The paper analyses policies and instruments related to migration and their implications on Nepali women migrant workers. It acknowledges that a majority of Nepali women migrants are employed in the informal sector, mainly the domestic service sector and argues that the government’s restrictive policies on women’s migration not only limits women’s employment choices but also adversely affects the national and household economy, to which women migrants contribute. As a result of the protectionist policies against women, many women migrant workers opt to migrate through unofficial channels that increase their vulnerabilities to exploitation, both during the journey and at the destinations. The paper argues that the government and non-government actors must work towards bringing out policies that ensure safe migration and broaden women’s economic choices such that women become recognised as economic contributors and catalysts of social change.

Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, United Nations Development Fund for Women, and SAMANATA. 2003. Kathmandu: Ministry of Labour and Transport Management, United Nations Development Fund for Women and SAMANATA.