Facets of Women's Migration [1 ed.] 9781443866163, 9781443861380

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Facets of Women’s Migration

Facets of Women’s Migration

Edited by

Elisabetta Di Giovanni

Facets of Women’s Migration, Edited by Elisabetta Di Giovanni This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Elisabetta Di Giovanni and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-6138-3, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-6138-0

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables ............................................................................................. vii Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Aurelio Angelini Chapter One ................................................................................................. 5 Ethnically Unprivileged: Some Anthropological Reflections on Roma Women in Contemporary Italy Elisabetta Di Giovanni Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 15 HIV Prevalence, Aids Knowledge, and Sexual Behaviour among Female Migrant Sex Workers in Palermo, Italy Tolulope Monisola Ola and Roseline Adeniji Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 29 Women, Sociality, and Language: Reflections on The Observation of a Group of Native and Non-Native Women in Palermo, Italy Anna Germana Bucca Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 49 Bicultural Couples from Family to Community: Educational Styles and Place Identity Cinzia Novara and Gioacchino Lavanco Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 69 Perspectives of Female Migration: Between Political Geography and Feminist Geography Elena Di Liberto Chapter Six ................................................................................................ 87 Migrant Social Capital and Female Migrations: The Case of Senegalese Women Moving to Europe Sorana Toma

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Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 119 Strategies of Reading Migration Literature through Emecheta’s Novel Second-Class Citizen Gioia Panzarella Contributors ............................................................................................. 135

LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 - Responses of FMSWS on Knowledge about HIV/AIDS ........ 22 Table 2.2 - Working Conditions of Respondents ...................................... 24 Table 2.3 - Sexual behaviours of respondents ........................................... 25 Table 4.1 - Socio-demographics data ........................................................ 54 Table 4.2 - Socio-demographics data ........................................................ 54 Table 4.3 - Socio-demographics data ........................................................ 54 Table 6.1 - Migrant women’s access to the labour market by type of migration and networks ................................................................. 100 Table 6.2 - Effects of migrant network variables on the odds of migrating independently or in relation to one's partner. Coefficients presented as Odds Ratiosa .............................................. 102 Table 6.3 - Likelihood of employment upon arrival, women (18-65), logistic regression (odds ratios) ......................................................... 104 Table 6.4 - Likelihood of employment upon arrival: interaction effects (Odds Ratios).......................................................................... 107 Table 6.5 - Individual characteristics at the time of the first migration to Europe, by type of female migration (column percentages) ......... 116 Table 6.6 - Effects of individual characteristics on the odds of migrating independently or in relation to one's partner. Coefficients presented as Odds Ratios ............................................... 117 Table 6.7 - Access to and types of pre-migration ties by mode of migration........................................................................................ 118

INTRODUCTION

This volume presents a collection of papers by contributors with different backgrounds who share a strong interest in women’s migration. Because of its complex nature, this topic has been examined bringing into dialogue a variety of theoretical perspectives, within an interdisciplinary context which includes not only sociology, anthropology, psychology, and political geography, but also linguistics and literature. Moreover, each chapter focuses on aspects which interest women not only as individuals – for example their entrance into the labour market – but also in their roles as members of a couple and within the family. All the chapters were presented during the sixth edition of the Summer School “Migration, Human Rights and Democracy”, organized by the University of Palermo (Italy) in September 2012, which every year focuses on specific topics concerning migrations and mobilities in the contemporary world. The summer school gathers many scholars, activists, NGO members, and researchers interested in discussing these issues. As the chapters present the results of pieces of research which refer to specific geographical contexts, the collection is structured around the diverse destinations of the migrations here considered: (1) the city of Palermo (Italy), (2) Italy, and (3) Europe. Elisabetta Di Giovanni, in “Ethnically Unprivileged: Some Anthropological Reflections on Roma Women in Contemporary Italy”, deals with the conditions of extreme poverty and uncertainty surrounding Roma women in Italy and the consequences they have on this minority group. The analysis starts from the living context and from the reproducing discrimination of families in ghettos, then continues on to focus on the women’s economic activity, and, finally, to the debate on the ethnicity of this community. As female migrant sex workers have been identified as a population at risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV in many countries, the essay “HIV Prevalence, AIDS Knowledge, and Sexual Behaviour among Female Migrant Sex Workers in Palermo, Italy” gives an exhaustive overview of the phenomenon in a local context. In collaboration with the association “Pellegrino Della Terra Onlus (The Pilgrim of the Earth)”, a nongovernmental organization in Palermo, Tolulope Monisola Ola and Roseline Adeniji examine the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, AIDS knowledge,

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Introduction

and the sexual behaviours of female migrant sex workers in Palermo, investigating their working conditions and legal statuses as well. In order to collect useful data, the authors developed an interviewer administered, structured questionnaire. The results of this survey lead us to consider that increasing support for female migrant sex workers’ health and rights in Italy would be advisable. Through the analysis of conversations, Anna Germana Bucca refers to prejudices and stereotypes which can emerge in the daily communication between migrants and non-migrants. In “Women, Sociality, and Language: Reflections on the Observation of a Group of Native and Non-Native Women in Palermo”, the author offers an analysis of her research during an intercultural programme in a primary school in Palermo. The aim of the project was to organize some activities addressed to the foreign students’ parents in order to create an opportunity for them to socialize with Italian parents. From the observation sessions emerged the presence of a series of stereotypes, linguistic ambiguities, and misunderstandings which confirmed the importance of the role played by both non-verbal elements and the spoken language. In “Bicultural Couples: Discrimination, Place Identity and Educational Styles”, Cinzia Novara and Gioacchino Lavanco investigate some dynamics of bicultural couples in which one partner is Italian and the other is of foreign nationality. After an introduction which describes in depth the situation of mixed marriages in Italy – which in the last ten years have increased significantly – and which analyses several studies of trends, the authors illustrate their research and their results. During their face to face interviews with both partners of twenty-two bicultural couples, Novara and Lavanco consider variables such as the level of religiosity, the educational qualifications, and the motivations behind the foreign partners’ migration. From the analysis of data, there emerged results with reference to concepts such as the added value of biculturalism and bilingualism, the perception of discrimination, the social identity of the foreign partner, and the diversity in educational choices. The essay “Perspectives of Female Migration: Between Political Geography and Feminist Geography” collects together some of the issues from feminist geography which can contribute to the study of migration. In addition, Elena Di Liberto explores the nature of boundaries, in order to discuss key concepts such as transnationalism and globalization. The second part of this piece of research offers a study of the labour market of migrant women in Italy. After an analysis of some theoretical contributions by feminist researchers – such as those concerning the delineation of complex identities, the gender of boundary, and the feminization of

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migration – Di Liberto delineates the occupational positions of migrant women in Italy. As a result, she illustrates a deeply variegated context, referring, for example, to the distribution of migrant women by nationality, work sectors, and level of employment. Sorana Toma’s essay focuses on the Sub-Saharan African context, especially on migration from Senegal to Europe, by using recently collected quantitative data on the determinants and economic outcomes of female migrations. In “Migrant Social Capital and Female Migrations: The Case of Senegalese Women Moving to Europe” two forms of mobility are investigated, namely, independent and partner-related moves. After a review of the relevant theoretical and empirical literature, it is demonstrated that female independent migrants make a more extensive use of their networks, considering both the usefulness for women seeking to move autonomously abroad and the rigid patriarchal system and the low level of female autonomy in Senegal. The author presents and analyses some data from the “Migration between Africa and Europe” (MAFE) project, a recent survey on sub-Saharan international migration conducted in 2008. In “Strategies of Reading Migration Literature Through Emecheta’s Novel Second-Class Citizen”, the effectiveness of a literary analysis that emphasizes migration is shown. Gioia Panzarella examines some key features of migration studies and uses them to analyse a literary work, highlighting concepts such as otherness, unfixity, hybridity, and mobility. This approach can help legitimate comparisons within literary works belonging to contexts far from each other’s historical or geographical points of view. In this perspective, reading Emecheta’s Second-Class Citizen as a migration novel raises several stimulating issues, especially when the protagonist’s inner negotiation emerges. The essay discusses some passages of the novel, illustrating the representation of migrants. Also examined within the essay is the issue of language and the role that it plays in building a literary canon. Aurelio Angelini

CHAPTER ONE ETHNICALLY UNPRIVILEGED: SOME ANTHROPOLOGICAL REFLECTIONS ON ROMA WOMEN IN CONTEMPORARY ITALY ELISABETTA DI GIOVANNI

In the contemporary world there are a lot of interethnic conflicts which are characterized by serious violations of human rights, above all in the AfroAsiatic continent. In the Western context, there is a continuous migratory flow which is labelled by the dominant society as an invasion, a threat to the collective sense of safety. Among these phenomena of supposed violation, there is the “intrusion” of Gypsies that constitute a mosaic of ethnic subgroups, a world of worlds (Piasere 1999). They are used to living in the shade, surviving in the interstices of the majority society, and have got used to leading a life characterized by social mimicry (Romania 2004; Di Giovanni 2012); they have tried to keep the typical cultural traits of a simple society, which is also subaltern and marginal, with a strong spirit of coping. Unlike other migrants, however, “Gypsies” do not try to assimilate the host society’s characteristics; simply, they float in it. As we know, especially in Italy, EU-Roma citizens live in ghettos, in marginalized conditions inside urban contexts, not always in the peripheral parts of the cities. Every day they face new forms of racism and xenophobic tendencies that at the moment are very alive, in particular, against Roma citizens or Gypsies/Nomads (anti-Gypsyism). We assist in the increasing marginalization and impoverishment of these population groups, who are considered unable to adapt to the new socio-economic system: among them, millions of Roma, for whom chronic unemployment and poverty have become the norm (Sigona and Treheran 2009; 2011). The perception of Roma/Gypsies/Nomads is extremely negative in all European societies, especially if compared to that of other minority groups.

