Storytelling: Oana Maroti

Barcelona has had a written Strategy for Inclusion since 2017, (better late than ever) with plenty of goals concentrated on women, and many institutions apparently support women. The Strategy is to be applicable until 2027

It´s a town that means business in international education and women's protection, in theory, but is the plan functional? As an immigrant woman, there were too many negative experiences I had to face while working, searching for a flat, having a health problem, or approaching dedicated institutions to not discuss it.

9 years ago I landed in Barcelona with a blue eye and a broken heart. All my life had changed in a matter of weeks. Upon my arrival, after 2 days of travel by bus and traumatic experiences left behind, still dreaming of another type of reality for women than the one I had experienced. Barcelona was a bigger and more European town, in theory, and it had lots of publicity about how important women's rights were here.

I was dreaming of continuing my studies, I had different inclusive education projects I wanted to develop in an international place and an underground magazine I was aiming for people to show, in a more inclusive context. Well, I had so many experiences in these 9 years that it´s hard to start talking about, yet no real opportunity regarding the studies' continuation, work linked to preparation, or the possibility of publishing. I have spent all this time working diverse underpaid jobs, as paying rent is reliant on receiving a monthly consistent payment.

When my defense system lowered and got sick I received more disrespect than care. I have spent all this time among xenophobic and misogynistic remarks. I have spent all this time fighting and trying to put up whether with an absconse and illogic bureaucracy or with social adversity. I was told about a job opportunity and came to work immediately, but there was no job, just a daily fee for using an improvised bed.

My survival instinct increased, I made a fast CV with my 4 years of international cooking experience in Castellano, added my Culinary Arts diploma, left it in all central restaurants I could access, and in 3 days I was offered a job in the city's center. With the papers, it took a little longer and it was more complicated as I had no lawyer money to make it go through faster.

Having a place to sleep, and finding a room on my budget was quite a challenge. In one year and a half, I had been living in 5 different places, being asked for extra rent, and kicking a man´s butt who tried to rape me while visiting a flat. Moreover, I worked but wasn´t paid, had to recuperate my money twice, survived an aggressive spontaneous group attack, was robbed twice, and learned that locals might have nightmares about my family visiting and robbing their credit cards. The last one was a disastrous type of imagery as my parents are incredibly fair people and did not show me how to pass through life taking advantage of others.

Anyways, probably the most consuming thing was working among men only. In 2 different kitchens, I was the only woman, a new and strange situation. On one hand, I could not believe that women were not valued as cooks and as a consequence, they were not preferred to work in the kitchen. On the other hand, I was finding myself working among men, some horny and proud, really annoying. One even had the nerve to manifest opinions about my pants. At first, I had the cultural impression, as it was my first contact with different cultures that are more touchy than mine, and in mine, I´m less touchy than people in general, so the sexual pressure at work, and the constant misogynistic remarks were difficult to handle. The fact I was from Romania and unmarried didn´t help at all.