Page 28 - S. Ličen, I. Karnjuš, & M. Prosen (Eds.). (2019). Women, migrations and health: Ensuring transcultural healthcare. Koper, University of Primorska Press.
P. 28
ella Urpis
the discrimination of women and are fixed in traditional practices means ob-
serving how different cultures relate to each other on issues like wedding
agreements, women’s access to social and economic goods, discrimination
and inequality.
In migratory processes loyalty to one’s traditional patriarchal family model
continues. Differentiated relations and the imbalance of power between
genders continue, sometimes taking even more shape in the host coun-
tries and often leading to the immigrants’ children also suffering the conse-
quences as they are torn between the loyalty they owe to their family and
a totally different kind of social loyalty (Lannutti, 2016). Migratory dynamics
are interlinked with the marriage strategies of families and communities and
the preservation of traditional practices serves as a tool for the preservation
of borders of identity (Urpis, 2012).
The difficult relationship with the new society, the cultural gap, the lack
of integration often lead to migrants intermingling only with members of
their own cultural groups. Changes in lifestyle and customs, as well as the
changes in identity which often follow, are not automatic processes at all.
On the contrary, conforming with ‘traditional’ values and behavior become
necessary conditions in order to be accepted in the host country by those
who come from the same cultural milieu.
As a consequence, some foreign communities become impenetrable to
the social environment around them and some practices like forced marriage
and female genital mutilation, which function as differentiation elements,
continue within the new cultural group of reference in order to secure the
shared common values in the group.
In migratory processes an awareness of the cultural features of certain
communities, in which women are particularly subject to discrimination, can
help the host society choose the necessary tools to promote policies favoring
social inclusion (Ambrosini & Berti, 2009).
It is for these reasons that a crucial factor for the integration of foreigners
is – in my view – the condition of female immigrants, ie their level of eco-
nomic and social emancipation, their knowledge of the language spoken in
the host country, their rapport with their husband/partner, their refusal to ac-
cept harmful traditional practices, their active participation in the social and
political life in the new society, all of which positively impact their sexual and
reproductive health.
If having a job is a condition that favors female empowerment, personal
independence and the exercise of rights, one can easily doubt about immi-
grant women’s power of self-determination and integration in Italy today.
26
the discrimination of women and are fixed in traditional practices means ob-
serving how different cultures relate to each other on issues like wedding
agreements, women’s access to social and economic goods, discrimination
and inequality.
In migratory processes loyalty to one’s traditional patriarchal family model
continues. Differentiated relations and the imbalance of power between
genders continue, sometimes taking even more shape in the host coun-
tries and often leading to the immigrants’ children also suffering the conse-
quences as they are torn between the loyalty they owe to their family and
a totally different kind of social loyalty (Lannutti, 2016). Migratory dynamics
are interlinked with the marriage strategies of families and communities and
the preservation of traditional practices serves as a tool for the preservation
of borders of identity (Urpis, 2012).
The difficult relationship with the new society, the cultural gap, the lack
of integration often lead to migrants intermingling only with members of
their own cultural groups. Changes in lifestyle and customs, as well as the
changes in identity which often follow, are not automatic processes at all.
On the contrary, conforming with ‘traditional’ values and behavior become
necessary conditions in order to be accepted in the host country by those
who come from the same cultural milieu.
As a consequence, some foreign communities become impenetrable to
the social environment around them and some practices like forced marriage
and female genital mutilation, which function as differentiation elements,
continue within the new cultural group of reference in order to secure the
shared common values in the group.
In migratory processes an awareness of the cultural features of certain
communities, in which women are particularly subject to discrimination, can
help the host society choose the necessary tools to promote policies favoring
social inclusion (Ambrosini & Berti, 2009).
It is for these reasons that a crucial factor for the integration of foreigners
is – in my view – the condition of female immigrants, ie their level of eco-
nomic and social emancipation, their knowledge of the language spoken in
the host country, their rapport with their husband/partner, their refusal to ac-
cept harmful traditional practices, their active participation in the social and
political life in the new society, all of which positively impact their sexual and
reproductive health.
If having a job is a condition that favors female empowerment, personal
independence and the exercise of rights, one can easily doubt about immi-
grant women’s power of self-determination and integration in Italy today.
26
