Mobility,‘Housegirls’ and Emerging Opportunities: Kenyan Villages to Cities and the Middle East

Abstract

In sub-Saharan African countries with remarkable economic growth and modernisation, the phenomenon of migration is becoming increasingly intense because urban employment, educational opportunities and the convenience of living attract youth in rural areas. This article is focusing on both migrant housegirls within Kenya, and migrant housegirls from Kenya to the Middle East. In traditional patrilineal village societies in East Africa, a woman’s opportunity to leave the village is either to attend school, get married or find a job. This article presents several cases of women who are marginalised and have no place in the patriarchal social system, who take up the position of feminised housegirls as domestic workers in the country or in the Middle East for the sake of their poor families, especially their own children, and as a result, support patrilineal families and patriarchal society. Even women who become housegirls domestically may develop pseudo-family relationships. However, for housegirls in the Middle East, it is very difficult because of the many conditions in which employment relationships do not allow for the development of relationships.