From ‘Making a Living’ to ‘Getting Ahead’: Roma Women's Experiences of Migration.

Drawing on qualitative interviews in six Roma communities from Transylvania (Romania), the paper examines women's histories of migration. It explores how gender norms and expectations intersect migration and what the perceived benefits and costs associated with mobility may be. Women's personal meanings of migration vary, from ensuring social mobility at home, to family survival. My research indicates that Roma women's migration is highly dependent on the ‘gender regime’ in their home communities. Whilst migration does not necessarily raise contestations of motherhood, migrants need to expend considerable effort to ensure a sense of respectability. The paper supports the argument that Roma women's migration is highly dependent on the ‘gender regimes’ in their home communities. Lastly, it calls for more refined policy interventions that consider the various ‘subgroups’ of women within Roma communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]