Defining Domestic Space
Missing Women in Pakistan: Causes and Policy Recommendations for the Country
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Fizza Raza
The term "missing women” refers to the deficit of women, primarily in Asia and Northern Africa which arises from the difference in treatment received by both sexes before and after birth (Sen 1990). Pakistan is one of the those countries where the issue of gender imbalance has not been studied in much detail. This paper uses data from three rounds of demographic and health surveys (DHS) to study the trend of sex ratios at birth as well as early childhood years. The latest round of DHS (2013) shows that the sex ratios at birth have become less skewed from 113.1 to 102.5. The study analyses the reasons responsible for this change. Have the sex ratios improved in reality or is it merely because of an improvement in reporting of female births? The paper then describes and analyses the causes and main reasons responsible for skewed sex ratios. Lastly, comparisons are made with the neighboring countries (China and India) who are already experiencing the same issue but at a higher magnitude, in order to study the policy recommendations to combat the issue of gender imbalance.
Unwed Motherhood in Transition : Experiences from South Korean Child Rearing by Unwed Mothers
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Boon Young Han
The intercountry adoption program has widely been described from the perspective of the receiving countries. Literature authored by adoptive parents is abundant, and in recent years adult adoptees have made important contributions through activism, the arts, and scholarly work. However, many voices from the sending countries remain unheard in the receiving countries; one essential voice missing is that of the original family. More than 91% of the children adopted from South Korea between 2008 and 2015 were born to unwed mothers. While not all South Korean intercountry adoptees since the 1950s have been born to unwed mothers, the social stigma of unwed motherhood in South Korea, does suggest that all unwed mothers who choose to rear their children, at some point have experienced discrimination. Today, a growing number of unwed mothers are able to assert their right to their children, but the pressure to give them up remains. The unwed mothers’ parents, friends as well as health professionals commonly try to convince them to relinquish their children, or before that, not carry the pregnancy to term. The struggles of South Korean unwed mothers are more than a cultural characteristic, or the result thereof, as these women’s circumstances are closely tied to the intercountry adoption program. Thus, their voices are essential to understand not only the South Korean child welfare system but also the intercountry adoption program. Drawing on in-depth interviews with child rearing unwed mothers, this paper discusses how unwed motherhood in South Korea is changing.
Gender Negotiations in Nigerian Households in Ireland
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Inga Wójcik
This paper investigates intergenerational gender negotiations in Nigerian households in Ireland. The research does not focus on ‘integration’ or ‘assimilation’ of the minority ethnic youth, but rather feelings of belonging, participation and integration on their own terms. In doing so, the research shifts away from what Nancy Lopez describes as ‘ethnicity paradigm’ where the primary objective of the study is to discover how certain, presumably inherent cultural characteristics of a given minority group either facilitate or delay integration into the mainstream society. That is, instead of asking how they assimilate, the study asks how they are racialized and gendered and how racialized and gendered experiences shape their daily lives. Echoing Yen Espiritu’s research of Filipino families in the US, this research approaches household negotiations not as a private matter, but recognizes the influence of social, historical and transnational dynamics on intergenerational relations. Thus, the study investigates how migrant families and individuals in Ireland are negotiating gender being subject to specific gendered and racialized discourses. Here, the discourses are being viewed through a historical post-colonial perspective particular to Ireland, where while the British have successfully constructed the Irish as a subordinate race, the Irish have been significantly involved in the British ‘civilising missions’ in Africa, including Nigeria. The processes of both being colonised and contributing to colonisation led to specific ideologies of gender, Irishness and the ‘Other’. This paper examines the role of these historical colonial dynamics on contemporary migration in Ireland.
