Rural to Urban Migration Factors of Less-Educated Women: Evidence from Female Garment Workers in Bangladesh

Despite employment opportunities in Bangladesh, a significant number of less-educated rural women continue to migrate to urban areas each year, with the garment sector serving as their primary employment destination. This study examines the factors influencing the migration of less-educated rural women to urban centres. Through in-depth interviews with fourteen female garment workers who had migrated from rural areas, data were collected until saturation was reached. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analysed thematically. The findings indicate that migration was often a compulsion rather than a choice. Most participants had restrictions on freedom in villages that compelled them to migrate to urban areas. In addition, rural unemployment played a minor role in migration because working opportunities for less educated women in villages have been sharply increasing. The study shows that divorced and separated rural women were stigmatised as bad omens within their families and communities, subjecting them to unbearable social and familial pressure. Simultaneously, the truculent living conditions within communities and families in villages, and the intolerable torture of broken families forced them to be migrants. This study suggests that feminist migration theories offer a more relevant analytical framework compared to conventional migration theories. While rural-to-urban migration is a common phenomenon, the underlying causes and migration process signal distressing socio-cultural conditions for rural women. Post-migration, these women endure various physical and psychological hardships. It is imperative to establish institutional mechanisms ensuring gender equality in rural areas to mitigate involuntary migration.