A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2004

Along with the new technologies development in the rice processing sector in rural area, landless women rice processing workers are jobless in the richer households those who are paid by rice and migrated to the cities by push fully for earning cash income of their changing lifestyle in urban industrial zone. In the process of capitalist transformation technology is changed and household based economy transformed to capitalist economy and requires migrating and situates them in a much worse location in the relation of production. It increases their exposure to hazardous health conditions in the urban living environment and occupational exposure in rice production and finally because of new cash imperatives they have to take on second job with a new and even worse set of health conditions. This study focuses upon the changing health consequences in urban industrial zone for cash economy and women rice processing workers not do just one job but two jobs. The new production scenario expresses them more health risk both traditional and modern contexts. In urban industrial zone women rice processing workers are more responsible for their family expenses and they are not equally treated in terms of wages in patriarchal society. That's why they cannot accumulate their savings. In urban industrial zone, women workers are discriminated in the workplace and discriminated by husband also. They get nothing except "pride" in having husband. Women rice processing workers are more vulnerable to sexual harassment in urban slum area and more health risks behavior like RTI, STD, and HIV/AIDS because of doing secondary hazardous job for cash earning of their competitive and expensive lifestyle and poorer living condition in urban industrial zone. Recommendation for reducing health hazards for rice mill workers in urban slum area are provided as support mechanism and recommendation for further research that will enhance to examine the social safety nets for poor women and their children in cities.