November 25, 2022, all the violence there is against women

Wilhelmina was suffocated by her husband on 6 January. Vera was stabbed by her ex a few days ago. They are two of 104 female victims of femicide in Italy in 2022 according to the report Prejudice and violence against women. There are 88 feminicides that took place in an emotional or family environment. In 52 cases the perpetrator is the partner or ex, mainly with knives or firearms, but also suffocated and beaten, according to data released by the Interior Ministry. Worldwide, according to the UN, every hour more than five women and girls die in their families, a feminicide every twelve minutes.

November 25 is the international day for the elimination of violence against womenthe date recalls the brutal assassination, which took place in 1960 in the Dominican Republic, at the time of dictator Trujillo, of the three Mirabal sisters.

There are hundreds of demonstrations, conferences and initiatives for the day. In many Italian cities there are billboards of the DOOH campaign for Pangea. The key is there Domestic violence which has different forms: economic, psychological, sexual, physical. It is not always explicit, it is often silent and sometimes normalised. Domestic violence lurks in the relational imbalance between the sexes and in the desire for control and possession by men over women – which cuts across all cultures, social classes, ethnicities, ages, education and income levels.

There isn’t just physical violence against women and there isn’t just one way to stigmatize and fight it. In Bologna the Terraviva Film Festival dedicates an entire day to the topic in collaboration with the DAMSLab of the Alma Mater, addressing the issue from the point of view of gender health, from that of the legal defense of women, from stereotypes, to the world of work up to the representation of violence.

Roberta Paltrinieri, scientific director of DAMSLab explains: «Gender-based violence is a broad phenomenon that also includes the unfair starting conditions, the fewer possibilities. We will talk about victims and perpetrators, but also about all types of violence”. There is also talk of the world of work and the University is the first example: six researchers are equally divided by gender, only 25-30% of women are full professors. «We need paths of awareness for women, but also for men. The younger generations defined as fluid already have greater gender awareness».

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– Without Escape