Three years before Violence against women, we are faced with completely different numbers and data. However, the initial assumption remains the same: we are exposed to huge risks, we target of deadly attacks, we are left in the position of victims of our executioners. Born of those who perceive themselves as a woman, they have always felt a greater sense of danger in their own skin. But if, on the one hand, scenarios that are more often placed at the center of the narrative as more risky (for example, returning home alone at night or getting a car in an underground parking lot, etc. are realistic, on the other hand, it is true that most feminicides are committed by hands men who are part of a family or circle of friends: husbands, companions, fathers, brothers, friends, acquaintances.

There were, as we said, also the worst moments, followed by easy, but not enough, to be able to talk about cultural and social changes and improvements. In May 2020, everything ended tragically: a few months after the start of the pandemic, the non-governmental organization Plan International published a report that described how, with the advent of the pandemic, the situation of girls has sharply and suddenly deteriorated. Elsewhere, like Italy, within days of being forced to give up our old habits to adjust to the rules, having to stay at home with your partner has become very dangerous. You were there to save your life and instead risked your life like in a horror movie.

Markus Lenk on unsplash

In mid-May 2020, eight women were killed in Italy by the men they lived with. Those husbands, boyfriends, companions we talked about. Quarantine was not a cause of violence, but rather an accelerator. In 2021, there was a slight decrease in data on gender-based violence. Istat, which collects all information about calls for help to public utility number 1522 against violence against women and lo the pursuit (maintained and managed by the Department of Equal Opportunity (DPO) under the President of the Council), told us how in the first quarter of 2022, the help centers received fewer calls: from 4,310 to 2,966, or 30% less. . Worse again in 2022: Viminale’s latest report, published on the occasion of the Order and Security Committee, dated August 15, 2022, told us that in the last 365 days 125 femicides were committed in Italy, more than one every three days, more than in the previous 12 months..

Today, the brutal murder of Giulia Tramontano in Milan by her partner and the murder of a police colleague on the outskirts of Rome bring the number of women killed since the beginning of the year to 47: 39 of them are victims of femicides. , almost eight per month. The latest available official data is updated by the Department of Public Security on May 28 in a weekly report published on the Viminale website, a report that therefore does not take into account the last two murders that took place in Senago (Milan). and Rome. In total, 129 murders were recorded in Italy between January 1 and May 28, 2023. There are 45 female victims, of which 37 were killed in the family or emotional sphere. Instead, those who died at the hands of a partner or ex-partner are 22 years old.. But that’s not all: among the unresolved problems in Italy there are also complaints. In fact, according to Istat, “the proportion of women who do not tell anyone about the violence they have experienced is high” and “the reporting rate is 12.2% of intimate partner violence and 6% of non-partner violence.” This makes the situation even more serious than what the numbers compiled so far already show us in black and white.

Following the confession of a friend who confessed to the murder of Giulia Tramontano, Milan assistant prosecutor Letizia Mannella told a press conference, “another tragic story of femicide”, “we women teach that we should never go to the last clarification meeting.” “as happened to a 29-year-old girl who was 7 months pregnant. If I may, unfortunately, this story does not teach us women anything. It does not teach us anything, because from a killer who is part of our life, who may have the keys to our house, who made his life the cause of his premeditated plan to kill us, it is almost impossible to escape.The last date will never be the last.This story, unfortunately, does not tell us anything new, and, rather, it should teach something to those who have the duty to protect all citizens, especially those who are most exposed to brutality.Police, judiciary, institutions, prosecutors, ministers should take note of the system’s huge shortcomings: complaints are often underestimated, interventions are delayed, women afraid of being abused by partners and family members is still faced by police officers who tell them to go home that if there are no signs of beatings or concrete evidence of potential danger, there is nothing they can do about it, because our one word is not enough.

The prosecutor’s message should have been addressed not to us, but to the men who are planning to kill today, to the state that does not invest in prevention, to all institutions that are not doing enough, and to all the people conniving with these murderers. To their families who, if they suspected, did nothing, and to their friends who didn’t bother to do anything. In the week of May 22-28, 2023, 4 murders were committed, the victim was a woman, one of which was in the family or emotional sphere. Always alarming numbers, the association Women Online Against Violence (DiRe) recently stressed, noting that every two days a feminicide occurs. On March 8, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in his message stated that “institutions, civil society, women and men must continue to commit themselves to removing obstacles, to overturning prejudices with concrete actions, to confront unacceptable violence with a strong and feminicides, which are very serious crimes that deserve the most severe punishment.”

“From Woman to Woman” is an open letter that Telephone Rosa Maria President Gabriella Carnieri Moscatelli sent on May 15 to Georgia Prime Minister Meloni, asking that “gender-based violence be a government priority.” Minister for Equal Opportunities Evgenia Rockella expected on June 1 that at one of the next councils of ministers he would bring the provision he is working on with the Ministries of the Interior and Justice: “Law alone is not enough, no cultural change — he writes in a post on Facebook — but he can do a lot and make it as effective as possible categorical imperative for which we feel full responsibility.” The Minister claims that the situation was in “above all this”, referring to the events in Rome, where policewoman Pier Paola Romano she was killed by a colleague who later committed suicide.

“Horror,” says the minister, “it seems there is no limit. Unspeakable cruelty.” Secretary P.D. Ellie Schlein he said that “as we have been repeating for some time, it is necessary to support the legislative and repressive plan by preventive, educational and cultural at all levels, and to support the anti-violence centers that do a great job of prevention and support. invest more in education and the specialization of law enforcement forces so that they know how to immediately recognize the first signs of violence, can make a thorough risk assessment, believing women who report, overcoming stereotypes and prejudices. The secretary of the Democratic Party then renews the “request to begin Femicide Investigation Commission continue the work of the last legislature, intensify the analysis and identify the responses that need to be given against gender-based violence, which is a structural phenomenon on which more needs to be done.”