The 2012 Delhi Nirbhaya sexual assault and the protests around it suddenly visibilized the phenomena of young and single migrant women in the city spaces and the metropolises. Although such migration has been on rise since the last decade the debate on women’s place in urban India in general and migrant women in particular gained momentum during and after the massive protests. At this juncture, every metropolis including Hyderabad revealed itself to be either unaware of their presence, thoughtless about their needs if not deeply prejudiced about the place and space for migrant women. It is in this background that we took up this project to map the lives of young migrated women in the city of Hyderabad.

We set out to understand the conditions in which women are migrating to the city of Hyderabad for education and employment and map the pathways of women from different socio-economic backgrounds. We chose not to focus on the danger and risk that young women face in urban public spaces but on how the city enables a re-formation of migrant women’s sexuality, aspirations, conduct and movement; the kind of negotiations that the migration to a metropolis entails for young women and the networks and institutions that mediate them in finding a place in the metropolis.

Hyderabad, with its long history of migrations, its location in India’s industrial development trajectory as well as the centrality it occupies in the regional development processes has become a coveted place to migrate for work in the last three decades. As a centre for engineering, technology, medical and humanities education, health care and as a hub of information and technology has also made it attractive for migrants from different strata, also from interior Telangana, Andhra Pradesh as well as other states. In the stories from the migrant women, Hyderabad is a silent character, but its background is crucial to understand the place it occupies in their desires, dreams and aspirations. For this study, five researchers conducted in-depth, qualitative interviews of 50 women entering Hyderabad alone. 

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