and have to work off their debt.  In many cases, women are trafficked as sex slaves, after being promised jobs as domestic workers.  Here is a counter narrative to the one in the New York Times article. 

Second, the article does not talk about the toll on women.  It mentions how many women leave their families to send money home, but the emotional toll for doing this can be high.  With all the talk about women balancing work and family life in the US (also this), I have yet to see a worthwhile discussion about female migrants and the choices they have to make to put food on the table.