Silence, sacrifice, and subordination: Unpacking the gendered migration narratives of policy actors in Malaysia

Description

Laura Foley published a 2026 study of how Malaysia's policy actors talk about women who migrate for work, especially domestic work, and how gender assumptions shape that talk. The research combined document analysis with semi-structured interviews held in 2018 with forty-one policy actors across Malaysia and the wider region. From an actor-centred angle, Foley traced the stories these officials and advocates tell about why women migrate and what should be done about them.

One narrative dominates: the migrant domestic worker as victim of abuse, needing protection, her story often folded into trafficking frames, while her labour itself stays undervalued and almost invisible. The paradox the title names is stark: women are discursively cast as silent, sacrificing, and subordinate, and the protective story flourishes. Yet migrant domestic workers remain largely unprotected in Malaysian law, policy, and practice. Narrative, Foley argues, can substitute for rights.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13544626