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For Bhutanese women, working in the alcohol industry strikes a balance between economic and gender vulnerabilities.
Women spin prayer wheels at a Buddhist temple in Bhutan.
Bhutan is the most mountainous country in the world, judging by the percentage of land mass covered by mountains. The strip of plain extends southwards, on the border of the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam. It is on this flat land, which stretches across several Dzongkhags (districts), that most of Bhutan’s industries and factories are located.
We refer to one such factory as the “Himalayan Distillery. “The liquor produced here is made from Himalayan spring water and its final products, known under other brand names, dominate the domestic market. Most of those who work in this factory are single immigrant women. .
A 2011 Asian Development Bank report stated that “the poorest members of Bhutanese society are women who head rural families due to divorce or widowhood. Although their families’ survival depends on their earning potential, their employment opportunities are limited. The report adds that the “low levels of schooling among rural women” further worsen their difficult situation. Single female-headed families in rural Bhutan are known to be economically vulnerable.
Almost a decade and a half has passed since the publication of this report, and the future era has been marked by a sharp increase in internal migration in Bhutan. Single rural women (whether single, divorced or widowed) and people with a low educational level are part of this report. Trend. In the southern trade belt, the Himalayan Distillery is a symbol of hope, offering employment opportunities and monetary independence to marginalized teams made up mostly of poorly educated women.
According to the director of one plant, of the almost 400 existing workers, around 70% are women. This gender distribution is notable because it contrasts with the male-dominated workforce at other plants, such as those that generate metals and chemicals. The majority of these workers are single women.
The factory prefers to hire single women because they are considered more agile in their work hours, which adds to their willingness to work nights and work overtime. The nature of the paints (basically the packaging, but also the cleanliness, quality and management) is also considered to be suitable for women. Above all, the factory does not require any formal qualifications and therefore attracts women with little education.
Many employees interpret the plant’s preference for hiring single women as a form of generosity. and 10,000 Bhutanese ngultrum (about $95 to $120) per month. Although it is a low salary in Bhutan, it is particularly higher than the expected source of income in his native village, mainly in agriculture.
Migrant staff rent accommodation. The houses are simple, with rusty corrugated sheet metal roofs, asymmetrical floors and an abnormal water supply. Bathrooms will have to be shared between residents, which rarely makes it difficult to maintain hygiene.
Due to similar limitations to toilets and water facilities, women are forced to shower in open spaces near public water taps. This compromises their privacy and makes them vulnerable. Female factory employees complain about the occasional suggestive and sarcastic remarks hurled at them by passers-by while they shower.
On the other hand, hotels are considered affordable: the rent is around 2,000 ngultrum, not counting water or electricity. The wage and housing package provides women with a much-desired sense of livelihood security, which staff highlighted in interviews. Thus, to some extent, his employment at the Himalayan distillery helped alleviate his past economic vulnerabilities.
However, their standing as unmarried migrant staff at the Himalayan distillery also comes with a new set of vulnerabilities, most of them highly sexist. The lack of privacy in the bathroom and the sarcastic comments that result from it are just one example. Within society In general, single distillery workers are now related to the product they help produce: alcohol.
Although alcohol consumption is widely accepted in Bhutanese society and alcohol has cultural and ritual significance, its consumption is valued differently for men and women. Women’s public relationship with alcohol, whether as consumers or, in our case, as producers, invites social labeling, negative stereotypes and stigma. It is broadly related to an alleged ethical laxity, where migrant female factory staff are presumed to be of “weak character” and “sexually available. “
Pema is a 44-year-old former distillery worker who now runs a small grocery store. She shared her experience of being judged by the company for racing at the Himalayan distillery. He noted that the corporate bus that travels to and from the distillery is called a maal gari, which loosely translates to “freight train,” a slang word to describe women who can be possessed or desired seamlessly through men.
In fact, one of the reasons few married women are hired at the Himalayan distillery is that their husbands actively discourage, or even prohibit, them from taking employment at the factory because of the social stigma against it. Surrounded by. Single female factory staff diagnose a paradox in their treatment. They point out that the same men who one day speak disparagingly of them try to convince them to marry the next day, promising to be smart parents to their children and provide them with better livelihoods. However, most staff perceive these proposals to be authentic and forget about them.
Wangmo, a 20-year-old single worker, admitted that her relatives in the village were strongly opposed to her joining the factory. They engaged in the social stigma faced by women hired in the alcohol industry. Despite this resistance, Wangmo felt compelled to settle for the position because, as the eldest daughter, she had to take on monetary responsibilities, specifically after her parents’ divorce.