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Chapter One

This chapter focuses on the conditions of extreme poverty and uncertainty of Roma women in Italy, and on the consequences they have on their children. The present analysis starts from the living context and from the organizing of families in ghettos. Finally, it proceeds to the women’s economic activity and to the debate on the ethnicity of this community.

Practising Segregation in Italian Ghettos According to recent Italian government data, in Italy there are about 160,000 “Gypsies” (Ministero dell’Interno 2008), while according to the association Opera nomadi’s data there are about 150,000–180,000. The most important element is their presence in Rome: there are 7,177 (last data is of 2010), living in several settlements; most of them are “tolerated” camps of segregation, where adults and children live in precarious and substandard conditions. In August 2013, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) condemned once again the targeted evictions of Roma and Sinti communities which have taken place in Italy since 2008: forced evictions have rendered several Roma and Sinti families homeless and [the Committee] regrets the ways in which security personnel and video-controlled access to some of these camps are used. As indicated in its previous concluding observations, the Committee is concerned that the Roma, Sinti and Camminanti populations, both citizens and non-citizens, are living in a situation of de facto segregation from the rest of the population in camps that often lack access to the most basic facilities. The Committee takes note of the statement of the delegation on the intention to apply a new housing policy in favor of Roma and Sinti. (CERD 2013: n. 4, para 1)

Between 2009 and August 2013, Amnesty International visited six out of the eight authorized camps in Rome, some of them several times, as well as the camp of Tor de’ Cenci, which was closed down in September 2012. The visits were carried out in order to document the living conditions in these camps and violations of the human rights of the Romani communities there allocated. This was done in correspondence with local and national authorities and international human rights bodies. Housing is not adequate if it is cut off from employment opportunities, health-care services, schools, childcare centres, and other social facilities, or if located in polluted or dangerous areas. Romani women feel completely cut off from services, especially health services, finding it very

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expensive to shop for food and pay for transport for long journies; very rarely are Romani women found to drive. According to Amnesty International: To aggravate the discrimination to which Roma have been subjected, living conditions in authorized camps have been and remain very poor, as international human rights bodies have repeatedly noted. In authorized camps, severe overcrowding robs individuals of any privacy, families of the space for intimacy and children of the possibility to play and concentrate on their homework. Poor, in many cases dire, living conditions – including inadequate access to water and electricity, blocked sewers, insufficient waste removal, damaged structures and insect infestations – threaten health and undermine the human dignity of residents. Opaque regulations and procedures applicable inside the camps deprive residents of the equal protection of the law and of a minimum degree of security of tenure over their home, as they can be expelled or evicted without legal safeguards. Gates guarded by “wardens” at the entrance of authorized camps, very poor public transport connections and a service of coaches for Romani children only, taking them from the camp to school and back inside the camp every day, contribute to ensure and perpetuate the social exclusion of these families. (2013: 6)

Moreover, it is evident that Roma women have poorer health conditions compared with Roma men and the majority of women in wider society. The barriers are primarily poverty combined with external discrimination against Roma women in the health sector on the grounds of gender, ethnic origin, and poor socioeconomic conditions. Other limits to women’s access to adequate health care are malnutrition, remote and poor housing conditions, frequent pregnancies and abortions, hard working conditions, illiteracy, limited access to health information, and lack of identity cards (Unicef 2011). In recent years, and up until the present day, episodes of forced evictions have been frequent, and local Italian municipalities have not been able to provide adequate alternative housing for these communities. The last episode of forced evictions happened on 26 November 2013, in Milan, where two Roma camps were evicted and 600 people were removed from the two areas in the northern part of the city. A few hours after the dismantling, however, the problem seemed to be far from solved: in fact, while 250 people accepted the alternative proposals of the municipality, 350 disappeared in the area. The destruction or seizure of property owned by the Roma, as if it were always and only from the proceeds of criminal activities, and the physical and psychological

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Chapter One

violence perpetrated against women and even children continue to be frequent. Generally, Roma groups resettle in the urban context, preferring this to peripheries. Their marginality is expressed living in the metaphorical margins of the host society; the choice of a suitable area for their settlement depends on a strategic proximity to major territorial services (urban transport, water supply, medical health, school). In the last thirty years “Italian” Roma, born in Italy but not recognized as such, have been camouflaged. Some have chosen council housing or, more frequently, accommodation such as shacks that are built in areas that the municipality has allocated to them more or less explicitly. Most of them live in the ghetto areas, or in metal containers, trailers, or wooden barracks also built along the banks of rivers, as in Rome for example. In winter, within each barrack or kampina there is a stove, while outside a fire is lit. It has a very strong meaning from a social point of view, because it defines the geographical and relational borders of its members. Especially in winter, the kampina represents a symbolic space to sit together, in a circle, choosing with which other families to spend their time. This is clear from the ethnographical observation conducted both among Roma Xoraxane in Turin (Saletti Salza 2003) and in Palermo (Di Giovanni 2007). Usually the women and younger children speak, men play cards, and the children watch television. The entrance to the barrack faces the front or side of the other homes in the extended family. The location of the door is not casual, because symbolically the entrance of the kampina does not face the courtyard of those whose members are not in contact with or related to the family. Inside, the barrack has one large space; sometimes there is a second room, usually devoted to parents. There is not a space for children, who may move all over the house. They are used to sleeping with their parents until they are eight years old; then they will sleep in another bed or on a sofa with other siblings. Younger children are often in the arms of their mother or elder sister, for whom a hammock is reserved, hung in the barrack. The child is free to move; he/she does not spend the day in the kampina, where eating and sleeping occur, because their social life takes place in the courtyard (drustvo). The child is educated to assume a particular social role both in the ghetto, that is a familiar environment, and outside. For example, the school is one of the places where the child has the opportunity to learn the social norms of the non-Roma. In fact, from when the child is young, the relationship with the world outside the camp is mediated by the social figure of the mother, when she goes out to beg (mangel). Growing up, the male child will go to the city alone or with his

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peer group. So will the girls, going to the city into groups to socialize or to work. Non-Roma physical spaces and symbolic places (i.e. institutional ones) are populated recognizing a different function. Generally, all the adults of the community are responsible for all the children, even if they are not their own and are not part of their extended family. The adult has a protective duty towards the child, inside and outside the camp, among the non-Roma spaces, even when there are quarrels between families. Children are never left alone, at least one adult taking care of them. Usually the educative figures of reference are those living in the same courtyard, such as for example a cousin or an aunt. The Gypsy does not exist outside his family; his whole life is based around his family. Choices involve the whole family group, because the family provides material and psychological assistance to its members; it satisfies all economic needs and those of sociality and transmission of culture; therefore the family is present in all the most important moments of the single individual. Family ties are structured through a concentric system, so the nuclear family is strictly related to the extended one, which, in its turn, is related to the ethnic-linguistic group of reference. As Goffman has pointed out, those who undergo a process of stigmatization end up interiorizing the stigma, continuing the necessary actions to trace their “moral career” in a direction which is inevitably doomed. The construction of identity takes place through the encounter with the other’s routine, through a process of deconstruction and construction of the limits of the self and the other (1963, 32). But a preliminary passage is necessary in becoming able to elaborate one’s identity, taking the right distance from the stereotype image they themselves have by now interiorized. According to Goffman, this is the destiny of all minorities suffering from a strong disadvantage in relation to the host community. The social stigma, in fact, strengthens itself because of their condition and automatically classifies the individual in the lowest social hierarchical strata, inasmuch as he/she is inferior because he/she is different and responsible for his/her own uneasiness. This happens among Roma communities because the main consequence of their status of isolation is the atrophy of their social potential, which occurs in the absence/lack of relationships with Gagé. The lack of relations with the host society leads Roma to withdraw more and more into themselves and into their own world, so that the dimension of time coincides with the daily household chores and attending to people’s own community only. Some of them have nothing to do during the day and spend their time sleeping. This state of passivity reveals the conviction not to be masters of their own destiny and having, instead, to wait for other

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Chapter One

answers to their problems. So, there is a self-perpetuating system of a continuous attitude of waiting for welfare, which, in their opinion, is due to them; therefore they claim against the Gagé. In Italy, the “Gypsy problem” is a general phenomenon that affects a collective labelling as inner enemies (Sigona 2005), reproducing stereotypes instead of disrupting this humanitarian emergency. The urban margins are the arena in which the relationship between Roma and Italians takes place, shaped by the condition of “permanent emergency”. The urban level is where the “problem” is localized and where the space for dialogue and/or conflict can be found. In such a context, the camp becomes a limitation, if not an obstacle, to the relational space, making contact more difficult between groups living in the same community. (Sigona 2005, 750)

Roma Women’s Underground Economy Roma citizens continuously cross the dominant groups’ borders both physically and metaphorically, being obliged to live as refugees in European complex societies, due to their ethnicization (Di Giovanni 2012). They usually avoid the process of assimilation and operate social mimicry in urban spaces, especially when many Gypsy women go out to work, that is for begging (manghel). During my ethnographical research (2006–2010), I observed Roma women coming out of the camp, usually to reach their begging area in the town of Palermo (Italy): usually standing at traffic lights, outside a church, or outside supermarkets, etc. Otherwise, it is usual to see one or several Gypsy women going together to gather clothes or food in front of a supermarket with their children, when the children do not go to school. In Roma families this kind of informal work is usually solely for women. As to their economic activity, Piasere noted that Muslim Roma in Italy fit a charitable ideology conforming to that of many Italian Catholics (1987), therefore, applying economic categories which are different from Western ones. The so called “Gypsies” contrive new economic perspectives: begging is separated from poverty and is, rather, considered as a form of marketing in its literary meaning of “bargaining” (Piasere 2000, 418). Through participant observation it is possible to observe this behaviour as the “Gypsy woman beggar” moves among Gagé. She may stop in a place waiting for free donations or go door to door. Before begging, she enters the Gagé world. In fact, it is when a Gypsy woman “asks” that nonRoma people notice her physical presence. The interaction is sought face-

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to-face, bold or humble; her strategy consists of an accusation of the evils of the world, sometimes distant evils of the world, pointing out the nonRoma’s assumed guilt and their missing sense of sharing. The most striking example is given by the Roma who beg using the technique of the written request in the form of a poster. Begging is an activity considered disgraceful in European cultures, strictly related to shame, which plays a key role in internal social control. The Gypsies have not erased it, but they have defined the boundaries in a different way from the Gagé. Asking other Roma is not shameful, even amongst those acquainted with each other. This form of begging differs from other communities; it involves asking without expectation of a return, and professing subordination to the person asked. While the gift provides a relationship one-to-one, begging is a relation one-to-many (Piasere 2000, 424). From qualitative interviews conducted in Palermo (southern Italy), it was found that Roma women feel safe in the camp and in their begging area but not during the journey, because they could be stopped by the police. As a consequence, I suggest their social and underground economic relationships have informal borders: going out of this metaphorically delimited area represents a lack of referential borders. For Roma women their begging area in an urban context has two kinds of function: economic (to assure daily income through an informal way of making money), and social (managing useful information and social support especially for physical health matters).

