Page 29 - S. Ličen, I. Karnjuš, & M. Prosen (Eds.). (2019). Women, migrations and health: Ensuring transcultural healthcare. Koper, University of Primorska Press.
P. 29
Sexual and Reproductive Health as an Indicator of Social Integration
Data on immigrant women and the labor market show a very low level of
economic integration and very widespread inactivity and unemployment on
their part. As mentioned in the 5th Annual Report of the Ministry of Labor and
Social Policies (Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali, 2015), women of
extra-European origin have 10 lower employment rates compared to Euro-
pean women (46 versus 56) and 10 higher rates in regards to inactivity
(43 for extra-European women and 33 for European women). The inactiv-
ity rate is up to 70 among Egyptian and Indian women and even up to 80
among those from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
This condition of emargination directly impacts their ability to interact
with the new social environment they live in and to make the appropriate
choices in their lives. Healthcare professionals at the hospital Burlo Garofano
in Trieste complain about the language difficulties they have in communi-
cating with certain patients from particular areas of the globe: ‘We often
find ourselves trying to communicate with patients who can’t speak our lan-
guage despite their having been in our country for several years. We need
to contact cultural-linguistic mediators, but in case of an emergency we just
learn to cope.’ (Doctor at the Burlo Garofalo hospital). A bigger issue is the
‘informed consent’ procedure. Patients cannot be forced to accept a certain
type of health treatment, if not by the law. Therefore, the ‘informed consent’
procedure allows a patient to authorize a particular type of health treatment
after having been informed about it by a health professional. Unfortunately,
however, patients who do not speak the local language need a translator and
the cultural-linguistic mediator in charge does not always happen to be at
the hospital when needed. Therefore, the woman’s spouse or her relatives
will intervene and often times she will leave it entirely to her husband given
her condition of subordination to him: ‘I have found myself in very difficult
situations in which the woman would not speak and relied on her husband
completely. He would decide and she would consent. On one occasion there
were delivery complications and the baby showed signs of fetal distress. I
had to perform a C-section but my patient would not reply. She let her hus-
band make all the decisions and he claimed that in their culture C-sections
are prohibited [. . .]’ (Doctor at the Burlo Garofalo hospital).
As can be seen by examining the responses to the INTEGRA project ques-
tionnaire, women are almost totally dependent on their husbands. The
greater their language difficulties and their inability to relate with others
in the host society, the smaller their personal independence. Women from
Kossovo, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey are particularly isolated.
All of the elements above help us gain a greater understanding of how
27
Data on immigrant women and the labor market show a very low level of
economic integration and very widespread inactivity and unemployment on
their part. As mentioned in the 5th Annual Report of the Ministry of Labor and
Social Policies (Ministero del Lavoro e delle Politiche Sociali, 2015), women of
extra-European origin have 10 lower employment rates compared to Euro-
pean women (46 versus 56) and 10 higher rates in regards to inactivity
(43 for extra-European women and 33 for European women). The inactiv-
ity rate is up to 70 among Egyptian and Indian women and even up to 80
among those from Bangladesh and Pakistan.
This condition of emargination directly impacts their ability to interact
with the new social environment they live in and to make the appropriate
choices in their lives. Healthcare professionals at the hospital Burlo Garofano
in Trieste complain about the language difficulties they have in communi-
cating with certain patients from particular areas of the globe: ‘We often
find ourselves trying to communicate with patients who can’t speak our lan-
guage despite their having been in our country for several years. We need
to contact cultural-linguistic mediators, but in case of an emergency we just
learn to cope.’ (Doctor at the Burlo Garofalo hospital). A bigger issue is the
‘informed consent’ procedure. Patients cannot be forced to accept a certain
type of health treatment, if not by the law. Therefore, the ‘informed consent’
procedure allows a patient to authorize a particular type of health treatment
after having been informed about it by a health professional. Unfortunately,
however, patients who do not speak the local language need a translator and
the cultural-linguistic mediator in charge does not always happen to be at
the hospital when needed. Therefore, the woman’s spouse or her relatives
will intervene and often times she will leave it entirely to her husband given
her condition of subordination to him: ‘I have found myself in very difficult
situations in which the woman would not speak and relied on her husband
completely. He would decide and she would consent. On one occasion there
were delivery complications and the baby showed signs of fetal distress. I
had to perform a C-section but my patient would not reply. She let her hus-
band make all the decisions and he claimed that in their culture C-sections
are prohibited [. . .]’ (Doctor at the Burlo Garofalo hospital).
As can be seen by examining the responses to the INTEGRA project ques-
tionnaire, women are almost totally dependent on their husbands. The
greater their language difficulties and their inability to relate with others
in the host society, the smaller their personal independence. Women from
Kossovo, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey are particularly isolated.
All of the elements above help us gain a greater understanding of how
27
