Interpreting violence against migrant and refugee women: feminist approaches to transcultural mediation in Italy

For migrant and refugee women who survive violence, factors such as irregular administrative status, lack of a support system and scarce knowledge of the language of the host country can lead to increased vulnerability (Toledano Buendía 2022). Linguistic assistance provided by community interpreters and transcultural mediators is thus fundamental to grant access to anti-violence centres and break the cycle of violence. To work in these contexts, interpreters and mediators need specific knowledge about violence against women and its implications, the role of gender in societies (Toledano Buendía et al. 2015), know how to manage emotions and trauma and help to create trust (Abril Martí 2015). In Italy, transcultural mediation developed in the Nineties to answer the communicative needs of newly-arrived migrants (Albertini & Capitani 2010); however, mediators are a recent addition to the staff of anti-violence centres (D.i.Re 2020), which have been welcoming a growing number of women with a migratory background in the past years. In these places, a specific gender-sensitive feminist methodology is followed to build trust and support women. Considering the specific needs of survivors of violence with a migratory background, growing efforts are being made in Italy to provide mediators with the specific knowledge needed to work with survivors of violence. Acknowledging that mediators are a crucial communicative bridge for women who, without interpreting, would be exposed to secondary victimisation due to misinformation and lack of access to services caused by language barriers (Toledano Buendía 2021), this contribution will deal with the specifics of mediation and interpreting in contexts of violence against women. After retracing the origins of anti-violence centres in Italy and describing their work methodology, this chapter will focus on the encounter between these spaces and transcultural mediation. Some training courses aimed at educating mediators from a gendered and feminist perspective will be described. To conclude, some considerations on what is referred to in recent literature as Feminist interpreting will be made, highlighting how this approach can be a tool to uphold survivors rights.