The debate regarding the problems faced by Sri Lankan women migrating abroad for employment is not a very recent, but a rather protracted one. For this reason it becomes even more interesting to study. When comparing current articles and research with equivalent work performed during the 1990’s one immediately discovers that the same problems exist and are still being reported. This in spite of massive reformations in policies by the Sri Lankan Bureau of Foreign Employment and the implementation of other, non-state bound organisations. This study aims at examining the reasons behind the absence of apparent improvement regarding migrating women’s situation. By looking at criticism stated during the 1990’s and suggested improvements; and comparing them to current implementations; certain factors emerges as more important in contributing to the problem than others. Qualitative interviews with Sri Lankan women whom recently have worked abroad and returned home have been conducted, so as to get an understanding of which policies that are truly implemented and which are merely paper decorations today. This study shows that bilateral agreements are of immense importance in the efforts of protecting migrating workers’ rights. It further highlights the lack of communication and cooperation within and between Sri Lankan organisations in dealing with the issue.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work / Laszlo Kulcsar / Nepali women are often barred from going abroad through discriminatory state policies, and the women engaging in foreign employment are generally perceived as "loose" women in Nepalese society. The female migrant workers are also represented as lacking "agency" and "victims" of sex trafficking in the Nepalese media. Despite the unfavorable socio-political contexts, a substantial number of Nepali women have engaged in transnational labor migration in the last two decades, often "illegally" by using the open Nepal-India border to reach the destination countries. The study investigates the impact of women's migration on the dominant discourse relating to female workers' sexuality and agency by analyzing the experiences of female workers from Chitwan, Nepal, who have returned after working as housemaids in the Persian Gulf. The study finds that the dominant discourse is both contested and reproduced during the emigration process and after the return of female workers. However, the dominant discourse is overall restructured in the emigrant communities due to women's participation in foreign employment and return with diverse experiences. As women's varied migration experiences are hardly reported in the national media, the discursive change in the local communities does not necessarily bring a (similar) change in the national discourse. While violence prevailed against female workers in the Gulf, most acts of violence were indirect and non-physical. The extreme forms of violence, such as physical and sexual abuses, which are usually reported in the media, were somewhat uncommon. The major complaints of the respondents were low wages, withholding and non-payment of wages, withholding of passport, extremely long hours of work, constant criticism, lack of adequate rest, and the feeling of confinement. The violence against the housemaids was largely facilitated by the sponsorship-based labor recruitment system in the Gulf that bound the migrant workers with their employers. At the micro level, the living arrangement (having to live with the employers) was also a contributing factor to violence against the female workers. The female workers who were employed in a household with multiple housemaids were less likely to experience violence than those who were the only maid in the employer's house.

La recherche se focalise sur l’étude d’un corpus composé d’œuvres littéraires françaises et de la région du Río de la Plata (Amérique du Sud), qui vont de la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle jusqu’à 2015. L’étude s’appuie aussi sur l’analyse d’images iconographiques, pour analyser l’image du personnage de l’employée domestique qui se dégage dans la convergence entre la littérature et les arts plastiques. Dans une perspective comparatiste, le travail explore les formes de la représentation de cette figure d’un point de vue stylistique, thématique et politique. Les contiguïtés entre les deux corpus nationaux montrent non seulement l’existence d’une dynamique d’échanges entre le Río de la Plata et la France en ce qui concerne les débats esthétiques et politiques, mais aussi l’existence d’un partage du sensible commun. L’étude établit une périodisation des modes de représentation du personnage, depuis son accès au rôle principal, à travers l’analyse de la construction littéraire de sa voix, de son parcours de vie, de son intimité et du regard qu’il porte sur le monde. Cette recherche se fonde sur la conviction que la domesticité est un fait social total, dont l’analyse mène à une radicale interrogation ontologique. Cela marque de son empreinte le personnage et les rapports qui se tissent autour de lui et résulte dans sa puissance politique, dont les auteurs se sont emparés. Finalement, et suivant une tradition d’études qui se font sur la longue durée et en prenant compte d’une certaine « transnationalisation » de la figure, nous entendons encourager l’étude de la domestique dans le domaine de la littérature comparée. / This research focuses on the study of a corpus composed of French literary works, as well as those from the Latin American region of Río de la Plata, ranging from the mid-nineteenth century to the year 2015. The study is also based on the analysis of some iconographic images, in order to analyse the image of the housemaid’s character that emerges in the convergence between literature and visual arts. From a comparative perspective, the work explores the forms which represent this figure from a stylistic, thematic and political point of view. Adjacencies between the two national corpora show not only the existence of exchanges between the Río de la Plata and France regarding the aesthetic and political debate, but also the existence of a common distribution of the sensible. The study establishes a periodization of the character representation modes, from the character’s access to the main role, through to the analysis of the literary construction of her voice, her course of life, her intimacy and the view she has of the world. This research is based on the belief that domestic service is a total social fact, whose analysis leads to “a radical ontological questioning”. This leaves a mark on the character and on the plot that develops around her. As a result, the authors capture an image of political power. Following on from a tradition of studies that are made in the long term and also taking into account a certain "trans-nationalisation" of the character, we intend to promote the study of housemaids and domestic service in the field of comparative literature.