Conclusions Roma women do not hide their ethnicity, while Gypsy youth seems to mask its ethnic culture. This confirms that the border depends on how different people feel it. Women maintain their ethnicity; youth operates a dynamic of social mimicry. So, the continuous fluctuation of young Roma as suspended particles in their attempt to achieve social inclusion is based on masking their original culture. They don’t openly refuse their family heritage or their ethnicity, but they look for a different means of inclusion. Roma women experience intersectional/multiple forms of discrimination which can be argued to have external as well as internal dimensions. The multiple forms of discrimination that Roma women experience are crosscutting factors that influence how women experience, and act according to, not only their own situation but also the possibilities that they foresee for their children. (Unicef 2011, 42)

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Chapter One

Very often they express this vital need of acceptance by an inappropriate wrong process of assimilation of consumerist lifestyles, adapting themselves in the dominant society by performing an identity strategy of passing for non Roma. Finally, the Roma’s social inclusion in the host society is difficult and far from being attained. Although they are EU-citizens, the diffused anti-Gypsyism and contemporary xenophobic phenomena push Roma societies to take refuge in urban interstices, crossing back and forth over imaginary borders and borderlands inside Western towns. In the light of these dynamics, in Europe, and especially in Italy, Roma groups exhibit transculturality. Because of their ethnic “super-diversity” (Vertovec 2007), Gypsies are very good at surfing from one cultural-physical border to another, even preserving their cultural heritage and performing an identity strategy. From this perspective, Roma communities seem to perfectly win the cross-cultural challenge of modernity.

Bibliography Amnesty International, 2013, Double standards: Italy’s housing policies discriminate against Roma, http://www.amnesty.org/ en/library/asset/EUR30/008/2013/en/ CERD – Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 2013, Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Italy. 4 – 1. Di Giovanni, E. 2012, “Living in urban interstices: the survival practices of excluded Gypsies in Italian borderlands”, Studia sociologica (IV), 76-81. Di Giovanni, E. 2007, “Childhood in a rom/gypsy camp in southern-Italy: an anthropological perspective”, International Journal About Parents In Education I - 0, 245–251. Goffman, E. 1963, Stigma. Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. Ministero dell’Interno, Censimento dei campi nomadi. Scheda editoriale, Rome: Ministero dell’Interno. http://www.interno.it/mininterno/export/sites/default/it/sezioni/sala_sta mpa/speciali/censimento_nomadi. Piasere, L. 2000, “Antropologia sociale e storica della mendicità zingara”, Polis XIV, 3, 409–428. —. 1999, Un mondo di mondi. Antropologia delle culture rom. Napoli: L’ancora. Romania, V. 2004, Farsi passare per italiani. Strategie di mimetismo sociale, Roma: Carocci.

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Saletti Salza, C. 2003, Bambini del “campo nomadi”. Romá bosniaci a Torino, Roma: CISU. Sigona, N. 2005, “Locating ‘The Gypsy Problem’. The Roma in Italy: Stereotyping, Labelling and ‘Nomads Camps’”, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 31, 4, 741–756. Sigona, N. and Treheran, N. 2011, “Neoliberism, anti-Gypsyism and the EU’s dream deferred”, Lignes, 34, http://oxford.academia.edu/NandoSigona/Papers/433198/Neoliberalis m_and_anti-Gypsyism_the_EUs_dream_deferred Sigona, N. and Treheran, N., eds, 2009, Romani Politics in Contemporary Europe, London: Palgrave MacMillan. Unicef, 2011, Women Motherhood Early Child Development: Exploring the question of how poor Roma women’s status and situation influences children’s survival, growth and development. http://www.unicef.org/serbia/Women_Motherhood-07-21-2011-finalWEB(2).pdf Vertovec, S. 2007, “Super-diversity and its ‘implications’”, Ethnic and Racial Studies 29 (6) 1024-54.

CHAPTER TWO HIV PREVALENCE, AIDS KNOWLEDGE, AND SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR AMONG FEMALE MIGRANT SEX WORKERS IN PALERMO, ITALY TOLULOPE MONISOLA OLA AND ROSELINE ADENIJI

Introduction In Italy, the number of non-nationals has increased progressively during the last 10 years. At the end of 2000, there were 1,388,153 non-nationals with legal residence, representing 2.4% of the country’s total population and constituting a 77.7% increase since approximately 1990 (Giuliani et al. 2004). Immigrants in Italy come from many different areas, but mainly from Less Developed Countries (LDCs). There has been a steady increase of female migrants over the last five decades. According to UNPD data, the stock of female migrants has actually grown faster than the stock of male migrants in the most important receiving countries, industrialized as well as developing. The ILO’s Migrant Workers Reports (1999), reported that women now constitute more than half of the migration population worldwide, and 70– 80% of the migration population in some countries. This migratory movement, whether consensual or through coercion, is characterized by the increase in the percentage of women who migrate. The world-wide trend of feminization of poverty strongly affects the so-called “feminization of migration”. It must be recognized that migrant women, as a result of the lack of opportunities in their own countries, have come to integrate into the labour market to offer something and to receive something in return. For this reason, this migratory movement is characterized as labour migration of women (Melina News 2001).

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Chapter Two

The Committee that worked on the ILO Migrant Workers Report notes, in particular, the increasing tendency to “import” women migrant workers for commercial sexual-exploitation through arranged marriages with foreigners or by getting them to sign contracts of employment that look tempting but rarely reflect the real situation. These migrant women are not identified, recognized, and accepted in the countries of destination which makes their situation worse because they lack autonomy and have lesser bargaining power. Singhanetra-Renard notes since women migrants almost invariably possess lesser bargaining power and legal rights than locals and particularly local men, the role of migration in the victimisation of women, and thus, the spread of HIV infection, cannot be ignored. (1994, 14)

In addition, a particular risk for women, most of them very young and from economically depressed countries or communities, is being forced into sex work, frequently including unprotected sex (Ybanez RFC 1998). Migrant women who work in prostitution in Western Europe are no exception. By the second half of the nineteen-nineties, European health services were reporting increasing numbers of non-European sex workers in the local sex workforce. They often come from regions of the world with higher risks and rates of STIs and HIV. However, only a few studies have found higher risks of HIV and STIs in migrant sex workers (Mak 1996), and most have not (D’Antuono et al. 2001; EPI-HIV Study Group 2002; Hiltunen-Back et al. 2002; Matteelli et al. 2003). With this backdrop, this study examines HIV prevalence, knowledge of AIDS, and sexual behaviour among female migrant sex workers (FMSWs) in Palermo, Italy.

Research rationale A number of studies (Chardin 1999; Decosas and Adrien 1997; Singhanetra-Renard 1994) have reported an association between human mobility and increased risk of HIV infection. For example, Chardin reported that while migrants make up 6% of the population of France, 14% of the reported cases of AIDS occurred within migrants. In addition, Yarber et al. (2005) reported that most sex workers do not practice safe sex. Thus, they are in a high risk group; migrant women who sell sex are at a higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and STIs. Migrant Workers, especially female migrant sex workers (FMSWs), have been identified as a population at risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV in many countries (Hope 2000; Lurie et al. 2003; Li et al. 2004). This can be attributed to

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their mobility within nation states, facing cultural, social, legal, and linguistic obstacles to accessing services and information, and experiencing violence in the form of exploitation and abuse during the various stages of the migration process. According to Yang et al. (2005), the social context of the work setting may also put female migrant sex workers at increased risk of exposure to various high risk behaviours. Poor negotiation of condom use with clients, sexual networking, and drug use are some of the risky behaviours exhibited. Considering the magnitude of the challenges faced by female migrant sex workers, it is imperative to investigate HIV prevalence, AIDS knowledge, and sexual behaviours of this highly heterogeneous and stratified population. The findings of this research work have implications for social and medical control of all kinds of risky sexual behaviours associated with sex work among female migrants in Palermo, Italy.

Research Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

What are the socio-demographic characteristics of FMSWs? What is the prevalence of HIV among FMSWs? What is the extent of knowledge among FMSWs about AIDS? What are FMSWs working conditions? What are the legal statuses of FMSWs? What are the sexual behaviours of FMSWs?

