Gender violence in migration: Voices of migrant women in Sicily

Abstract

Migrant women constitute a growing reality in Italy, also with reference to violence among family members. In particular, violence endured by the foreign female takes on a character of ‘dual violence,’ the violence experienced within the relationship is supplemented by the violence from the social context, which often isolates her, or even expels her following her ‘coming out into the open.’ The article presents extensive reflections emerging from the results of research carried out in 2012 in Sicily, aiming to explore the experience and perception of family violence and the possible influence of the migratory experience on changes in the forms and implications of family violence. The reflections emerging from the research are presented to the reader in a form integrating data about the phenomenon with relative scientific material, so as to provide a broader understanding of the dynamics observed and the general phenomena influencing them. In this article the essential features will be dealt with, including the opportunity and risk emerging from contact with the host culture, the role of national or cultural communities, the perception of violence and the inclination to react, and the intergenerational conflict. The final reflections will be derived from these, with regard to possible plans of action and prevention of the phenomenon.