Jasanti’s journey: getting out of violence and starting over
Jasanti is a young Sri Lankan woman who came to Italy a few years ago to work as a nanny for an Italian family. Although she lived in Italy, she did not speak Italian since her job required only the use of English with the children, and outside the work environment she only hung out with compatriots with whom she spoke in Sinhalese or English.
Jasanti in his hometown frequented the Sri Lankan community within which he met a compatriot to whom he decided to get engaged and subsequently married. The couple followed all the traditions associated with engagement and marriage. During a stint in Sri Lanka, Jasanti got to know her future husband’s family and noticed a severe imbalance in gender roles, with women relegated to a position of inferiority to men.
After her marriage, which took place in Sri Lanka, Jasanti returned to Italy. However, her husband no longer wanted her to work in the Italian family, forcing her to quit her job. From that moment on, her life underwent a drastic change: she was only allowed to hang out with the Sri Lankan community and shop for groceries. She had no access to a cell phone and could not have contact with people outside the community.
Over time, her husband became increasingly violent, both physically and psychologically, whenever Jasanti tried to make a wish or make requests. Desperate and not knowing where to turn, one day she went to the front of the girls’ school she used to look after and asked the lady she worked for for help.
The woman, knowing about the Wasi project, immediately contacted the association for support. The first difficulty was to contact Jasanti without aggravating her situation with her husband. The woman, who knew her address, showed up at Jasanti’s one morning and, using her own cell phone, called the English-speaking psychologist of the Wasi project. After listening to Jasanti’s story, the psychologist arranged a further meeting, also involving an anti-violence center with which the project collaborates.
At first, Jasanti did not feel ready to report her husband, and the meeting ended without being able to initiate concrete action. However, after a month and following further incidents of violence, Jasanti showed up one morning at the ASCS association office asking for help. Immediately, the English-speaking psychologist and then the anti-violence center were contacted again.
Jasanti embarked on a path to protection in a safe house run by the anti-violence center, where she received ongoing psychological support through the Wasi project. Over time, she found the strength to report her husband, who is currently under house arrest.
Having finished her journey with the anti-violence center and the Wasi project, Jasanti found work as a nanny with a family in another city. Despite the distance, she continues to attend the project’s informational meetings, where she has found a community of women ready to welcome her, listen to her and share time together.
Today Jasanti feels stronger, has completed her psychological journey and expressed her desire to go back to study to further improve her economic and personal situation.
