Page 30 - S. Ličen, I. Karnjuš, & M. Prosen (Eds.). (2019). Women, migrations and health: Ensuring transcultural healthcare. Koper, University of Primorska Press.
P. 30
ella Urpis
integration is nowhere near for those communities characterized by a patri-
archal type of traditional cultural model. They also show how social policies
underestimate the status of women and their sexual and reproductive health
as important indicators for the measurement of a woman’s degree of social
inclusion in a community.
The patriarchal system, which compels women to be housewives and to
have many children, prevents them from getting employment, freely inter-
acting with the outside world and gaining personal independence. The role
of a housewife is so internalized by women that even when men express the
hope to find a woman who has a job and is a bit independent, the women
themselves refuse to: ‘I’ve been living here for seven years. My wife arrived
after me. I always tell her to look for a job and to learn Italian, but she refuses
to and is always at home. She’s used to it. (Husband of a Kosovan 25-year-old
woman)
In other cases, the likeliness of getting a low-level type of job instead of
working at home as a housewife discourages immigrant women from job
hunting altogether. The challenge of having their education qualifications
earned abroad recognized lowers women’s chances of ever growing socio-
economically. This seems to be the major obstacle, mentioned by foreign-
born working women, in finding a job related to the education earned and
the skills acquired (Centro Studi e Ricerche IDOS, 2016).
Most women who migrate to Italy today, however, come to reach their hus-
bands. As can be seen from the data on the number of women arriving and
on the number of permits to stay released, family is the key factor for women
in choosing to start the migratory experience altogether.
In the past, women arrived in Italy unaccompanied to work as domestic
workers, caretakers for the elderly, babysitters, which gave Italian women the
freedom to look for a job. The former left their countries alone (most of them
were from the Horn of Africa and later from the Philippines, the Mauritius
Islands, India and Sri Lanka).
One of the major issues in the current situation is the lack of motivation
to learn the Italian language or the inability to access free language courses.
Language problems are the main cause for migrant women’s lack of integra-
tion and they necessarily lead to difficulties with: establishing relations with
society and the institutions, the lack of awareness of women’s rights in Italy
and of the family code, taking care of themselves and of their children.
Traditions and Cultural Violence
‘Tradition’ is based on cultural systems in which the patriarchal component
in many societies is dominant. The institution of marriage is the most signifi-
28
integration is nowhere near for those communities characterized by a patri-
archal type of traditional cultural model. They also show how social policies
underestimate the status of women and their sexual and reproductive health
as important indicators for the measurement of a woman’s degree of social
inclusion in a community.
The patriarchal system, which compels women to be housewives and to
have many children, prevents them from getting employment, freely inter-
acting with the outside world and gaining personal independence. The role
of a housewife is so internalized by women that even when men express the
hope to find a woman who has a job and is a bit independent, the women
themselves refuse to: ‘I’ve been living here for seven years. My wife arrived
after me. I always tell her to look for a job and to learn Italian, but she refuses
to and is always at home. She’s used to it. (Husband of a Kosovan 25-year-old
woman)
In other cases, the likeliness of getting a low-level type of job instead of
working at home as a housewife discourages immigrant women from job
hunting altogether. The challenge of having their education qualifications
earned abroad recognized lowers women’s chances of ever growing socio-
economically. This seems to be the major obstacle, mentioned by foreign-
born working women, in finding a job related to the education earned and
the skills acquired (Centro Studi e Ricerche IDOS, 2016).
Most women who migrate to Italy today, however, come to reach their hus-
bands. As can be seen from the data on the number of women arriving and
on the number of permits to stay released, family is the key factor for women
in choosing to start the migratory experience altogether.
In the past, women arrived in Italy unaccompanied to work as domestic
workers, caretakers for the elderly, babysitters, which gave Italian women the
freedom to look for a job. The former left their countries alone (most of them
were from the Horn of Africa and later from the Philippines, the Mauritius
Islands, India and Sri Lanka).
One of the major issues in the current situation is the lack of motivation
to learn the Italian language or the inability to access free language courses.
Language problems are the main cause for migrant women’s lack of integra-
tion and they necessarily lead to difficulties with: establishing relations with
society and the institutions, the lack of awareness of women’s rights in Italy
and of the family code, taking care of themselves and of their children.
Traditions and Cultural Violence
‘Tradition’ is based on cultural systems in which the patriarchal component
in many societies is dominant. The institution of marriage is the most signifi-
28
