Le istituzioni locali e il mondo associativo per la costruzione di una rete in materia di cooperazione, cultura di pace, integrazione multietnica, promozione dei diritti umani e della solidarietà fra i popoli.
To stop violence against women
While in Brescia the father of Hina is on trial on the charge of stabbing his daughter and Viosa was killed by her ex-husband in a court of Reggio Emilia, recently in Spain another woman, Setlana, has been killed after being said “no” to her “ex” in a TV programme for “broken hearts”. Violence against women spreads everywhere, especially domestic violence.
In Italy- In Italy violence is the main reason of death or permanent disability of women in the age of 14-50. Last year a million of women suffered from violence: 21% more than the year before. The aggressors are not far to seek: according to the Istat data, 62% of women were abused by a partner or a familiar person, 68% are victims of sexual violence committed by husbands, relatives or boyfriends… It is referred mainly to high school and university graduates, women well inserted in society, women who probably paid dearly for their natural wish of emancipation and autonomy, like Hina, Viosa, and many others beaten to death by loved ones, the men who do not manage to accept refusals, who want to impose their power. That is why it is important to immediately denounce threats and persecutor behaviour of an (ex) partner – the first alarm bell of the situations that can lead to punches, blows, and rapes.
Stalking- The Istat has registered 2.077.000 cases of persecutory behaviour – stalking. Threats, homophobia, persecutions, which often degenerate to physical violence. On November 14, 2007 stalking was finally stated in the Criminal Code: the Justice Commission of the Parliament provides a punishment of imprisonment from 6 months to 4 years to “anyone who repeatedly, with any means, threatens or molests in a way such as to inflict a serious psychological damage or rather to provoke a justified fear to a personal security or security of a close person or, no matter how, to significantly jeopardise the way of life”.
International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women- It is an important success, but it is still not enough. 96% of women do not denounce violence immediately, probably, because of fear or inability to recognise reality too difficult to accept. To break the cycle of this silence means to confront and fight together in order to find the strength to respond. Numerous anti-violence centres for women gathered on Saturday, November
Besides an opportunity to meet each other, the demonstration aims to propose new laws guaranteeing better protection also and especially against domestic violence. The laws providing resources for anti-violence centres and proceeding criminally acts of homophobia can reshape our society. In order to do it, however, it is also necessary, to a certain extent, to control modern means of mass communication, advertising, TV, newspapers, magazines, which often present a stereotypical image of women relying on ignorant and violent men. One more task is to search for the help of men, as well as women and anti-violence centres. The persons such as Hina’s father and Viosa’s ex-husband should be exceptions in a really civilised society.
