“What unites us even today – on the eve of the international day against violence against women – is one battle for freedom, justice and civilization that we cannot afford to lose. A battle to be faced together in defense of every woman forced to live in unacceptable conditions of fear, danger, loneliness or shame. To protect families. Protecting decades of struggles against inequalities and discrimination and conquests in terms of rights. Because femicides are not just any homicides: they are women killed as women, victims of a violence that feeds on ignorance, prejudice and silence “. This was stated by the President of the Senate, Elisabetta Casellati, speaking at the conference “Women killed by men: the numbers of a massacre. Where are we wrong?”, promoted by the parliamentary commission of inquiry on Femicide, as well as on all forms of gender-based violence.
“Of course – the second position of the State underlined – laws can always be improved. And it is desirable, in this perspective, also a more effective legislative coordination within the framework of the programmatic objectives of the Istanbul Convention. However, it is necessary to be aware that laws alone are not enough
if they don’t change minds first. Why i femicides they are almost never violent crimes, but the apex of an escalation of violence, prevarication and abuse that too often are ignored, underestimated or – worse – not reported. And this is the main weakness of the system. A weakness that we can only heal by intervening on the social and cultural level even before the regulatory one. Otherwise fear and loneliness will continue to prevail. Shame and fear of social judgment will continue to overcome and gender-based violence will in many cases continue to be an invisible enemy that we will only be able to intercept when it is too late “.
“I will never tire of repeating that femicides and stories of gender-based violence must always be told with right words, without falling into the error of using terms such as ‘sick love’ or ‘crime of passion’. These are personal hells that have nothing to do with passion, love or any other feeling. But even more important – Casellati concluded – is to tell the stories that are resolved positively – which are more and more – and to give voice to the testimonies of women who said ‘no’ and they rebelled against the violence, saving themselves and their children, so that they may be an example and instill courage. Above all, it is necessary to bring the issue of gender-based violence into schools and within every educational context “.
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