Reduced to slavery after joining her husband, who had migrated to Italy, a Tunisian woman found the courage to report her situation to the authorities. She is now free thanks to the assistance provided by the Amad association, based in the Marche city of Ancona.
A young woman travelled from Tunisia to Italy to join her husband. But after reaching the country to reunite with her spouse, she was locked in the family house and forced to work for her husband and his adult children from a previous marriage. The woman also endured physical abuse.
Alone, without contacts nor money, she ended up in the emergency room of a hospital in Ancona where healthcare operators who treated the bruises on her hands and saw fear in her eyes asked her to tell them what happened. She finally found the courage to reveal her plight and found help and freedom.
Mimì, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, was aided by the social-employment mediation office of the Ancona-based Amad association, which assists women who are victims of abuse in the Marche region, in central Italy.
Volunteers with the Multiethnic Antiracist Women Association spoke about her story, one of many, during the presentation of the results of the first three months of activity of the social-employment mediation desk to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25.
The office is active as part of the We Work project supported by the charity fund of Intesa Sanpaolo bank.
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Woman undergoing training to invest in her skills
After Mimì reported her plight to the Carabinieri police, she was aided by the association Free Woman and assisted by Amad's office.
Operator Isabella Mari helped her find her path and pursue training that will enable her to invest in her skills after enduring so much pain.
The association of social promotion Amad based in Ancona has been active since 2018 and pursues the objective of "building positive relations, promoting self-determination rights for everybody, fighting gender-based discrimination, xenophobia and racism", the association says on its website.
The project We Work was created to "accompany women, youths and migrant people" to find "real tools of autonomy and economic independence".
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Lack of financial independence first factor trapping women
The many cases treated by the association's office have revealed how "economic violence continues to be one of the least recognized forms of abuse" and one of the "most difficult to intercept", affecting both "foreign and Italian women", stressed Amad's volunteers.
"Controlling income, the impossibility of managing expenses and documents, the need to 'ask for permission' for every financial choice are often silent dynamics that deeply undermine personal freedom," they denounced.
In many cases, they explained, "they represent a trap preventing women from leaving dangerous relationships".
Women "don't stay for love" nor for cultural reasons, but because they don't have the means to leave. In addition, "isolation from work and a social network makes it impossible to imagine a future elsewhere and real inclusion", concluded the volunteers.