'We are becoming accustomed to violence against women, hiccup indignation is not enough'

What do you advise people who notice or become aware of a violent situation to do? Can those who witness it also denounce it?

If there is a situation of violence, it is imperative to talk to specialised workers. I am thinking of the anti-violence centres that ensure anonymity, secrecy, and competence and that can study with the woman a support pathway to get out of the violent relationship also by resorting to the numerous protection instruments that exist in the civil (protection orders), administrative (prevention measures issued also by the Questore) and penal sphere. Reporting is not automatic because the centre workers are not obliged to do so. The persons close to the woman who does not want to denounce must report situations of violence to the Police Headquarters, which can decide whether to issue a warning or to involve the Public Prosecutor's Office, guaranteeing the anonymity of the reporter. A civil conscience is needed.

Is there a violence alarm among minors?

Certainly yes. The numbers of the Milan Court tell us that young adults (18-41 years old) commit gender-oriented crimes (sexual violence, mistreatment, persecutory acts) in 62% of the trials held, with an upward trend compared to the previous year. Violence against women remains a mark of diseducation and domination even among young people. It is patriarchy that still wins as a model in relationships and society.

How do you rate the Consent Decree already unanimously approved by the House?

In the meantime it is fundamental because it brings us into line both with the legislation of the most advanced countries in Europe, where there is no sexual violence based on the absence of a woman's free consent, and with the Istanbul Convention. But beyond these technical-legal considerations, I think it is an act of civilisation that can have a knock-on effect, because it introduces a principle addressed to the man: either you verify that there is full and free consent before and during the act or you must refrain from demanding sexual intercourse. This twill also help women in criminal trials, because it will avoid, for example in cases of abuse of physically inferior conditions, resulting from the transient use of alcoholic or narcotic substances, all those questions, even embarrassing ones, that are still asked today about women's sexuality and morality, which are already prohibited by Law 66/1996.

Is there a need for political unity on these issues?

Absolutely yes, it was a good page. There cannot be opposition, there must be a union of political civilisation, as there was in 1996 when rape was recognised as a crime against the person and no longer against public morality. This consent law, like that one, is an innovative law, which will also help to avoid secondary victimisation