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Physical punishments can be made by the madam, or in more serious cases,where an example must be given to the other girls, by a man who can have a moreimportant role within the organisation, the role of “hitter”.For those who appear difficult to dominate through physical violence, themethod of a “fine” is used, that is to say the increase of the sum due, of theremaining debt.“In the end I was always at 50, 52 million. The last time before I escaped, whenshe deducted 10 million, I had gone to send money to my mother 600,000 lira;stupidly I had left the receipt in my bag. I sent it with Western Union, alwaysthrough other people, because I did not have a passport, nothing (…) so mymadam was never able to touch my bag, in the beginning she tried, but I attackedher and said «Don’t try»…but she always knew that I was not frightened of her.That time, however, I did not know that he was there; I returned home and foundhim in front of me. He took my bag and found this. I said «I sent my mother600,000 lira, it is not the end of the world» I knew that he could not touch me andso he called her and said «How much has she already given you?» and she «48»,he said «Becomes 38». But he did not touch me. ” (Interview Victim No.7).Control through competition and tip-offsControl of the activities and behaviour of the victims, as has been said, isundertaken through informers, and/or with searches on return to the house. Moreoften, however, it seems that control is exercised on each other by those samevictims, inside the same group of girls who live and/or work together, to assurethemselves favourable treatment by the madam or to avoid some punishment.The two ways generally live side by side, even if some women, probablyreflecting on such a well known experience, maintain that control on the part of theexploiters does not exist and that it is all based on mechanisms of survival andcompetition between the victims.“They are not like the Albanians, there is no one to control, you only have tobring money home. Perhaps there is another girl near you who spies on you.Because I remember once that I gave someone 100,000 lira to give to my mother,and the other girl went and told the pimp. It is not that they come to control,perhaps there is another girl who tells about what you do. She is a spy so she istreated better” (Interview Victim No.2).Elusions and weakening of controlDespite all these series of constrictions and ties, especially after a period oftime, the women manage to elude the controls and keep a space of economic andpersonal autonomy for themselves. They start for example to understand how theycan save money for themselves and have ingenuous solutions to hide their savings.“At the work place you take a tin of coca-cola. you drink, you take an envelope,you put money inside and you throw it on the ground, those watching think that itis a tin of coca-cola, instead there is money inside. You hide it, when you get anidea, you open it” (Interview Victim No.7).