Paper short abstract:

Using both qualitative and quantitative data collected in a small town in Senegal among men and women over 5 years, we show how a culture of international migration in this locality has affected gender relations and the conjugal experience of migrants' wives who stay and that of migrant women.

Paper long abstract:

The analysis of international migration from Senegal to Europe is generally perceived as a male activity. Mixed methods research over 5 years undertaken in a small town North West Senegal, "saturated" by out migration to Southern Europe uses qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews from men and women in 2007 and migrant women in 2012, and a quantitative household and life history survey conducted in 2012 focusing on women's life trajectories to demonstrate that Senegalese women have been migrating to neighbouring countries for decades, essentially for trade activities and that over the past two decades they have increasingly participated in the migration flows to Europe. We investigate different influences over female migrant decision making and autonomy: using the survey data we examine whether particular marital statuses appear to facilitate or constrain migration. This is then contextualised through using the qualitative data to investigate the extent to which migrant women make independent decisions to migrate and mobilize the required resources from their own social networks or if they remain dependent on male decisions and resources to leave. Non-migrant women provide a lens through which female migration is observed and understood: in particular, do stationary women aspire to migrate or transform their lives building on personal life goals? Preliminary results suggest women are torn between and ambivalent about their need to respect local norms of reproductive, productive and marital behaviour in this patriarchal society, and their desires for innovation in their lives when they observe male and female peers who are migrating.

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