Page 18 - S. Ličen, I. Karnjuš, & M. Prosen (Eds.). (2019). Women, migrations and health: Ensuring transcultural healthcare. Koper, University of Primorska Press.
P. 18
men Medica
gendered (and racialised), but also to be determining for contemporary Eu-
ropean racial and gendered identities. Thus, a very open question is how can
this imaginary border or, in Stoler’s (2018) terms ‘internal frontiers,’ created
within the receiving society between the foreigner and the citizen be seen
as fundamentally sexualised and gendered? Or, can and, if so, how can it be
seen as a constitutive force for both local society itself and for the gendered
and sexual performances of immigrants? Today, the site of an internal other
for European countries has been shifting more and more towards the space
of the expanding immigrant communities. More concretely, Slovenia’s con-
temporary, pro-European, national, cultural and gendered normative iden-
tities are increasingly influenced by recent migration from the ex-Yugoslav
countries, along with other countries from the Balkan peninsula – Albania,
Bulgaria and Romania.
Although women have always migrated, development over the last decades
sustains both their presence in international migration flows and their recog-
nition as migrants. Women have been regularly heavily involved in the sur-
vival of their families and communities, but today the ‘feminisation of migra-
tion’ and ‘feminisation of survival’ processes are very present. Both phrases
highlight the increasingly public and visible forms of women’s contribution
to families, also their contribution to the state and society (immigrant and
emigrant), especially the growing world demand for their services.
The literature on immigrant women’s health shows that they abort, give
premature birth and need Caesarean sections more often, while delivery
among them is higher and they have more birth-related psychological prob-
lems (Doctors of the World, 2014). This information is not surprising because
female migrants are more restricted in access to healthcare and less informed
of their possible rights to healthcare, while possibly being afraid of both their
husbands and interaction with all sorts of officials.
The contemporary experiences of immigrant women in Slovenia do not
fully reflect the effects of gender, immigrant stratification systems and the
impacts of alterable, and in many cases chaotic, immigration policies.
In this chapter, the focus is on presenting some results of ongoing research,
primarily on the social integration of women migrants in Slovenia, and the
processuality of the integration processes in everyday life and common sit-
uations. A key element of their integration relates to their social status, em-
ployment, health status, both physical and psychological.
This paper is a work in progress, and follows a few central topics:
– Women migrants who have been in Slovenia for a long time and are
16
gendered (and racialised), but also to be determining for contemporary Eu-
ropean racial and gendered identities. Thus, a very open question is how can
this imaginary border or, in Stoler’s (2018) terms ‘internal frontiers,’ created
within the receiving society between the foreigner and the citizen be seen
as fundamentally sexualised and gendered? Or, can and, if so, how can it be
seen as a constitutive force for both local society itself and for the gendered
and sexual performances of immigrants? Today, the site of an internal other
for European countries has been shifting more and more towards the space
of the expanding immigrant communities. More concretely, Slovenia’s con-
temporary, pro-European, national, cultural and gendered normative iden-
tities are increasingly influenced by recent migration from the ex-Yugoslav
countries, along with other countries from the Balkan peninsula – Albania,
Bulgaria and Romania.
Although women have always migrated, development over the last decades
sustains both their presence in international migration flows and their recog-
nition as migrants. Women have been regularly heavily involved in the sur-
vival of their families and communities, but today the ‘feminisation of migra-
tion’ and ‘feminisation of survival’ processes are very present. Both phrases
highlight the increasingly public and visible forms of women’s contribution
to families, also their contribution to the state and society (immigrant and
emigrant), especially the growing world demand for their services.
The literature on immigrant women’s health shows that they abort, give
premature birth and need Caesarean sections more often, while delivery
among them is higher and they have more birth-related psychological prob-
lems (Doctors of the World, 2014). This information is not surprising because
female migrants are more restricted in access to healthcare and less informed
of their possible rights to healthcare, while possibly being afraid of both their
husbands and interaction with all sorts of officials.
The contemporary experiences of immigrant women in Slovenia do not
fully reflect the effects of gender, immigrant stratification systems and the
impacts of alterable, and in many cases chaotic, immigration policies.
In this chapter, the focus is on presenting some results of ongoing research,
primarily on the social integration of women migrants in Slovenia, and the
processuality of the integration processes in everyday life and common sit-
uations. A key element of their integration relates to their social status, em-
ployment, health status, both physical and psychological.
This paper is a work in progress, and follows a few central topics:
– Women migrants who have been in Slovenia for a long time and are
16