Wangmo dropped out of his studies when he was in 10th grade and it was the Himalayan Distillery that presented him with an assignment without completing his studies. He can now send cash to his father as normal, as well as some cash to his brothers.
Wangmo is well aware of the gossip and negative stereotypes that exist about her and other workers at the factory. However, he also stressed that his work in this factory provides him with the much-desired economic security and independence, and that he has also made many friends in the factory, with whom he socializes after working hours.
Overall, Wangmo says his lifestyle has improved thanks to his work at the Himalayan distillery.
Of course, there are internal dynamics and hierarchies within the female workforce. Teams of different ages express other interests. There are cases where regularized staff (permanent staff) assert their dominance over newly hired informal staff, taking on responsibilities within the processing. plant for themselves and their friends, thus restricting opportunities for informal staff.
Similarly, when traveling by bus to or from work, permanent employees secure seats for their friends by booking them with their personal belongings, leaving no room for informal staff. The latter could even be asked to leave the seats they had controlled to obtain, which gives rise to discussions.
Another paradox is that for many Himalayan distillery staff, the social judgments they face in relation to their employment constitute their immediate victimization through alcohol. Some staff members shared their reports beyond domestic violence and neglect through their husbands, related to alcohol. They talk about the role of alcohol in their divorce, even in their widowhood.
These women now find themselves generating precisely what in the past had particularly contributed to their economic vulnerability. But if alcohol was their path to economic security this time, that same alcohol also created new gender-related vulnerabilities for them.
Sonam, a divorcee, told how she married an alcoholic at a very young age. “My husband would come home and abuse me. Because of this constant suffering, I suffered from depression and began to suffer from migraines. There was a time when I had to take antidepressant pills to sleep at night. After migrating here, things improved, but I still have poor health often.
Due to her health problems, Sonam only earns between 3,000 and 4,000 ngultrum a month. As a “casual worker”, the factory will pay her for the number of shifts she works. This source of income slightly covers the house rent. .
The factory’s casual staff, like Sonam, receive their salaries in cash. Many of them are not familiar with mobile banking. They lack savings, as their salaries barely cover housing, living expenses and cash for their children who are in boarding schools.
Most single women with young children emphasize the importance of their children’s schooling. Sonam, who has two children, insists that they complete their studies at least up to grade 12. She is illiterate but understands the price of schooling, especially since she suffers for it. In the future, Sonam needs to learn how to drive and open a kitchen store. But her illiteracy stopped her. She is worried about not knowing how much money she receives from clients and how to calculate how much money she returns.
When we asked her about her other aspirations, Sonam said she was keen to stop over at Dochula, a pilgrimage site that has lately been high on her bucket list. It is surprising to know that despite having worked in Thimphu for several years before migrating south, Sonam never had the opportunity to stopover at Dochula, which is just a 45-minute drive from ThimphuArray. This illustrates how Sonam has sacrificed her non-public aspirations due to the economic limitations of her country.
Sonam found solace in the fact that she had visited Buddha Point and her stay in Thimphu, not once nor twice.
Overall, the Himalayan Distillery has become a source of employment for single female migrant workers, adding to those with little or no formal education, offering them the opportunity to alleviate their economic vulnerabilities. However, employment in the Himalayan distillery exposes them to gender-related vulnerabilities.
They suffer from negative labels and stereotypes, as well as insufficient housing and water materials that compromise their privacy. These difficulties are compounded by their illiteracy and lack of monetary knowledge. The internal festival and the department among women in the office increase the complexity.
However, many single migrant workers also demonstrate a remarkable sense of resilience. Like Soman, these women provide for themselves, fight for a greater future and the education of their children.
The life stories and stories of the unmarried migrant staff at the Himalayan distillery offer a poignant representation of the complex interplay between economic and gender vulnerabilities. Although those vulnerabilities overlap everywhere, whether in Bhutan’s rural and urban spaces, for many single employees of the Himalayan distillery, their migration to the southern plains and subsequent employment in the alcohol industry are experienced, to some extent, as an industrial exchange.
Funding for this study came from the CLImate Adaptation and Resilience (CLARE) program funded through the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC). as a component of the Successful Pathways for Migration as Adaptation (SUCCESS) coordinated through the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). The partial investment came from the ICIMOD core fund provided through other member countries.
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Bhutan is the most mountainous country in the world, judging by the percentage of land covered by mountains. The strip of plain extends southwards, bordering the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam. It is on this flat land, which stretches across several Dzongkhags (districts), that most of Bhutan’s industries and factories are located.
We refer to one such factory as the “Himalayan Distillery. “The liquor produced here is made from Himalayan spring water and its best products, known under other brands, dominate the domestic market. Most of those who work in this factory are single immigrant women.
