November 25 is celebrated International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Since April 16, 2013, when Lucia Annibali was attacked with acid at the behest of her ex Luca Varani, almost ten years have passed, twenty facial reconstructions and untold suffering, which the former lawyer from Pesaro turned day by day into the fight against gender violence. Showing my scars and talking about them in an autobiographical book I’m here. My love storymeeting thousands of students and prisoners, working from the benches of Parliament, where she joined in 2018 with the Democratic Party and then moved to Italia Viva.

In August 2021, for example, he won the approval of an amendment to the enabling law on the reform of the criminal process, which provides for the red-handed arrest of stalkers and rapists who violate the ban on approaching the offended person or leaving the family home. “This is an important measure, but in order to be truly effective, it had to be harmonized with another provision contained in the bill on combating violence against women, introduced in November 2021 by the former ministers of the previous government, which, unfortunately, remained in the Senate. ”, says the former MP, who on September 25 was not re-elected in Tuscany, where he was a candidate for Action – Italia Viva.

Isabella Keith

What did it foresee?

A package of preventive interventions that enhance the protection of victims in the first delicate stage after filing a complaint, filling the gap that occurs after a request for help and anticipating a woman taking responsibility; For example, the possibility of ex officio litigation in the event of violent acts will be introduced, or the strengthening of the electronic bracelet system will be introduced. Luckily, MP Elena Bonetti, a former Minister for Equal Opportunities, proposed it again in this legislature.

Despite laws, information campaigns and awareness raising on this issue, the number of femicides is not decreasing: what are we doing wrong?

It feels like you always arrive too late, that you are not able to provide immediate help, to understand the stories. Afterwards there is always a reason to justify what happens, to say that in a certain case no more can be done, and whenever something else is missing, this leads to a loss of life or a deterioration in its quality. As if there was no conscious reading of what is behind this violence.

What does it refer to?

These reports contain an element of potential danger to which the victim is exposed on a daily basis, in addition to single episodes of violence. Obviously, in the face of a complaint, all necessary checks and investigations must be carried out, but one cannot wait for something to happen before taking action, because this is something we must avoid. And when the woman who denounced goes back in her tracks, we cannot think that the situation has returned, because usually it is exactly the opposite: these stories are made of reflection and retribution, it is a cycle of violence.

The European Commission proposes a law that unifies legislation on gender-based violence and introduces tougher penalties: what do you think?

A European commitment can only give greater strength to the policies of individual states, but in general the issue of tougher penalties does not affect prevention: when we arrest those who commit violence, it is already too late. We have laws in our country, even the so-called Red Code has toughened punishments and introduced new crimes, but, I repeat, I believe that it is necessary to strengthen the protection of those who report.

We are finally starting to talk about economic violence, especially insidious in a time of crisis like this when women pay the highest price…

This little-known type of violence, made up of everyday activities that deprive women of the economic resources of the family, impoverish and isolate them, has become even more relevant since the pandemic, prompting me to push for an amendment to the restart order. will introduce “income from freedom”, economic assistance to victims of violence in need, for which a total of 9 million euros has been allocated. And for which, we hope, new funds will be allocated in the next budget law.

The new Minister for Family Affairs, Fertility and Equal Opportunities, Eugenia Roccella, said that her dicastery, which has long been a landmark for the LGBTQ world, will return to work with women: is this good news?

I think that a woman realizes herself first of all as a person, not necessarily with fertility and the birth of children, so I don’t really like the idea that a woman and a family are indivisible concepts. Equal opportunity is a lot of things, I think it’s important to never separate the problem of violence from everything else, because violence reflects the social and economic structure of a country. However, I hope that you are doing a good job on the issue of rights and equal opportunities, having managed to find resources that can be allocated, which is always a real problem.

Massacre of women

One victim every three days: this was the case in the first half of 2022, when, according to the Crime Control Department of the State Police, 61 women died as a result of intentional homicides, in 53 cases they were involved in crimes in the family and / or emotional, in 21 feminicide, in accordance with the definition of the Istanbul Convention: “Women are killed as women or because they are not the women that society would like.” The perpetrators of most crimes were husbands or cohabitants (56 percent), children or parents (19 percent), ex-husbands or ex-cohabitants (13 percent); in one case, an ex-boyfriend. None of the killers were subject to a warning, restraining order or any other measure of restraint.