Toti organizes self-defense courses in the square in Genoa on November 25th, the women’s protest

Controversy breaks out in Liguria over the celebration of November 25th, and not only that: the President of the Region, Giovanni Toti, has organised, on the occasion of the International Day against Violence against Women, an initiative which is sparking protest on social media, called “EnergicaMENTE” and invited “all women and citizens to attend and try self-defense disciplines under the portico of Piazza De Ferrari from 2pm to 5pm”.

“Instead of financing and strengthening the appropriate structures, Toti sends out a very serious message and does so in the streets: “Learn to defend yourself” – denounces Eva, on behalf of the Non una di meno assembly of Genoa – instead of financing the subjects who put to the ground and implement the principles of the Istanbul Convention, once again places the issue on women. And it does so in the square, as if it were one of its records: the slide in the middle of the city, the longest focaccia in the world. And in the meantime the anti-violence centers have not yet received funding from the government to be able to function. And in the meantime, the only psychological center in Genoa for victims of violence, in a single emergency room, at Galliera, is still standing thanks to two temporary workers whose contracts expire every six months: yet healthcare is a regional responsibility”.

And the women’s associations, and not only, of the city are organizing a protest demonstration: “Not on November 25th, because we are already ready to leave, like every year, we have arranged the bus and we will participate in the demonstration in Rome, all together – continues Eva – but on Wednesday evening we will protest in the streets of Genoa, with a noisy walk: against the climate we breathe, which tells us that we must be “good” women, have children and if we want they also teach us to defend ourselves”.

«It’s not women who have to defend themselves. It’s men who don’t have to kill them. The self-defense course organized by the Liguria Region on the occasion of the Day against violence against women, November 25, is yet another demonstration that the Toti Region has understood nothing of the problem”, also attack the activists of Generazione P , faced with the initiative of the Liguria Region. «This is hypocrisy – say Eleonora Bartolini and Fabrizio Aloi, activists of Generation P – we need security in respect, not in fear. Thus the task of their own safety is delegated to women and almost responsibility for the phenomenon is also attributed to them.” «The Region recognizes the existence of a problem but passes the ball to women on how to deal with it», adds Nadia Puntureri. «All this is absurd: instead of courses to defend oneself, sexual and emotional, psychological and emotional education courses should be promoted». According to the Generation P collective, emotional education in schools should be made compulsory. «The independence of women also depends on their economic independence», intervenes Ornela Casassa. «We need prevention, education, respect, awareness. We are not in the Wild West where people have to defend themselves. If we are at this point it is also and above all due to this retrograde and superficial vision resulting from patriarchy. We need a cultural revolution.”