The red bench located in the heart of the San Domenico villa, in Cassano allo Ionio, has once again become a place of memory, but above all a space for reflection. It is there that the Cassanese community met this evening, a month after the feminicide, to remember Ornella Forastefano, the 46-year-old left dying in front of the Trebisacce hospital at 3 in the morning and then died, and to reiterate that “in the face of violence against women there can be no silence, indifference or resignation”.
The red bench, placed in that place by Pasquale Russo, president of the «I Bambini delle Vanelle» association, «is a simple but powerful symbol: an empty place that tells of an absence and which, at the same time, asks the community to stop, question itself and not forget». Around the bench this evening, Ornella’s family and friends gathered, the mayor Gianpaolo Iacobini, the president of the city council, Sofia Maimone, city councilors, the world of schools, associations and many simple citizens.
«Remembering Ornella – the organizers claimed – does not just mean pronouncing her name. It means asking what happens before violence becomes a tragedy. It means teaching respect, recognizing the signs, not normalizing control, abuse, words that hurt and those behaviors that are too often considered only ‘private matters’. And it means, above all, understanding that violence against a woman never concerns only that woman. It hurts a family, a community, an entire society.”
During the meeting, the contributions of those present gave voice to different thoughts, emotions and reflections, composing a single request: «Memory should not remain confined to a day, a ceremony or a bench. Because a red bench only really makes sense if it becomes – it has been underlined – a place from which to start again. A place capable of speaking to children and young people, of educating adults, of involving institutions and associations. A place in which remembering Ornella means choosing the culture of respect, freedom and dignity every day”