Voices from the Inside: Lived Experiences of Women Confined in a Detention Center

Abstract

Confined in a Detention Center U nder conditions of mass mobility, migration-related detention has become part of a set of border control measures that are implemented in the majority of countries across the world, particularly in the global North (Bosworth 2014; Bosworth and Kellezi 2014). The proliferation of border zones and detention centers-where various categories of people marked as outsiders are confined pending the adjudication of their statusplays a key role in the government of human mobility and in the continuous production of nation-state and citizenship boundaries (Luibhéid 2005). In spite of growing academic interest in the adverse effects of detention and deportation (e.g., Sobhanian et al. 2006; Robjant, Robbins, and Senior 2009), relatively little attention has been paid to the potential relationships between the violence that affects people in their countries of origin and contemporary immigration laws and policies (Lykes and Hershberg 2015). Even less effort has been devoted to understanding how gender and sexualityalong with race, ethnicity, class, nationality, and geopolitics-shape such relationships, playing a role in the production of particular subjects as excludable and deportable (Lewis 2013). As Eithne Luibhéid (2005) clearly notes, multiaxial differentiations that operate through immigration control regimes not only distinguish citizens from noncitizens but also discriminate among noncitizens themselves, stemming from and reinforcing normative power hierarchies. This research was carried out as a part of Francesca Esposito's doctoral thesis, supported by a scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/ 87854/2012). We would like to thank Maayan Ravid, Rimple Mehta, Gaia Giuliani, Simone Tulumello, and Erica Briozzo for their encouragement for this project by offering their time and insightful feedback, as well as Signs's editor and anonymous reviewers who provided critical comments on this article. We also need to thank the organizers and participants of the workshop "Critical Prison Studies, Carceral Ethnography, and Human Rights: From Lived Experience to Global Action," held at the Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law, where we presented an earlier version of this article, for their generous input and comments. Last, and most important, we are grateful to the BeFree team and to the women we met inside Rome's detention center for sharing their stories and struggles with us.

Ecology of Sites of Confinement: Everyday Life in a Detention Center for Illegalized Non‐citizens

“…We observed women challenging the grayness and impersonality of the environment by painting the walls of their dormitories. They also celebrated releases by singing and dancing altogether, bonding over the joy for the newfound freedom of their comrades (Esposito, Ornelas, Scirocchi, & Arcidiacono, ). Finally, in interviews and conversations, a number of detainees expressed their desire to document their stories.…”

“…As several scholars have argued, the exposure of a particular racialized and class‐based category of people to such conditions is a crucial strategy of contemporary neoliberal capitalism (e.g., Fernandes, ; Khosravi, ). Namely, exploited as a cheap and disposable labor force outside of detention (see Esposito et al, ), inside Ponte Galeria detainees were transformed by the state into a source of profit for the detention industry. As Lassad claimed, “Each life has a price”, and this price, in addition to the fixing of capital in detention centers, gives rise to a thriving business, further incentivizing the perpetuation of detention itself (Esposito et al, 2015a).…”

Gender, Vulnerability and Everyday Resistance in Immigration Detention: Women’s Experiences of Confinement in a Portuguese Detention Facility

“…Existing work on women's experiences of immigration detention in the context of European border control is mostly based on studies carried out in the United Kingdom (UK) Bosworth and Kellezi 2014;Canning 2017; De Angelis 2020 1 ), Greece Pickering 2016, 2018) and Italy (Esposito, Ornelas, Scirocchi et al 2019). This body of work sheds light on the gendered aspects of the lives of women labelled as 'unauthorised non-citizens' before, during and after their confinement.…”

“…Most women whose stories are recounted in these contributions report experiences of gender violence in their countries of origin and in transit. Their experiences range from restrictions on their liberty and selfdetermination related to gendered norms and prescriptions, to forced marriages, domestic violence, and rape (Bosworth, Fili and Pickering 2018;Bosworth and Kellezi 2014;Esposito, Ornelas, Scirocchi et al 2019). To escape these situations and change their lives for the better, women often embarked on difficult journeys to European destinations, during which they were exposed to multiple forms of abuse.…”

“…In some cases, moving to a new country exacerbated their gendered vulnerabilities and powerlessness, as the threat of being apprehended by State authorities and of being deported often prevented women from accessing social and healthcare services. Indeed, and despite the violence they endured, most women were not entitled to any form of legalisation and protection, as they fell outside the narrow categories recognised by the State (e.g., the category of refugee or trafficking victim) (Esposito, Ornelas, Scirocchi et al 2019). The illegalisation they suffered also enhanced their risk of entering abusive and exploitative relations, both intimately and at work.…”