In the first such study of the Constitution, legislation, schemes, policies, etc, vis-à-vis the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has concluded the rights of women remain restricted in all spheres of

“Women hold up half the sky”, the Chinese saying goes. But we need to recognize that it is not an equal world for women, globally and in India.

Social inclusion has become a buzz word in development discourse in recent years. The Twelfth Five Year Plan as approved by the National Development Council has advisedly added a new chapter under the caption social inclusion avowedly making it a national objective.

Unlike Sri Lanka, the Philippines or Indonesia, the major structuring contexts of international migration from Kerala / India do not enable the mobility of less skilled women workers, yet it has been observed that they are a prominent presence in some Middle Eastern destinations

This Working Paper embodies the results of the Kerala Migration Survey (KMS) 2011. It is the fifth in the series of comprehensive studies on international and internal migration from Kerala being undertaken by the Centre for Development Studies since 1998.

Restrictions imposed by the Government of India on the emigration of women in ‘unskilled’ categories such as domestic work are framed as measures intended to protect women from exploitation.