Deception and abuse: Manifold Instances of Proxemic Violence against Sub-Saharan and Eastern-European Women-Immigrants In Sicily

Abstract

Over the past few decades and up until 2017, Sicily has hosted increasing numbers of African fugitives (ANCI et al., 2017) as well as migrants from Eastern Europe, especially after the entry of Romania into the European Union. The aim of the research was to analyse some of the role positions found in gender dynamics among migrants, throwing light on possible processes by which mechanisms of submission to and normalisation of gender based violence seem to have been internalised by these victims of proximity violence, emphasising the viscous links existing between vulnerability, resistance and resilience. Within this markedly multicultural context in Sicily, the researchers carried out a two-part qualitative research project, the first part consisting in participant observation of a number of sub-Saharan women hosted by some oĨ the island’s migrant reception centres, victims of abuse, followed by a set of semi-structured interviews administered to them; the second part consisted in participant observation and some semi-structured interviews with Romanian women involved in outdoor prostitution. The project sought, furthermore, to highlight equivocations surrounding affective action declined in feminine terms and instrumental action in masculine terms, suggesting that proximity may be considered a more “intimate and deceptive” declension of gender based violence.