Research Objectives From the above, the broad objective of this study is to examine the prevalence of HIV/AIDS, AIDS knowledge, and the sexual behaviours of female migrant sex workers in Palermo, Italy. Specifically, the objectives of the study are: -

To examine the socio-demographic characteristics of FMSWs, To know the prevalence of HIV FMSWs, To examine FMSWs knowledge on HIV/AIDS and STIs, To investigate FMSWs working conditions, To ascertain the legal status of FMSWs, To ascertain FMSWs’ sexual behaviours, To generate a data base which may enable policy makers to assist in improving both HIV-prevention Interventions and the reproductive health and rights of FMSWs.

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Hypotheses -

The working conditions of FMSWs are significantly related to their sexual behaviours. The legal status of FMSWs has no significant influence on their working conditions. There is no significant relationship between AIDS knowledge and the sexual behaviours of FMSWs.

Scope of the Study This study focused on HIV prevalence, AIDS knowledge, and the Sexual behaviours of FMSWs in Palermo, Italy. In order to get an insight into their sexual behaviours, it is pertinent to investigate their working conditions and legal statuses. However, while a lot of conditions of work are prevalent, this study paid particular attention to four: types (regular or occasional); classification (of the nature of the settings where contacts are made with clients) as either formal/organized or informal/not organized; mode of soliciting clients; and the legal status of sex work. In order to avoid ambiguity, AIDS knowledge was used to refer to FMSWs knowledge about modes of transmission and prevention, while sexual behaviour was used to refer to types of sexual services provided (both by choice and coercion). Primary data were sourced only from female migrants who are sex workers.

Conceptual clarifications The term “sex work” was coined by long time prostitutes’ rights activist Carol Leigh as a way to designate all those who work in the adult industry. Sex work is a new, more inclusive term for engaging in sexual activity for money or otherwise working in the sex industry (Hartney, 2009). The UNAIDS Technical Update (2002) noted that the term “sex worker” has gained popularity over “prostitute” because those involved feel that it is less stigmatizing and say that the reference to work better describes their experience. According to the Encyclopaedia of Prostitution and Sex Work, “sex work” is said to be a phrase created in the last 30 years to refer to sexual commerce of all kinds. The Network of Sex Work Projects and Jo Bindman, former Information Officer with End Child Prostitution in Asian Tourism (ECPAT), in the 1997 report “Redefining Prostitution as Sex Work on the International Agenda”, defined sex work as “the negotiation and performance of sexual services for remuneration with or without

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intervention by a third party; where those services are advertised or generally recognised as available from a specific location, where the price of services reflects the pressures of supply and demand”. In this definition, “negotiation” implies the rejection of specific clients or acts on an individual basis. Indiscriminate acceptance by the worker of all proposed transactions is not presumed – such acceptance would indicate the presence of coercion. The UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team on Gender and HIV/AIDS, in its fact sheet “HIV/AIDS, Gender and Sex Work”, published in its 2005 Resource Pack on Gender and HIV/AIDS, defined sex work broadly as “the exchange of money or goods for sexual services, either regularly or occasionally, involving female, male, and transgender adults, young people and children”. Sex work may be formal or informal. In this paper, the term migrant is defined as people that cross international borders and does not include internal migration within a country. For the purpose of this study, a Female Migrant Sex Worker (FMSW) is any woman who, not being a national of Italy, enters Italy for whatever purpose, by whatever means, with or without assistance, and who, at any stage of their residence in Italy, engages in sex work. According to Wikipedia, a “sexual network” is a social network that is defined by the sexual relationships within a set of individuals. A sexual network is a group of persons who are connected to one another sexually. Sexual networks are distinct from, but often overlap with social networks. According to Potterat et al. (2000), the number of persons in a network, how central high-risk persons are within it, the percentage in monogamous relationships, and the number of “links” each has to others all determine how quickly HIV/STDs can spread through a network. A “sexual behaviour” is any activity – solitary, between two persons, or in a group – that induces sexual arousal. According to Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytic theory, sexual behaviour can be defined as all actions and responses related to pleasure seeking. This is a modern and very wide definition advanced by Freud to elaborate the concept of libido.

Method of data collection The study was cross-sectional and descriptive, using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. The target population for the study consisted of all female migrant sex workers in Palermo, Italy. This study was conducted between May and August, 2008. A convenience sample of 123 female migrant sex workers was interviewed successfully using an interviewer administered structured questionnaire developed by the author

20

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which contained mostly closed ended questions. Content validity was done by a panel of judges from The Association “Pellegrino Della Terra Onlus” (The Pilgrim of the Earth) (PEDETO).1 The questions in the questionnaire were objectively vetted, paying particular attention to their relevance to the subject matter and their coverage of the entire topic of study. The questionnaire was edited to include suggestions given by the panel of judges. Main areas covered in the questionnaire were the socio-demographic data, knowledge on HIV/AIDS, working conditions (that is, types and social contexts of sex work, principal mode of soliciting clients, and type of sexual services provided), bargaining power, condom use, drug use, and sexual networks. HIV cases reported to the Association PEDETO were used to estimate the percentage of HIV positive FMSWs. For the qualitative phase, individual in-depth interviews (IDI) and two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted among key informants. Written consent for the study was obtained from the Association. The purpose of the study was explained to respondents and participation was voluntary. The data collected was subjected to basic analysis with SPSS version 17 software. For univariate analysis, frequencies and medians of all variables and measures were produced. Information from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews was transcribed and organised under broad headings that depict different aspects of the discussions. The transcribed information was analysed descriptively (qualitatively) and used to corroborate results of quantitative analysis where and when necessary.

Findings Socio-demographic characteristics About one-quarter of the total sample were between ages 15 and 20 years while 68.8% were between ages 21 and 25 years and 17.2% were 26 years or above; the mean age of the respondents was 21.5 years. The majority of the respondents (73%) were from West Africa: Nigeria 23%, Ghana 17%, Mali 13%, Cameroon 11%, Gabon 8%, and Togo 1% while the remaining 1

The Association “Pellegrino Della Terra Onlus” (The Pilgrim of the Earth) (PEDETO) is a Non-governmental organization that began in 1996, in response to a significant increase in trafficking of Africans for sex work in Palermo, Italy. With support from Associazione Buon Pastore Onlus, funded by Tavola Valdese (Waldensian Church Italy) and Methodist Church England, the Association is involved in rehabilitative projects and HIV/AIDS intervention projects, especially in the area of access to health care in diagnosis, treatment, and preventive services among African migrants. www. pellegrinodellaterra.it

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respondents were from North Africa (16%) and East Africa (11%) respectively. 91% were single while the remaining 11% were either cohabiting or in a marital union. 93% were Christians while the remaining 7% were Muslims. A little above half of the respondents (51%) were educated to secondary school level; 41% of the respondents were the key person to feed their family. Evidence of financial burden and commitment was found in the financial responsibilities of those respondents who were the key person to feed their family back home through remittances. Of the sample who indicated paying to be trafficked, almost half (48%) were still indebted by up to 50,000 Euros. The incidental consequence of this is that the 48% of respondents who paid to be trafficked will be under compulsion to see more clients. This will be further discussed under the working conditions theme. In the FGD, when respondents were asked the reason why there were more female migrants coming from West Africa, it was generally agreed on that it was due to social networking.

HIV Prevalence among FMSWs The overall HIV prevalence was 8%2 with differences in rates in people from different countries of origin. Corroborating the above, the President of the Association (PEDETO) affirmed that some of the FMSWs know their status before leaving their countries. They believe this will be better managed when they get to their destinations. But due to so many barriers – ranging from language and legal status to their working conditions – they are constrained, which invariably affects their access to health care services.

Knowledge of HIV/AIDS In Table 2.1, it is apparent that most of the respondents have a very good knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention but some are still not very knowledgeable about caring for an AIDS patient, getting a cure, and being vulnerable to HIV/AIDS when they have multiple sexual partners. These issues were further discussed in the FGD. A 25-year-old, freelance FMSW from Nigeria said that: Immediately you see a person living positively in Nigeria, you will know because they look emaciated; but in the developed countries they are cured 2

HIV cases reported to the Association (PEDETO) were used to estimate the percentage of HIV positive FMSWs.

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22

once it is detected even if detected late. AIDS no does show for their face in the developed countries.

The opinion of a 38–year-old FMSW tends to corroborate the opinion reported above: Getting a cure for AIDS has a lot to do with the accessibility, availability, and affordability of health care services. To get drugs which are sometimes not available in the developing countries and good nutritious food is a great task.

From the opinion expressed at the FGD about the cure for AIDS, it is clearly evident that there is a need to clarify what is meant by a cure for AIDS and what AIDS management is. A little above half of the respondents (51%) reported that HIV can be transmitted by caring for an AIDS patient. This is the root cause of stigma and discrimination against people living positively. However, respondents agreed that caring for people with AIDS must be done carefully so that you will not be exposed to any fluid from them. Almost half of the respondents (49%) were of the opinion that having multiple sexual partners will not make them vulnerable to HIV if they are well protected. Table 2.1 - Responses of FMSWs on Knowledge about HIV/AIDS Knowledge about HIV/AIDS It can be transmitted through unprotected sex It can be transmitted from mother to child during child birth It can be transmitted through breast feeding a child by an infected mother. It can be transmitted through blood transfusion. It can be transmitted through physical contact. It can be transmitted through needle sharing. It can be transmitted through mosquito bites. It can be transmitted by caring for an AIDS patient. Having multiple sexual partners makes you vulnerable to HIV/AIDS AIDS can be cured Having STIs predisposes to HIV infection. Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2008

Yes N % 92 74.7 112 91.0

N 31 11

No % 25.3 9.0

83

67.4

40

32.6

116 03 118 107 51

94.3 2.5 95.9 86.9 41.5

07 120 05 16 72

5.7 97.5 4.1 13.1 58.5

74

60.2

49

39.8

39 96

31.7 78.1

84 27

68.3 21.9

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Working conditions of FMSWs A detailed analysis in Table 2.2 shows that 74.7% of the respondents were regular sex workers and 25.3% were doing it occasionally. On the classification of the working conditions, the majority of the respondents (61.7%) were organized or formal while the remaining 38.3% were not organized or formal. This means that the majority of the sex workers have controllers3 and managers who generally act as clearly-defined, powerholding intermediaries between the sex workers and clients, and often between both and the local authorities (UNAIDS 2009) while those who do not have controllers usually find their clients through independent means, such as social networking sites on the internet. On the modes of soliciting clients, 62.6% of the respondents are freelance sex workers, 21.9% are brothel-based, while the remaining 15.5% use independent means such as mobile telephones, the internet, or placing adverts in Hotels and magazines. The number of clients that almost half (46.4 %) of the respondents see during a typical working day is between 10 and 15. The contribution of a 24-year-old FMSW who is a freelance sex worker further explains the situation thus: Having a madam as a manager is like having a slave driver or task master. The demands are high. We (freelance sex workers) are the least paid but we deal with the maximum number of clients.

