Projects, escapes, returns: the spoken and unspoken words of Moroccan and Tunisian migrant women in Italy

In the academic literature regarding migration studies, the relationship between international mobility and security has received the most attention, while the topic of policies to support assisted voluntary migration (AVRR) for female migrants has remained largely marginal. The lack of adequate consideration of migration policies for women may lead to the continuation of marginalisation patterns. Drawing on 30 interviews with migrant women conducted within the PRIN PNRR We-Propose project, this article investigates their return experiences. Interviews and collected data focus on the tension between migrants’ initial aspirations, the challenges they encountered, and the dynamics of returning to their country of origin, paying attention to both explicit narratives and underlying meanings. The analysis addresses key dimensions of the return process, including personal experiences, access to legal measures, interactions with international organisations, and the migrant women’s framing of their return experience as either a ‘success’ or a ‘failure’. It also explores the motivations for return, considering both push and pull factors. Therefore, the work contributes to a deeper understanding of the specific challenges migrant women encounter during the return process and offers valuable insights for developing more inclusive and gender-sensitive policies in the context of migration and the AVRR processes.