A 2011 Asian Development Bank report found that “the poorest members of Bhutanese society are women who head rural families due to divorce or widowhood. Even if their families’ survival depends on their potential source of income, their employment opportunities are limited. The report adds that “rural women’s low levels of schooling” further aggravate their plight. Female-headed households in rural Bhutan are known as economically vulnerable.
Almost a decade and a half has passed since the publication of this report, and the future era has been marked by a sharp increase in internal migration in Bhutan. Single rural women (whether single, divorced or widowed) and people with a low educational level are part of this report. Trend. In the southern trade belt, the Himalayan Distillery is a symbol of hope, offering employment opportunities and monetary independence to marginalized teams made up mostly of poorly educated women.
According to one factory manager, of the nearly 400 workers, about 70 percent are women. This gender divide is notable because it contrasts with the male-dominated workforce in other factories, such as those that generate metals and chemicals. The vast majority of those workers are single women.
The factory prefers to hire single women because they are seen as more agile in their working hours, which adds to their willingness to work nights and work overtime. The nature of the paintings (basically the packaging, but also the cleanliness, quality and management) is also considered to be suitable for women. Above all, the factory does not require any formal degree and therefore attracts women with little education.
Many employees interpret the plant’s preference for hiring single women as a form of generosity. and 10,000 Bhutanese ngultrum (about $95 to $120) per month. Although it is a low salary in Bhutan, it is particularly higher than the expected source of income in his native village, mainly in agriculture.
Migrant staff rent accommodation. The houses are simple, with rusty corrugated sheet metal roofs, asymmetrical floors and an abnormal water supply. Bathrooms will have to be shared between residents, which rarely makes it difficult to maintain hygiene.
Due to limitations similar to those on bathrooms and water facilities, women are forced to shower in open spaces near public water taps. This compromises their privacy and makes them vulnerable. Factory employees complain about the occasional suggestive and sarcastic comments made by passers-by while they shower.
On the other hand, hotels are considered affordable: the rent is around 2,000 ngultrum, not counting water or electricity. The wage and housing package provides women with a much-desired sense of livelihood security, which staff highlighted in interviews. Thus, to some extent, his employment at the Himalayan distillery helped alleviate his past economic vulnerabilities.
However, her prestige as a single migrant staff at the Himalayan distillery also comes with a new set of vulnerabilities, most of them highly sexist. The lack of privacy in the bathroom and the sarcastic comments that result are just one example. Within society at large, single distillery workers are now associated with the product they help produce: alcohol.
Although alcohol consumption is widely accepted in Bhutanese society and alcohol has cultural and ritual significance, its consumption is assessed differently for men and women. Women’s public agreement with alcohol, whether as consumers or, in our case, as producers, leads to social labelling. negative stereotypes and stigmatization. It is broadly related to alleged ethical laxity, meaning that migrant factory staff are presumed to have a “weak character” and “sexually available. “
Pema is a 44-year-old former distillery worker who now runs a small grocery store. She shared her experience of being judged by the company for racing at the Himalayan distillery. He noted that the corporate bus that travels to and from the distillery is called a maal gari, which loosely translates to “freight train,” a slang word to describe women who can be possessed or desired seamlessly through men.
In fact, one of the reasons few married women are hired at the Himalayan distillery is that their husbands actively discourage, or even prohibit, them from settling for a task at the factory due to the social stigma surrounding it. a paradox in their treatment. They point out that the same men who speak of them in a derogatory way one day try to convince them to marry the next day, promising to be smart parents to their children and provide them with better livelihoods. , the personal maxim perceives that these proposals are not authentic and forgets about them.
Wangmo, a 20-year-old single worker, admitted that her relatives in the village were strongly opposed to her joining the factory. They engaged in the social stigma faced by women hired in the alcohol industry. Despite this resistance, Wangmo felt compelled to settle for the position because, as the eldest daughter, she had to take on monetary responsibilities, specifically after her parents’ divorce.
Wangmo dropped out of his studies when he was in 10th grade and it was the Himalayan Distillery that presented him with an assignment without completing his studies. He can now send cash to his father as normal, as well as some cash to his brothers.
Wangmo is well aware of the negative gossip and stereotypes that exist about her and other factory workers. However, she also noted that her work at this factory provides her with the much-desired economic security and independence, and that she has also made many friends at the factory, with whom she socializes after hours.
Overall, Wangmo says his lifestyle has improved thanks to his work at the Himalayan distillery.
Of course, there are internal dynamics and hierarchies within the female workforce. Teams of different ages express other interests. There are cases where regularized staff (permanent staff) assert dominance over newly hired informal staff, assuming responsibilities within processing. plant for themselves and their friends, thus restricting opportunities for informal staff.