In contrast to the above, a brothel-based FMSW said: It is better to have a manager because you are incorporated into an existing social/sexual network and you are protected from the police, especially when you are undocumented.

Although all the informants agreed that having a manager improves the working conditions of FMSWs since they are usually the first contact they have to put them through on arrival, they still argued that the informal or not organized classification puts them at liberty to decide on the number of clients they see per day and on the mode of soliciting their clients.

3

“Controllers” is the preferred term to “pimps”.

Chapter Two

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Table 2.2 - Working Conditions of Respondents Working Conditions Regular Occasional Formal/Organized Informal/not organized Freelance/Street worker Brothel based Others* Between 1 - 4 Between 5 – 9 Between 10 – 15 Above 15

N 92 31 76 47 77 27 19 18 33 57 15

% 74.7 25.3 61.7 38.3 62.6 21.9 15.5 14.6 26.8 46.4 12.2

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2008. * Others include mobile telephone, internet, placing adverts in hotels and magazines

Legal Status of FMSWs Figure 2.1 shows the legal statuses of the FMSWs. 77.2% of the 123 respondents were documented while 22.8% were undocumented. Fig. 2.1 - Percentage distribution of respondents by legal status Undocumented; 28; 27%

Documented; 75; 73%

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2008

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Sexual Behaviours of FMSWs As shown in Table 3, 82% of the sexual acts performed by the respondents were peno-vaginal. Oral sex was often practised as a pre- penetration stimulant but when demanded fully by clients it attracts additional charges. Table 2.3 - Sexual behaviours of respondents Yes

Sexual behaviours Condom use Drug use prior to sex with clients Peno-Vaginal sex Oral sex Anal sex

N 119 67 101 89 51

No % 96.7 54.5 82.1 72.4 41.5

N 04 56 22 34 72

% 3.3 45.5 17.9 27.6 58.5

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2008.

Testing of Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: Ho: r = that the working conditions of FMSWs are not significantly related to their sexual behaviours. Hi: r = that the working conditions of FMSWs are significantly related to their sexual behaviours. This hypothesis was formulated to examine whether a relationship exists between the working conditions of FMSWs and their sexual behaviour. Using a chi-square test to examine the relationship, the result shows that at a 0.05 level of significance, the calculated value (x2c) is 17.903, which is greater than the table value. Therefore, this rejects the null hypothesis. This shows that the working conditions of FMSWs determine their sexual behaviours. This is consistent with findings in a study conducted by Ferguson and Morris (2007). They reported that the conditions in which sex work occurs may have a profound impact on HIV risk and vulnerability. Hypothesis 2: Ho: r = that the legal status of FMSWs has no significant influence on their working conditions. Hi: r = that the legal status of FMSWs has significant influence on their working conditions.

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Using a chi-square test, the calculated value (x2c) is 37.662 at a 0.05 level of significance. This is greater than the table except the alternate hypothesis. This implies that the legal status of respondents influences their working conditions. This is validated by the findings of UNAIDS (2009) that documented and undocumented migrants working in sex work often face particularly severe access barriers as a result of linguistic challenges, exclusion from the services that are available locally, and minimal contact with support networks. All these invariably affect their working conditions, i.e. the types and classifications, and the modes of soliciting for clients. Hypothesis 3: Ho: r = there is no significant relationship between knowledge of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviours of FMSWs. Hi: r = there is a significant relationship between knowledge of HIV/AIDS and sexual behaviours of FMSWs. With all other factors held constant, the hypothesis above examines whether knowledge of HIV/AIDS is directly related to sexual behaviours of FMSWs or not. The result of the chi-square test shows that X2c is 134.38 which is less than the table value. Hence, we reject the alternative hypothesis and accept the null hypothesis. This means that knowledge of HIV/AIDS as a factor does not determine the sexual behaviour of FMSWs.

Conclusion / Recommendation This study reveals some barriers to safer sexual practices among FMSWs. The active participation of sex workers in promoting safe sex practices that will lessen the spread of HIV/AIDS is essential. It is recommended that existing policies be reviewed consistently, and that consensus be built among all stakeholders on the nature, content, and extent of sexual and reproductive health and on the services which best meet FMSWs needs.

Bibliography Bindman, J. 1997, Redefining Prostitution as Sex Work on the International Agenda, London: Anti-Slavery International. Chardin, C. 1999, “Access to New Treatments for Migrants Living with HIV and AIDS: The Policy Maker’s Point of View – the Political and Juridical Situation in France”. In Access to New Treatments for Migrants Living with HIV and AIDS: Second Annual Seminar,

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National Focal Points, European Project AIDS and Mobility, edited by Clarke K. and Broking G., 15. D’Antuono, A., Andalo F., Carla, E. and De Tommaso S. 2001, “Prevalence of STDs and HIV infection among immigrant sex workers attending an STD centre in Bologna, Italy”, Sexually transmitted infections 77 (3), 220. Decosas, J. and Adrian, A. 1997, “Migration and HIV”, AIDS, 2, 577–584. Ditmore, M.H., ed, 2006, Encyclopaedia of Prostitution and Sex Work U.K., Westport: Greenwood Press. Giuliani, M., Suligoi, B., and The Italian STI Surveillance Working Group, 2004, “Differences Between Non-national and Indigenous Patients with Sexually Transmitted Infections in Italy and Insight into the Control of Sexually Transmitted Infections”, Sexually Transmitted Diseases 31 (2), 79–84. Hartney, E. 2009, What is Sex Work?, www.addictions.aboutcom/od/dailylifewithaddiction/g/sexwork.htm. Hiltunen-Back, E., Haikala, O., Koskela, P., Vaalasti A., Reunala, T. 2002, “Epidemics due to imported syphilis in Finland”, Sexually Transmitted Diseases 29, 746–51. Hope, K.R. 2000, “Mobile Workers and HIV/AIDS in Botswana”, AIDS Analysis Africa 10, 6–7. Ibanez, R. F. C. 1998, “Breaking Borders: Migration and HIV/AIDS” AIDS action, Issue 40, July–September, 1998. ILO Migrant Workers, International Labour Conference 87th Session 1999, Report 111 (Part 1B). Geneva, 1999. ILO. The importance of considering Gender Issues in Migration, http://www.ilo.org/public/english/protection/migrant/projects/gender/in dex.htm Li, X., Fang, X., Lin D., Mgo, R., Wang, J., Cottrell, L., Harris, C., and Stanton, B. 2004, “HIV/STD Risk Behaviours and Perceptions among Rural to Urban Migrants in China”, AIDS Education and Prevention, 16, 538–556. Lurie, M.N., Williams, B.G., Zuma, K., Mkaya-Mwamburi, D., Garnett, G., Sturm, A.W., Sweat, M.D., Gittlesohn, J., and Abdoo/Karim S.S. 2003, “The Impact of Migration on HIV-1 Transmission in South Africa: A Study of Migrant and Non Migrant Men and their Partners”, Sexually Transmitted Diseases 30, 149–146. Mak, R., ed, 1996 EUROPAP: European intervention projects on AIDS prevention for prostitute Gent, Academia Press http://www.europap.net

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Matteelli, A., Beltrame, A., Carvalho, A., Casalini, C., Forleo, M., Gulletta, M. et al., 2003, “Chlamydia trachomatis genital infection in migrant female sex workers in Italy”, International Journal of STD & AIDS, 14, 591–595. Melina News, 2001. Potterat, J.J., Muth, S.Q. and Brody, S. 2000, “Evidence Undermining the Adequacy of the HIV Reproduction Number Formula”, Sexually Transmitted Diseases 27, 644–645. Singhanetra Renard, A. 1994, Population Movement and the AIDs epidemic in Thailand, Paper Presented at the ISUUP Seminar on Sexual Subcultures and Migration in the Era of AIDS/STDS, Bangkok, Thailand. Strong, B., De Vault, C., Sayad, B.W., and Yarber, W.L. 2005, Human sexuality: Diversity in contemporary America, Boston: McGraw-Hill. The EPI_VIH Study Group, 2002, “HIV infection among people of foreign origin voluntarily tested in Spain. A comparison with national subjects”, Sexually transmitted infections 78, 250–254. UNAIDS, 2002, Sex Work and HIV/AIDS, http://data.unaids.org/publications/IRC-pub02/jc705-sexwork-tu_en.pdf Wikipedia, Sexual Network, www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/sexual_network//References. Yang, H,; Li; X; Stanton, B; Fang; X.; Lin; D.; Mao, R; Liu, H.; Chen, X., and Severson, R. 2005, “Workplace and HIV-Related Sexual Behaviours and Perceptions among Female Migrant Workers”, AIDS care, 17(7), 819–833.

