Acceptance and impact of Technology-Enabled Care (TEC) among community-dwelling older adults: A rapid review.

Migration is a social and economic force that reshapes family structures, gender relations, and community norms. Male labour migration, especially in low- and middle-income countries, often leads to long spousal separation and shifts how households make decisions []. This separation can weaken closeness and intimacy in a marriage []. At the same time, it changes what is expected of the wife left behind: she takes on more unpaid labour and domestic duties, but she also gains more room to make decisions in the home. These two outcomes, the added burden and the added autonomy, are distinct. Burden refers to the rise in unpaid work and household duties; autonomy refers to a woman’s actual decision-making power. Male absence makes both possible at once, because it redistributes roles within structural limits that remain firmly in place. In India, women are more likely to have a say in daily cooking decisions, spending on expensive household items, and decisions about their children’s marriage and healthcare when their husbands are away []. In Mozambique, women whose husbands have migrated report greater freedom to visit friends and family, look for work, travel to the city or district capital, and get tested for HIV []. Across these contexts, men’s migration tends to increase their spouses’ independence and decision-making power []. This is a meaningful shift in countries where women have historically held less personal autonomy under patriarchal norms [], with less access to resources and less control over decisions than men [, , ]. But this body of research stops at household decision-making Sexual autonomy refers to a person’s ability to negotiate safer sex, reduce unwanted sexual contact, make informed and voluntary decisions about sexual activity, and exercise control over their own body and reproductive choices [, , ]. It is widely recognised as a basic human right and a core part of sexual and reproductive health and well-being []. Women’s sexual autonomy remains a serious concern in patriarchal settings, where social norms often limit it directly. Studies show that women with greater sexual autonomy are more likely to negotiate condom use, use contraception, and avoid negative reproductive health outcomes such as STIs and unwanted pregnancy [, ] Power dynamics within sexual relationships are shaped by conventional ideas about masculinity, femininity, and gender inequality more broadly []. Migration adds another layer to this: some studies find that male out-migration increases women’s autonomy at the household level, but this does not automatically extend to sexual autonomy — patriarchal norms, social surveillance, and economic dependency on the husband can persist regardless of his physical absence [, , ].