More than a Prey

2023

Stories about low-income and low-skilled women who migrate to the UAE often focus on their subjugation to a system of physical abuse and cycle of poverty. Decision-makers in international migration have at times argued that women are in dire need of “protection,” which often translates into restrictive, paternalistic policies. Still, women migrate. Why do they move? How do they face the undeniable vulnerability of migrating to survive? Where are these women’s agencies?

Inspired by the traces of women who seem to have worked and lived at Mina Zayed’s warehouses, I question how we can retell female migrants’ stories in the UAE and worldwide. I reference a photo album found at the warehouse, as well as academic studies, to explore some of the ways that women build independence and community. Despite a patriarchal system that explores female bodies and limits their freedom for superficial protection, women resist, perhaps in ways that we are yet to realize.

More than a Prey, 2023, 70 x 100 cm, arduino, acrylic and collage on wood.