Violence against women is an intolerable form of social barbarism that requires constant and concrete prevention, President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella said on Friday.
On the annual festival Tempo delle Donne (Women’s Time), Mattarella told Corriere della Sera, “Today there is no freedom when a person is the victim of harassment and physical or moral violence”.
“Violence against women has continued to manifest itself in Italy in recent months with numerous cases of murder and rape,” he continued.
“This unacceptable form of social barbarism requires a more conscious action of strict concrete and constant prevention.
“This must be accompanied by an educational and cultural commitment throughout society against distorted mentalities and a mediocre conception of relations between men and women,” said Mattarella.
Opposition calls on Meloni to work together to combat gender violence
Italy has seen 79 femicides so far this year. The most was that of 39-year-old Marisa Leo by her former partner in Sicily on Thursday. There have also been a number of high-profile rapes, most notably in Palermo and Caivano near Naples.
On Thursday evening, centre-left opposition Democratic Party (Pd) leader Elly Schlein said she had renewed her call to Premier Giorgia Meloni to work together on the issue.
“I made an appeal to Meloni as prime minister: ‘on the issue of fighting gender violence, let’s put to one side the usual bitter dialectic between the majority and the opposition, let’s try to work together not only on repression but also on investing in education about differences and emotions, starting in schools’”.
“If we do not act immediately, I fear that we will always be too late. I have still not had a reply, but we will continue to insist on making a cultural leap,” she added.
