While the broad literature on migration documents women’s vulnerabilities and men’s occupational risks in Bangladesh, relatively few comparative studies have systematically traced how labour markets, housing, and mobility regimes jointly and differentially structure these dimensions of vulnerability and risk. The extant comparative studies, at best, isolate certain sectors or identities and do not engage with how one dimension of vulnerability may connect with another. This paper fills this gap by interrogating the gendered dimensions of survival strategies employed by internal migrants in metropolitan Bangladesh and seeks to understand if urban precarity is a common or a gender-structured experience. Based on comprehensive qualitative interviews among twenty respondents, it conceptualises survival through two patterned orientations, “fight” and “manage”, to capture differential configurations of risk, autonomy, and compliance. Using thematic analysis within the frameworks of feminist political economics and intersectionality, this study shows that while men typically maintain higher levels of autonomy and bargaining power, women face much higher risks of exploitation and mobility constraints. Which, coupled with relational responsibilities, further compound the challenges of survival. With parallel narratives of men and women, this paper argues that migration precarity is not an individual phenomenon but a structurally gendered one shaped by gender norms and labour market segmentation. By focusing on mechanisms rather than outcomes, the paper advances migration scholarship and argues for integrated policy approaches addressing labour protection, housing security, and spatial rights.

DOI : http://doi.org/10.71253/jsd-iswr.dec25.34.1.07

Authors : Dr. Bushra Zaman

Keywords : Female migrants; Male migrants; Gendered precarity; Urban survival; Labour access.