CHAPTER THREE WOMEN, SOCIALITY, AND LANGUAGE: REFLECTIONS ON THE OBSERVATION OF A GROUP OF NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE WOMEN IN PALERMO, ITALY ANNA GERMANA BUCCA

Without context, words and actions have no meaning —G. Bateson The other is a critical resource for oneself —E. Said

Italy is a multicultural country: beyond the specific connotations that can be attributed to this term, and the various approaches orienting individuals and societies towards different models of reference (assimilationist, integrationist, multicultural, community, intercultural), “multicultural” – in its basic meaning – indicates the combination and coexistence of cultures. Consequently, Italy, with nearly 40 years of immigration in the recent past and 5 million foreign residents,1 7.5% of the total population, should be considered multicultural. This does not mean that prior to the arrival of immigrants our cities and/or society were monocultural or homogeneous: naturally, in every culture, different value systems coexist, and there are settlements whose origins can be traced back to other people, places, and languages. Foreign immigrants have not created multiculturalism, they have simply made it more visible: they have modified the social and cultural complexity, adding new differentiations to those that already existed, and rendering them more evident. 1

According to the Istat survey published on 22 September 2011, there were 4,570,370 foreign residents in Italy as of 1 January 2011.

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If Italy is multicultural, of course, Palermo is as well, though the numbers are lower: 20,000 people of foreign origin out of 650,000 total inhabitants,2 or 3% of the total population of the city. Nevertheless, the images of Palermo reveal a city that, in certain neighbourhoods, is definitely multicultural. Despite these figures, neither Italy in general, nor Palermo specifically, can be considered intercultural places. Even if the the first major influx of foreign immigrants in Italy dates back to the second half of the 70s – and is not, therefore, a recent phenomenon – the institutional approach to immigration has always been characterized as an emergency response, never as a structural and natural phenomenon in the history of the human race. The sociologist Maurizio Ambrosini expressly discusses an implicit Italian model, since it is not planned and not consciously constructed by institutions, but is characterised […] by a permanent lack of institutional preparation, by the tendency to define and manage the question in terms of emergency. (2000, 20)

The education of the other and intercultural communication Yet still, Italy or at least some parts of the country have given the impression that people are conscious of the changes that will result from the growth of the immigrant population. Education has been the first sphere to grasp the structural character of this migratory phenomenon, addressing it both in terms of adult education, as well as interventions directed towards new students; the themes of welcoming new foreign students and intercultural education have been the topic of two ministerial circulars from the end of the eighties: L.301/89 and L.205/90. Associations and volunteers have also played an important role, and were among the first to perceive the need to prepare for the possible development of racism in people’s behaviour. The early years of general silence were met with a concrete movement of criticism and solidarity, and the construction of opportunities for coexistence: the first solidarity camp in support of immigrant labourers harvesting tomatoes was set up in September 1989, in Stornara, in the province of Foggia; the first national antiracism protest was attended by 300,000 people in Rome on 7 October

2

According to the Istat survey, developed by Tuttialia.it, there were 20,252 foreign residents in Palermo as of January 1, 2011, and they represent 3.1% of the resident population, which equalled 656,081.

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1989; the labour camp at Villa Literno occurred the following year; then followed the establishment of the association “Nero e non solo”. Greater awareness of the processes underway in Italy was particularly to be attributed to the tragic assassination at Villa Literno of Jerry Essan Masslo, who was killed on the night of August 24, 1989, during a raid made by several youths from the area, who also injured a number of other immigrant labourers sleeping in the peripheral shantytown. Masslo was a South African political refugee: “There was still apartheid in his country. Nelson Mandela had been in prison for 26 years, and would be freed the following year. Several days before he died, Masslo was interviewed for a TG2 Special Report. ‘My real problem, what I experienced in South Africa’ – he said – ‘I don’t want to live again in Italy. No black person, no African can forget what racism is, and I am experiencing it here’. Here was villa Literno, [which contained] ten thousand inhabitants and 8000 immigrants in the summer months”.3 Nevertheless, institutional policy tried to account for the transformations underway in the Italian context. The legislation created between 1990 and 1998 ignored two crucial issues: the right to claim asylum and reforms of citizenship laws. They had proved insufficient to stem the rise of “special rights for immigrants” configured at the end of the nineties and promoted in public opinion by a change of orientation in the media and the means of mass communication. Following the initial solidarity of the late eighties, a shift occurred in which immigrants were referred to with an attitude of annoyance and siege syndrome, beginning in March 1991, which marked the start of the flow of Albanians fleeing the difficult living conditions and the economic and political crisis in their home country. From 1998 on, institutional migratory policies have undergone an inexorable decline. One of the lowest points occurred in 2009 with the socalled “security package”,4 a law that, despite article 3 of the Italian Constitution, established a division of the population between native Italians, who have more rights, and foreigners, who have fewer. Yet at the end of the seventies, when the migratory phenomenon had begun in Italy, the linguist Massimo Vedovelli pointed out in an article the risks connected with refusing to acknowledge or marginalizing the issue. 3 R. Bolini, “How Masslo’s death changed my life”, in Liberazione, 28 August 2005. In South Africa Masslo had already lost his father, who disappeared after an interrogation by the police, and his 7-year-old daughter, who was struck by a stray bullet during a protest. 4 This law is the Legislative Decree DDL 773-b.

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Asserting that every social integration involves linguistic integration, Vedovelli investigated forms of communication between natives and nonnatives. Through reference to the experiences of other nations, he hypothesized the diffusion of linguistically simplified “foreign talk” in our territory as a means of communication between natives and non-natives. Vedovelli also noted the risk connected with linguistic usage that could carry “a strong racial charge, accentuated by the presumed ‘biological’ and social distance between two individuals”. As such, “it will be necessary to examine how we Italians behave when we communicate with a foreigner”. By hypothesizing that Italy could benefit from the experiences of other countries, Vedovelli’s article concludes with a series of questions of great contemporary relevance: Shall we be able to escape racial tensions? Or fears that our society will be “corrupted”? Shall we be able to consider immigrants as equal to other citizens? Shall we be able to give them the instruments to live with dignity in Italy? (Vedovelli 1981, 21)

The present study plans to pursue the paths of research that Vedovelli suggested 30 years ago. In fact, the comments above regarding Italy as generally multicultural but not intercultural seem even truer when one progresses from mere snapshots of the present to more in depth observations of the forms of communication that are established between natives and non-natives. If we do not already live in an intercultural relational dimension, it is even more difficult to become intercultural in our communication. The conversation presented below was observed during a workshop in a Palermo school attended by Italian and foreign women and is part of a larger research project. The analysis of the conversation will reflect on the forms of communication that are activated when the dynamic between natives and non-natives is at play, on the structure of communication, and on how prejudices and stereotypes can influence processes of communication. Beyond investigating the sphere of declared and enacted prejudice, this research explores less evident mechanisms through the analysis of conversations in various contexts, and seeks to examine how prejudices and stereotypes act on an unconscious level in daily communication. In particular, attention is focused on identifying and promoting integration processes in order to verify if, and to what extent, the quality of interaction between subjects is consistent with their explicitly declared intentions, or if, on the other hand, they have the opposite effect (establishment of relationships of power, devaluing conduct).

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In fact, the type of communication that is established between a local and a foreigner usually tends to follow a model of complementary communication, according to a one up/one down scheme in which one party dominates the other, and in which the immigrant assumes a situation of inferiority. Within this power imbalance, the importance and difficulty of intercultural communication is clearly evinced.

Intercultural communicative competence Communication, as a strategic interaction, requires communicative competence: knowledge, resources, modalities, capacities, and abilities that come into play when one communicates with another person. It goes beyond the simple exchange of information and becomes an interpersonal exchange in which each interlocutor interacts socially in an attempt to understand the other. Linguistic competence as such is just one of the capacities that are used for communicating in an effective way. Within intercultural communicative competence, the different backgrounds of the speakers have a particular importance. Intercultural communication is characterised as such by the overlapping and interweaving of various communicative competencies that, even if they are effective in their contexts of origin, can prove ineffective in other situations. One must therefore begin by understanding the relativity of one’s own culture and the idea that awareness is constructed through communication and the constant negotiation of meanings, which are prerequisites for an exchange and for the reciprocal enrichment that leads to a redefinition of one’s communicative competencies. Our daily interactions are based on a combination of implicit procedures and interpretative frameworks, which are applied automatically. Meeting a foreigner can cause gaps in these procedures, which are no longer valid if the other person follows a different set of rules and frameworks: this can lead to ambiguity, incomprehension, misunderstanding generated by strictly linguistic difficulties,5 an insufficient body of common knowledge, cultural differences, concepts that are taken for granted, or, as often happens, a combination of these elements. 5

Sometimes excessive importance is placed on incomprehension linked to linguistic barriers, and less on knowledge of context, actuating extreme simplification procedures of the morphosyntactic structure of phrases, such as infinitive verbs, a lack of agreement, use of invariable forms, and syllabication of words, which cause embarrassment for the foreign citizen. See Vedovelli M., “Foreign immigration in Italy between language and society”, in Demetrio D. et al., Far from where. The new immigration and its cultures, Milan 1990.

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In these cases, and also generally speaking with respect to communicative processes, it is useful to engage in a theoretical and practical reflection on the concept of intercultural communicative competence. This concept is understood as the capacity to achieve reciprocal adaptation among speakers and is “characterised by (among other things) the process, activated by all participants, that is aimed at reaching agreement in the given circumstances” (Zorzi 1996, 49). Observations of various intercultural encounters, studies on verbal and nonverbal interactions among speakers of different languages, and analyses of micro-sociological conversations have focused attention not only on the propositional contents of utterances, but also on silences, interruptions, overlapping, laughter, and modalities of beginning and ending exchanges, “which demonstrate the difficulty of establishing and maintaining conversational cooperation due to the differences of cultural background and conventions of communication” (Zorzi 1996, 50). Comprehension problems as such can become almost insuperable unless the point of view is de-emphasized, and a process based on the exchangeability of perspectives activated. Perhaps, it would be easier to lay the basis of effective communicative action directed to reciprocal knowledge and understanding if it were possible to substitute stereotyped portrayals of cultural traits with representations that are not distorted by the other. The question of differences should be based on distinctions among individuals as people, and not as immigrants.