Similarly, on bus trips to and from work, permanent staff secure seats for their friends by reserving them and their belongings, leaving no room for casual staff. The latter could even be asked to give up seats they have controlled to obtain, leading to arguments.
Another paradox is that for many Himalayan distillery staff, the social judgments they face in relation to their employment constitute their immediate victimization through alcohol. Some staff members shared their reports beyond domestic violence and neglect through their husbands, related to alcohol. They talk about the role of alcohol in their divorce, even in their widowhood.
These women now find themselves generating precisely what in the past had particularly contributed to their economic vulnerability. But while alcohol was their path to economic security this time, that same alcohol also created new gender-related vulnerabilities for them.
Sonam, a divorcee, told how she married an alcoholic at a very young age. “My husband would come home and abuse me. Because of this constant suffering, I suffered from depression and began to suffer from migraines. There was a time when I had to take antidepressant pills to sleep at night. After migrating here, things got better, but I still have poor health often.
Due to her health problems, Sonam only earns between 3,000 and 4,000 ngultrum a month. As a “casual worker”, the factory will pay her for the number of shifts she works. This source of income slightly covers the house rent. .
Temporary factory staff, such as Sonam, receive their salary in cash. Many of them are unaware of mobile banking. They lack savings, as their salaries slightly cover housing, living expenses, and cash for their children who read in boarding schools.
Most single women with young children emphasize the importance of their children’s schooling. Sonam, who has two children, insists that they finish their studies at least until grade 12. She is illiterate but understands the price of schooling, especially as she suffers for it. In the future, Sonam needs to learn how to drive and open a kitchen store. But her illiteracy slowed her down. You worry about not knowing how much money you receive from customers and how to calculate how much money you pay back.
When asked about her other aspirations, Sonam said she was willing to stop at Dochula, a pilgrimage site that has lately been among the most sensible on her bucket list. It is surprising to learn that despite having worked in Thimphu for several years before migrating south, Sonam never had the opportunity to stop at Dochula, which is only a 45-minute drive from ThimphuArray. This illustrates how Sonam has sacrificed its non-public aspirations due to its country’s economic limitations.
Sonam found comfort in the fact that she had visited Buddha Point during her stay in Thimphu, not once or twice.
Overall, the Himalayan Distillery has become a source of employment for single female migrant workers, adding to those with little or no formal education, offering them the opportunity to mitigate their economic vulnerabilities. However, employment at the Himalayan Distillery exposes them to gender inequalities. related vulnerabilities.
They revel in negative labels and stereotypes, as well as insufficient housing and water materials that compromise their privacy. These difficulties are compounded by their illiteracy and lack of monetary knowledge. Festival internal and department between women in the office additional burden to complexity.
However, many single migrant workers also demonstrate a remarkable sense of resilience. Like Soman, these women provide for themselves, fight for a greater future and the education of their children.
The life stories and stories of the unmarried migrant staff at the Himalayan distillery offer a poignant representation of the complex interplay between economic and gender vulnerabilities. Although those vulnerabilities overlap everywhere, whether in Bhutan’s rural and urban spaces, for many single employees of the Himalayan distillery, their migration to the southern plains and subsequent employment in the alcohol industry are experienced, to some extent, as an industrial exchange.
Funding for this study came from the CLImate Adaptation and REsilience (CLARE) program funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the United Kingdom and the International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada as part of Successful Action Pathways for Migration as Adaptation. (SUCCESS) coordinated through the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Partial investment came from ICIMOD’s central fund provided through various member countries.
Bhutan is the world’s most mountainous country, when measured by the percentage of the landmass covered in mountains. The only strip of flatland lies to the south, bordering the Indian states of West-Bengal and Assam. It is on this flatland, stretching across multiple Dzongkhags (districts) where most of Bhutan’s industries and factories are located.
We refer to one such factory as the “Himalayan Distillery. “The liquor produced here is made from Himalayan spring water and its final products, known under other brand names, dominate the domestic market. Most of those who work in this factory are single immigrant women. .
Samiksha Rai is a researcher at the Himalayan Center for Environmental Humanities, Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan. She has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management and specializes in migration, gender and climate change.
Jelle J. P. Wouters is Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan, and President of the Himalaya Center for Environmental Humanities. He is the editor of 11 11 books, including “In the Shadows of Naga Insurgency” (Oxford University Press, 2018), “Vernacular Politics in Northeast India” (Oxford University Press, 2022) and “The Routledge Companion to Northeast India. “India” (Routledge, 2022).