The feminisation of migration? A critical overview

The opening by chapter by Tittensor and Mansouri discusses the phenomenon of feminised migration from a number of inter-linked perspectives. The chapter explores the key historical drivers of women migration from both within sending nations as well as receiving societies. The key to understanding increased prominence of female migration is the evolving nature of gender relations across the spectrum as well as the critical role played by local, national, regional and transnational socio-economic factors in creating the need for a women-centric form of human mobility. Alongside this, the chapter also explores the issue of agency in relation to female migrants in both the Indonesian and Mexican contexts and how this is often masked by discourses of exploitation and victimisation.