Femicide emergency: already seven since the beginning of the year. Anti-violence Center of Palermo: "We need resources"

• Palermo, the husband of Piera Napoli: I killed her because she loved another

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08 February 2021 "The latest Istat data show that, if on the one hand the total number of murders has decreased, on the other hand the cases of women killed in the family by husbands, boyfriends or former cohabitants have increased or remain constant. the increase in domestic violence is far from a perception. The truth is that we women are paying the price of this pandemic. "

The alarm was

raised by Maria Grazia Patronaggio,

the president of the

Le Onde Onlus association

who manages the anti-violence center in Palermo, after the murder of Piera Napoli, 32 years old and mother of three children, murdered by her husband Salvatore Baglione.

It is a phenomenon, that of femicides, which shows no signs of diminishing and which the pandemic seems to have amplified to some extent because, once again, "we women have been most affected - Patronaggio reiterates -. And because during the crisis those who have 98 percent of our jobs are lost, both because we are always the ones most affected by male violence ".

A long red thread that, within a few days, has

already

counted

7 victims in our country since the beginning of the year,

3 in the last 24 hours alone.

"All these girls - Piera Napoli, Roberta Siragusa in Caccamo, Ilenia Fabbri in Faenza, and Lulieta Heshta killed in the street in the Milanese - who were stabbed, burned, victims of unprecedented violence by men. I put them together because they don't we can no longer speak of a perception but it is a reality that we must absolutely remedy ".

Last year there were 72 victims of femicide in Italy.

Istat has returned a clear picture of the situation in a report on homicides, which shows in the first 6 months of the year a number of crimes against women equal to 45% of the total homicides, compared to 35% in the first six months of 2019.

The percentage jumped to 50% if you look at the months of confinement at home due to the pandemic in March and April

.

According to the Institute of Statistics, women killed at home in the first half of 2020 lost their lives at the hands of partners in 90% of cases or former partners (61%). 

Yet the laws and tools to protect women exist, but perhaps, in this case, something did not go the right way.

"I do not have enough information to be able to give an opinion, he warns, but I know for sure that this woman did not go to our refuge, for this reason we cannot say what happened. However, when a woman decides to ask for help it is then which must be supported more as it is the moment in which it is most in danger ".

Therefore, we need "a correct risk assessment and strong integration between services and institutions - he adds, but we must ensure that the whole system is enabled to function".

Therefore, "resources destined for anti-violence and prevention centers are needed: a system that is not adequately enabled to function is not effective", he concludes. 

Interview with the magistrate of Palermo on the Piera Napoli case

"Women must be aware that no form of violence can be tolerated in the couple relationship, no one. I appeal to all women victims of violence. And I tell them that they are not alone . The State is there, it is next to them, we do not abandon them. We are there ".

To launch a heartfelt appeal, after yet another femicide, this time in Palermo, where Piera Napoli was killed, is

the Deputy Prosecutor of Palermo, Laura Vaccaro,

who coordinates the Department of the so-called 'weak groups'. 

On his desk there are reports of stalking, sexual violence and ill-treatment every day.

But there are still too few women who have the courage to report.

"We are in full judicial emergency - he explains in an interview with Adnkronos - but it is also an educational emergency".

"It seems to me that there is a

judicial emergency

and it is evident - explains the magistrate who in the past has coordinated numerous anti-mafia investigations - But there is an absolutely equipped prosecutor, a prosecutor's office where there is a Department dedicated to these types of crime , with magistrates who have specific skills ".

And remember that "those who preceded me", that is the former Deputy Prosecutor Annamaria Picozzi, "did an excellent job", "at the level of investigative skills, but also human and scientific. There is a very well equipped office". 

But also remember that "a serious fact" occurs, that is "when women are affected by a crime committed not by a stranger but by a partner or family member, then it is very difficult for women to become aware of being victims ".

"It is" important to become aware of being the victim of a crime.

"We see this especially in

stalking 

- says Vaccaro - with behaviors that almost always arise close to a relationship that is about to end.

And they are not expressions of jealousy, they are expressions of a sick conception of a love that has to do with possession ". This is why" it is important "to develop" the awareness of being the victim of a crime "." It cannot be tolerated in a couple relationship no form of violence "." It's time to stop talking about jealousy, this is a sick conception of love, perverse "." What disconcerts and annoys me is the constant question: 'but there was the lover?'.

In short, a woman has the right to self-determination even outside the couple relationship without any conduct on the part of the man being acceptable ". 

And she reiterates that" there is an

educational emergency

, because it is the result of an affective education of men which is to be reviewed "." Here the mothers of sons have to do a great job - he explains - educating them to respect themselves, the freedom of the right to self-determination, even in the context of a couple relationship.

This poses an investigative emergency ". For Laura Vaccaro it is" fundamental to educate to respect for women "and" educate to a new vision of women. "

Laura Vaccaro also talks about the

'Red Code'

, which has recently come into force." Yes, it is working because it had the advantage of creating attention - he says - the judicial police seem more equipped to me.

And you have to think about what still needs to be done, especially those who make the first intervention. "But how can you convince a woman to report?" I remember the immense effort we made to convince the extorted person to report - says Laura Vaccaro - when the absence of the state is perceived it is difficult.

But this is no longer the case.

Today

the state exists

, it is present.

Today the woman is not abandoned.

And we have an obligation to meet these women.

There is an all-round taking in charge, not only because she is the victim of a context of violence but she is put in contact with realities that care about welcoming and accompanying.

And all this today is much less complex thanks also to the Red Code ".