An intercultural program in a Palermo school: the context of the intervention During the 2011/12 school year at F.P. Perez primary school, located in the Oreto/Stazione neighbourhood, activities related to the project “Worldround: Constructing a Bridge for Cultural Polyidentity” were carried out. That project was approved by the School Board, coordinated by the academic director Laura Pollichino, and financed within the sphere of the National Operative Programs for the school. Oreto is a fairly heterogeneous neighbourhood from a social, economic and cultural perspective. There are many students of foreign origin, and the school has been running welcome and education programmes for years. The research process fell exactly within the work plan and the formative offerings of the school, and particular attention was paid to the activities for parents. In fact, one of the long-term objectives of the project was to increase parents’ opportunities for socialization, particularly neighbourhood women.

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The intervention activities of the project, which began in September 2011, and carried out over a 10-month period, focused on the promotion of intercultural education activities, development of the linguistic competence of foreign students through the study of Italian as a second language, and the development and expansion of contexts for linguistic and cultural mediation and interreligious dialogue. The project network, based out of the school, was partnered with the University of Palermo through its School of Italian for foreigners. As described during the interview drafting phase, “the diverse components of the project are held together by several salient points that constitute the spirit and the ultimate purpose of the project: the need, firstly , to involve the subjects circulating in various roles within the school universe – student, teacher, and parent – and place them in relation to one another; and the vision of foreign students as a resource within a scenario of intercultural exchange. Foreign students offer the contributions of other cultures, the sharing of which is certainly an opportunity for the growth, enrichment and integration of knowledge and for sharpening the critical sense of all people involved”.6 With respect to this last action, which involved parents, three 40-hour programs were implemented, run by three different cultural mediators. The stated objectives of these three interventions were: “to facilitate a global integration process of students involving their families; to facilitate integration of the family members of foreign students; to improve the role of women in the integration process of their children; to facilitate the meeting of cultures through a meeting of religions, habits, customs, and culinary traditions; to develop a physical and mental space within the school where parents could meet with the assistance of external experts; and to understand current regulations in order to make optimal use of public and private services for foreigners”.7

Intercultural workshops Among the various activities undertaken, observation focused on meetings involving parents of foreign and Italian students. The “Parents’ Space” workshops were observed in their entirety, and the “Intercultural English” workshop was observed in part. Both workshops were directed to the parents of primary and kindergarten students of both branches of the school (the main branch on via Perez and the Oreto branch on via Oreto). 6 7

Project form. Ibid.

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Although they were open to all parents, only the students’ mothers enrolled in the workshops.8 The “Parents’ Space” workshop ran from 19 January to 15 March 2012, and consisted of 16 bi-weekly 2-hour meetings, held on Tuesdays from 8:30am to 11:00am and Thursdays from 11:00am to 1:30pm. The workshop was run by Nathera, a cultural mediator and architect of Kurdish Iraqi origins, who was assisted by a tutor chosen by the school, Maria, who also worked as a teacher in the school. Eight people attended the workshops regularly, all of whom were women: Agata, Afi, Binta, Daniela, Marcella, Meryam, Claudia, and Serena. The participants were natives of Palermo (4), Reggio Calabria (1), Casablanca (1) and Algiers (2).9 The “Intercultural English” workshop ran from 15 March to 24 April 2012, and consisted of bi-weekly 4-hour meetings, held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:10am to 12:10pm. The workshop was run by Lay, a cultural mediator and teacher of Senegalese origin, who was assisted by two tutors chosen by the school: Maria, who also tutored the “Parents’ Space” workshop, and Luigi. The workshop was attended regularly by nearly the whole group of women from the previous workshop (only Daniela did not attend) as well as 4 other people: Carmela, Lidia, Lina and Salvina.10

Notes on the modality of observation In the pre-selected modalities of observation, the subject’s point of view is not considered an interference, or an element that spoils objective research data. Reality is not treated as something that is independent from the position of the observer, but is constructed through the relationship and the encounter between the observer and the subject of observation. In the process the “human factor” also plays a role, and according to Hutten this change of paradigm, with the problems that it poses in terms of objectivity and certainty, began with Freud and Einstein: the observer is no longer a “pure eye” that analyses an immutable reality and registers external stimuli, rather becoming the constructor of reality. The relationship between observer and observed transforms both, and paradoxically this interaction determines the objectivity of the observation: knowledge 8

One father did fill out a registration form, but he didn’t participate in any of the meetings. 9 The names of the workshop participants have been changed. 10 Here again the names have been changed.

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comes from the meeting of subject and object, from the observer’s interaction with past and present contexts and traditions in relation to his or her own time and space. Some of the fundamental elements of the ecological approach include a multidisciplinary treatment of human behaviour, more attention to qualitative rather than to quantitative data, and observation within the complexity of the context: reality is interpreted as a frame in which people, objects, and situations are classified according to cognitive and emotional categories. Learning therefore occurs in relation to and through interaction with others. Observation should be viewed as “a basic mental attitude, achieved through experience and continuous training enabling the observer to situate him- or herself in front of reality in order to discover its essential and generally hidden connotations, while fully aware that he or she is not outside the observed field of reality” (Brutti and Scotti 1980, 57). Such observation determines knowledge and passes through perceptive processes, and the experiences and imagination of the observer play a significant role. The observation was conducted through 4 stages that are described as infra: data collection, transcription, record management, and data analysis.

“Parents’ Space” workshop activities During this workshop, the group of women participated in a variety of activities. The first few meetings were dedicated to constructing the group, which had a variable composition for the first two weeks, until a core group of 8 mothers was established who regularly attended the sessions. The “Parents’ Space” was conceived as an open space for discussion and exchange among a variety of points of view on stereotypes, prejudices and different lifestyles. The objectives of this workshop were partially achieved through the use of several didactic instruments, including films, group cooking, and a group tour of Palermo that visited secular, Catholic, Muslim, institutional, monocultural, and multicultural sites, during which the women were encouraged to engage in dialogue together. The common language spoken by participants was Italian, which was the mother tongue for most of the group. Observation of the group was carried out during the three months of the workshop. Eleven of the 16 meetings were observed. Observation was participatory in nature. Notes were taken by hand, reconstructing the workshops at the end of each session. The presence and role of the observer were clearly explained to the participants prior to the workshop.

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It was clear from the outset that several points related to encouragement of the group to interact would need to be addressed. Despite the circular setup that was used during all sessions, the group had the tendency to aggregate in small groups. In particular, it was difficult to separate a couple of friends from Palermo and the small group of Maghrebi women. Another challenge that arose was related to the management of conversations: it was difficult to enforce respect for the rules of speaking in turn, and as a result the most reserved people and those with a lesser command of Italian had more difficulty interjecting during discussions. At the beginning of the workshop, physical separation between Italians and foreigners within the space was noted. As the activities proceeded and greater reciprocal knowledge and trust developed within the group, these dynamics slowly changed, both in terms of balance during meetings and in terms of the modalities of dialogue. Some more stereotypical phrases that had characterized the early meetings gave way to attempts at mutual understanding and reciprocal adjustment, such as that which emerges in the following example: - A: “it’s a beautiful city, but there are many people who don’t go”; B: “they should make a neighbourhood for just them, not to be racist” (26/01/2012, activity of describing one’s own neighbourhood); - A: “They say that in Sicily the gypsies steal children”; B: “yes, but they say that because it has happened” (9/02/2012, discussion on immigration); - A: “We have to feel their prejudice”; B: “Against us?”; A: “Against? Why against?” (16/02/2012, discussion on family, children, and education, after viewing the film “Almanya: My family is going to Germany”). During the workshop, an awareness that there is a different modality for addressing foreigners that makes use of foreign talk becomes apparent during the first conversations: A: “For example, I don’t understand why people talk to foreigners as if they were deaf and with unconjugated verbs, as if they look down on them, like “you – understanding?” However, this awareness is quickly undermined in practice. The same woman who made the above statement turned immediately thereafter to one of the foreign women and spoke to her slowly and using a highly simplified phrasal structure.

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While maintaining to a certain extent the us/them distinction, over time the relationships within the group changed and the dialogue evolved in the direction of group cohesion. In this respect, it is interesting to note the unanimous narration by all participants of an incident that occurred at the school, in which all the women noted that an Italian mother had tried to shift responsibility for what had happened to the parents of a foreign child.11 Episodes related to linguistic ambiguities and misunderstandings that occurred during the workshop are also interesting. One was narrated during the meeting of 26/01/2012 by one of the participants who had moved from Calabria to Palermo after getting married: “Palermo was a shock for me. Now I’ve more or less gotten used to it […]. When my mother-in-law said the word “blended” to me, I was offended because in Calabria it is an insult”. Another occurred during the workshop of 28/02/2012. During a discussion about ingredients to bring in order to make Kurdish dolma and complete the pot,12 Marcella turned to Nathera and asked who would bring the “mappine”. Marcella was talking about the dish cloths (“mappina” in Sicilian dialect), but Nathera thought she was asking her to bring a map of Kurdistan (she understood “mappina” to mean small map). The episode demonstrates that understanding of events and phrases is influenced by cultural background. For Nathera – despite the context and the preparation of food – her place of birth, Kurdistan, exercises a strong influence; for Marcella the priority refers to the context in which the participants are found at that moment, i.e. the organization of a meal and the preparation of the tools needed, including dish cloths, which is also her daily context of reference since she is a homemaker.

