Thousands of Bangladeshi women leave the country every year in search of work abroad. Most of them work as domestic workers or garment laborers. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Jordan, and Lebanon are their main destinations. But where more than 100,000 women would migrate for work annually a decade ago, the number has now fallen by half. The lack of safe working conditions has been shrinking this labor market. Reports of physical and mental abuse, denial of medical care, being forced to work long hours, insufficient food, and even sexual harassment have been increasing abroad. These issues are discouraging women from migrating and shattering many dreams of a better life.
After her father’s death, Sharmin Sultana left for Saudi Arabia three years ago on a domestic worker’s visa to support her family. The young woman, who had little formal education, only had her younger brother and mother back home. Though she went to Saudi Arabia hoping to bring financial stability, she returned to Bangladesh on October 10, 2024. Sharmin arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) from Saudi Arabia having lost her mental stability. With help from a private organization, she returned to her family a day later. However, even after returning to her mother’s care, life for the 22-year-old has been unbearable. She often leaves home without telling anyone and behaves unusually with family members. The young woman who went abroad hoping for a better future is now undergoing psychiatric treatment.
Sharmin Sultana’s is not the only such case—many migrant women have faced the same fate. The Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET) receives countless similar complaints regularly. A research report titled “A far cry from justice for migrants,” conducted by the Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Program (OKUP), also documented the abuse and violence faced by Bangladeshi women migrants abroad.
The victims said they were often subjected to physical abuse. For minor reasons, employers would slap, punch, or kick them or beat them with belts, keys, or shoes. Some women who returned described how their hair was pulled and their heads were slammed against walls. Others had boiling water or hot oil poured on them. Some suffered broken bones after being pushed, while many endured unbearable mental torture and sexual harassment.
The OKUP study found that 94 percent of women workers who returned under special circumstances had experienced regular physical and mental abuse abroad. Forty-seven percent were subjected to sexual harassment. Even when they were sick, 97 percent were denied medical care. Eighty percent said they did not receive enough food. 82 percent were forced to work from early morning until midnight. Fifteen percent reported being locked in rooms without food or water. 97 percent said they were denied weekly days off. In addition, most women workers were not given job contracts before leaving for work abroad.
According to the Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and Training (BMET), a total of 118,088 women workers went abroad for employment in 2016, a decade ago. However, by September 2025, only 40,088 women had left for work, a drop of nearly 66 percent. In 2024, the number was 61,158. In 2023, it was 76,108, and in 2022, it was a total of 105,466. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers fell to 80,143 in 2021 and 21,934 in 2020. But in the four years before the pandemic, the annual number of women workers going abroad had always exceeded 100,000—the total was 104,786 in 2019, 101,695 in 2018, 121,925 in 2017, and 118,088 in 2016.
Data from the NGO BRAC show that over the past six years, the organization has assisted more than 100 migrant workers who had lost their mental stability, most of them women. They returned after experiencing physical or sexual abuse in the labor market. Many suffered severe trauma from overwork and low wages.
Taslima Harun from Gazipur left her two sons, eight-year-old Tamim and six-year-old Tanzim, and went to Lebanon in 2023. After working for one month and 13 days, she returned to Bangladesh in December that year, mentally unstable. She was supposed to work at a medical facility for a salary of 1,000 Lebanese lira, but was instead given a cleaning job at a private institution. There were no fixed working hours, and she faced abuse.
Her father, Harun, told Bonik Barta, “I’m in trouble with my daughter and grandsons. My daughter suffers from mental stress. She doesn’t eat properly. Her health is not good. I’m 65 years old, and I feel helpless with her situation. We also have BDT 100,000 in debt.”
Data show that many women workers, subjected to physical and mental abuse, as well as sexual harassment and other forms of mistreatment, end up taking their own lives. According to the Wage Earners’ Welfare Board, the bodies of 412 female migrant workers have been brought back to Bangladesh from different countries over the past five years, including 84 who died by suicide.
In 2021, the bodies of 49 female workers were returned, nine of whom had taken their lives. In 2022, a record 109 bodies were brought back, including 34 suicides. In 2023, of the 101 female workers who died abroad, 20 died by suicide. In 2024, the bodies of 95 women workers were returned, with 15 deaths attributed to suicide. By July 20, 2025, the bodies of 58 women workers had been brought back, six of whom had taken their lives.
Every year, migrant workers die abroad for various reasons. Alongside natural causes, accidents and suicides are frequently cited as causes of death.
According to the death certificates of Bangladeshi female workers who died abroad between 2017 and 2022, 69 percent were listed as natural deaths. However, a study by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), titled “Death of Women Migrant Workers in Destination Countries,” revealed that 48 percent of the families of deceased workers did not believe the death certificates stating natural causes.
Asif Munier, a migration and refugee affairs expert, told Bonik Barta that, in addition to stronger government oversight, labor contracts must be made more robust at the policy level. “The government has an opportunity to play a key role in bilateral discussions. If there were strong laws against the physical and mental abuse of women workers, these problems would decrease. With accountability, employers could not do whatever they wanted,” he said.
He added, “Women workers mainly go to Saudi Arabia as domestic workers. The environment, language, and nature of work there are all different. Working in homes in Bangladesh is not the same as in Saudi Arabia. Many workers face physical abuse from both the husband and wife in households. Sexual abuse comes from the men. In such situations, workers face severe mental trauma abroad. Many women workers don’t want to admit the abuse. They keep it inside, leading to serious mental health issues.”
The stories of deprivation faced by female migrant workers are being overshadowed by the sharp growth in remittances. In FY 2024-25, Bangladeshi migrants sent home a record $30.33 billion in remittances, up 26.83 percent from FY 2023–24. The upward trend continues in the current FY 2025–26. By September 24, in less than three months of the current fiscal year, $7.13 billion had already been remitted. These inflows have helped the country’s economy recover, reduced the trade deficit, and stabilized the dollar exchange rate.
Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui, Executive Director (Acting) of the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU), told Bonik Barta that female labor migration is declining due to the lack of new labor markets and insecurity at workplaces. “Many are returning home with horrific experiences from abroad. As a result, negative perceptions are forming among women, discouraging them from going overseas. In the places where women work as domestic workers, even the recruiting countries have no control over their rights or the violence they face. It is true that women workers suffer injustice and violence both inside and outside the home. Insecurity is a major issue. But the state and the private sector should have explored labor markets in countries where harassment and violence are lower. For instance, the Philippines is now sending more female workers to other professions instead of domestic work. Bangladesh has not reached that stage, which is why the situation has not improved. Other countries are trying to send workers to new labor markets, but there is no such effort in Bangladesh. As a result, female labor migration is declining overall,” she said.
She added, “Internationally, female labor migration is decreasing. In sectors from garments to manufacturing companies, women once made up 90 percent of the workforce. Now, it has fallen to 55 percent. We need large-scale research on the reasons behind this decline in female labor migration.”