“Intercultural English” workshop activities The regular group from the “Parents’ Space” workshop, as well as four other women, participated in the “Intercultural English” workshop in the months of March and April. The purpose of the workshop, which began on 15 March and concluded on 24 April , was to teach English, a foreign language of which most participants had little knowledge. The teaching method was interactive, with the direct involvement of participants, and 11

This is a classic example, regarding the spread of lice within the class: the mother of the child who gave lice to the others denied that her son had ever had lice, and accused the foreign students of having spread it to the rest of the class. 12 The pot was an intercultural cooking activity in which each participant brought one ingredient and all together they prepared the base for Kurdish dolma, which they then completed at home. The activity was carried out on 13/03/2012.

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attention to the intercultural aspects of conversations through discussions related to culinary habits, festivals, and education of children. The main language used was English, with the exception of certain moments in which Italian was used in order to resolve incomprehension and misunderstandings. English, which is not the mother tongue of any of the participants (Italian or Arabic), constituted a new field of experimentation and reciprocal learning. Comparison between the two observations that were carried out during the workshops allowed for reflection on the important role that the spoken language plays in relationships’ dynamics.

Observation of the “Intercultural English” Workshop: from data collection to conversational analysis Data Collection Observation of the group regarded a single meeting. As a result, data collection occurred during the last workshop, on 24 April 2012, from 8:30am to 9:20am (video recordings were also made for about 46 minutes of the workshop). Eleven participants were present, as well as the cultural mediator and the tutor. An audio-video recording was taken with a mobile video camera that followed the interactions of the workshop participants. This was a participatory observation, and was declared and authorized with the permission of the School Board and all the participants. The audio-video recording was most likely facilitated by the fact that the researcher had previously assumed the role of participatory observer with most of the “Intercultural English” workshop participants during their experience in the “Parents’ Space” workshop, and was therefore already perceived as part of the group a month prior to the second workshop. This shared experience created the conditions for a certain level of familiarity among the tutor, the participants, and the observer, which seems to have allowed participants to feel less intruded upon by the presence of an outside subject who observed and recorded their verbal and nonverbal interactions during the 24 April meeting. The term “data” is intended, with reference to the explanation of Gabriele Pallotti (1999), as “the representation of events that analysts collect in order to conduct their research: they can be audio-video recordings, field notes, and even memories; […] in the branch of research that falls under ‘conversation analysis’ strictu sensu, the only data admitted is recordings”.

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Transcription The system of transcription used with respect to verbal language, the socalled Jeffersonian model named after its creator Gail Jefferson (see Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson, 1974), is among the most noted and widely used models of conversational analysis. One of the first models to be proposed, it is used as a reference by other subsequently developed models, it presents a “medium” level of complexity (more information than some systems, and less than others), and has good comprehension characteristics, readability, reliability, internal consistency, and flexibility, which are the five criteria that characterize an effective system of transcription.13 The conventions of transcription that have been adopted can be found in Galatolo-Pallotti (1999). This system of transcription is integrated with notes and personal indications of nonverbal aspects. Despite the importance of nonverbal elements in interactions between individuals, an effective system for gathering and transcribing such information has yet to be codified. One such system does currently exist for the observation of children (the CHILDES14 system), but none is available for the modalities of observing adults.15

Record management The audio-video material recorded on 24 April is 46min 11sec long. A full copy of the recording was made on DVD, and six brief clips with an average length of 3min were extracted when there were dialogues among participants. A DVD copy was made of the six clips, and multiple copies were made of the 3min 19sec clip Perez Presentation 1, which constitutes the corpus data analysed in this case study. The records are available on DVD. 13 Other systems of transcription exist that will not be used in the present research, but to which reference should be made for the sake of complete information: Du Bois (1991), Cicourel (1992), and Gumperz and Berenz (1993). 14 The CHILDES (Child Language Data Exchange System) is a record of spontaneous transcriptions of children (usually from 14 months to 4 years of age) who interact with adults in a variety of situations. 15 A system does exist for describing and studying all the aspects of body movement, used mainly by dancers, other performers, and athletes: Labanotation or Laban Movement Analysis (LMA). This system was invented by the Hungarian dancer and theorist Rudolf Laban at the beginning of the last century. However, codified systems for adults that record the interaction between verbal and nonverbal elements do not exist.

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Data presentation and analysis Conversation analysis regards what Sacks and Schegloff define as “everyday talk”, which occurs on a daily basis in both institutional and informal situations. Conversation analysis is based on the principle that dialogue occurs according to systematic mechanisms, that it respects speaking turns and actually “agrees” with who speaks and when. The first to use this method of analysis was Harvey Sacks, who in a 1974 study, conducted together with Schegloff and Jefferson, analyses and describes the management mechanisms of conversational turns. The present analysis regards an informal situation – notwithstanding the fact that it occurred in an institutional/education setting – and is related to a “simulated presentation” that involved an Italian and a foreign participant. During the last day of the workshop, participants were invited to introduce themselves in English in order to demonstrate the skills they had acquired during the workshop. The dialogue analysed is the first of six. One interesting element that emerged was that the relationship dynamics changed according to the linguistic context: some of the difficulties that arose during the “Parents’ Space” workshop, generated by certain participants’ inabilities to explain their ideas or externalize their thoughts in a language that was not their own, were less pronounced when the group had to work in a linguistic context in which all participants were more or less on an equal footing.16 Nonverbal conversation was also modified, and the non-native women, whose bodies seemed more “restricted” in the “Parents’ Space” workshop (linguistic context: Italian) moved more freely in the second workshop, speaking in a more relaxed manner and taking initiative in conversations. Conversation no longer appears to be based on a complementary model of communication in which migrant women were more often in situations of inferiority, as was observed in the conversation that occurred during the “Parents’ Space” workshop. It was rather characterized by increased horizontality, and displayed stronger elements of cooperation. In the corpus data greater cooperation is noted. More than once, it is Meryam who suggests what to say, and in a few cases she repeats these suggestions emphasizing each syllable.17 Moreover, Meryam takes the 16 In the interests of accurate analysis, it should be mentioned that the dialogues between participants in the context of this workshop also addressed less complex issues. 17 Meryam is the person in the group with the least command of Italian, and – based on a summary and informal analysis conducted by the researcher during the

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initiative several times during the conversation, answering the questions that she is asked and then asking her own question: 72 73

Lina Meryam

Where are you from? I am from Morocco. And you?

Meryam’s conversation in English is more confident, and even if she uses a quiet tone of voice, in her usual way, the questions and assertions are always clear and correctly formulated in English, unlike the questions and assertions made by Lina, which are fragmented by pauses, interventions in Italian,18 and requests for help: 58 59 60 61 62 63

Meryam Lina (0.2)

My name is Meryam. And you? ahm (.) ehm (.) Lina, ehm I am is Lina Costa. Ehm (.) Wait. Is::

(0.4) ((turning to the right where Lay is and with her hands in prayer)) come si dice quando:::19

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At the beginning, despite the fact that the two participants have been meeting twice a week for a month, Lina doesn’t remember the name of her dialogue partner and asks Meryam quietly what her name is. Meryam has to repeat her name three times before Lina is able to memorize it: 37 38 39 40 41

Lina Marcella Meryam Lina Meryam

°come ti chiami, non [ricordo°]20 [6 syll] °Meryam° Mery? °Meryam°

workshops – the person with the highest level of education among the participants (degree in computer science and previous work experience in Casablanca). Meryam is aware of her linguistic difficulties, which are probably linked to the fact that she has limited opportunities to socialize with natives. At the beginning of the “Parents’ Space” workshop, on 26/01/2012, she introduced herself as follows: “I have a daughter, I’ve lived in Palermo for 8 years but I don’t speak well”. 18 Portions of the conversation originally expressed in Italian are translated into English and written in italics. 19 English translation : How do you say when. 20 transl: °what’s your name, I don’t [remember°]

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42 43 44 45

(?) Lina Meryam Lina

((voices from the group)) Mery, ((turned to the group)) Mery Meryam ah, Meryam, ahm

The conversation carries on like this. Lina, despite the fact that she pauses to remember the phrases (“I have to do a mental review”, line 24), never says that she has difficulty with English, but seems instead to trace her difficulties to the fact that Meryam speaks very quietly. 83

Lina

84 85

Lay

86 87 88

Lina Lay Lina

((turning to Lay and indicating alternately Meryam and her own ear)) @ (.) 21 Io la sento (da qui) ((lifting her hand to her ear))22 Io no23 ah ah ah parla pian piano24 ((making a motion with her hand from high to low))

Even when it is Lina’s turn to speak, interventions by the cultural mediator, and the constant but discrete help of Meryam and the group are necessary in order to keep the conversation going25:

21

89

Lay

90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97

Lay Serena Meryam Lina Meryam Lina Lay Meryam

Ok. Ha detto I’m from Morocco. E tu cosa dici?26 Eh and [you?] [And you?] # °I am from Italia° I am Italia # ° from Italia° from Italia. [And you?] [Yeah] I am from Morocco.

transl. (.) transl. I hear her (from here) 23 transl. I don’t 24 transl. she speaks so quietly 25 Meryam uses the same speaking volume when she suggests to Lina which sentences to say in English, and in these cases Lina hears her. 26 transl: Okay. She said I’m from Morocco. What do you say? 22

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Still, speaking turns are not respected and more than once the dialogue between the two interlocutors is interrupted when the other women intervene: 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71

Ehm (.) Aspetta27 Is:: (0.4)

Serena Lina Lidia Serena Lina (Lidia)

((turning to the right where Lay is and with her hands in prayer)) come si dice quando28::: Where are you from ((looking back to Meryam)) Ecco29. ((turning to the group)) A::h Whe[re are you from] [>Da dove vieni