Every year, November 25th is celebrated as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Womena phenomenon that unfortunately still forms part of daily news and shows no sign of decreasing.
The date was chosen by a group of women activists who gathered at the “Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Meeting”, held in Bogota in 1981. The UN General Assembly then made this date official.
The Istanbul Convention, then in 2011, in article 3, gave this first definition: “Violence against women is a violation of human rights and a form of discrimination, which causes damage and suffering of a physical, sexual and psychological nature. or economic, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether in public or private life.”
What we are talking about is a very serious social phenomenon which the Carabinieri is trying to stem with daily commitment, combating all forms of gender violence and firmly pursuing, with all the means provided by the sector legislation, violence against women and, in particular, that developed in the context of family relationships, the latter characterized by greater complexity due to the interaction of multiple factors: individual, social, relational and cultural.
The Carabinieri, which has always been careful to adapt its prevention and combat strategies to the evolving scenarios of deviance and crime, today tackles the phenomenon by systematising the “4 Ps” of the Istanbul Convention: Preventing crimes, Pursue the perpetrators by bringing them to justice, Protect the victims by adopting measures for their safety, participate in integrated policies together with other social actors. The attention to particularly vulnerable victims stands out from the first contact, establishing a relationship that takes into account the characteristics of the individuals and their personal experiences to guide subsequent activities. On these assumptions, in recent years, numerous concrete actions have been undertaken to raise the level of protection guaranteed to victims of violence.
In 2009, the Persecutory Acts Section of the Carabinieri Scientific Investigations Group (Ra.CIS.) was established to carry out studies and analyzes of the phenomenon, as well as assessments of “risk factors”, for the benefit of the departments called to investigate individual cases.
Since 2013, the Carabinieri have created a “National Monitoring Network on the phenomenon of gender violence” made up of soldiers with certified expertise in the delicate sector who facilitate timely operational intervention tailored to individual cases, also acting as a qualified point of reference for all the other Carabinieri in the area.
Furthermore, since 2015, the collaboration project with the “Soroptimist International d’Italia” association called “a room of one’s own” has been active which has allowed the creation, at numerous commands located throughout the national territory, of 205 rooms dedicated to listening vulnerable victims also equipped with furnishings designed to make them more welcoming. In the province of Catanzaro there are three dedicated rooms: in the capital, in Lamezia Terme and in Soverato.
In 2018, a brand new and technological project called “Mobile Angel” was launched, the smart watch against gender violence. “Mobile Angel” is a device connected to the mobile phone on which a dedicated app is installed capable of activating a request for intervention at the Carabinieri on the emergency number 112.
The Army’s help also comes from the web. A section of the website www.carabinieri.it dedicated to the “red code” offers information on gender violence and on victim protection tools, making available the “Violenzametro”, a self-assessment test that detects the level of violence suffered and contains useful tips for asking for support and help based on the level of violence encountered.
Also in 2024, as in previous years, law enforcement activity in the province of Catanzaro, if we take into consideration some “spy” crimes such as beatings, injuries, threats, insults, mistreatment in the family, sexual violence and stalking against women, revealed an increase in the criminal phenomenon compared to the previous year.
Violent behavior manifests itself mainly in conduct that includes crimes of mistreatment of family members or cohabitants, personal injury, sexual violence and so-called persecutory acts and “stalking”.
In particular, from the beginning of the year to today, the activity of the Carabinieri in the province of Catanzaro in the delicate sector has led to the arrest of 32 people. Another important figure, which is significantly increasing, indicating that the courage of the victims is increasingly stronger in wanting to report their tormentors, is that of the number of people reported to the Judicial Authority, 224 in the whole province. Furthermore, 48 subjects were affected, for various reasons, by precautionary measures other than arrest such as, for example, removal from the family home with a ban on approaching the places usually frequented by the victim, with an increasing trend compared to same period of the previous year.
Among the initiatives of the Catanzaro Army, also carried out as part of the international “orange the world 2024” campaign launched every year by Soroptimist, on November 25th the barracks of Catanzaro Principale, Soverato and Lamezia Terme will be illuminated and colored orange , a color chosen to symbolize a future without gender violence, to remind all victims that there is a safe place to turn to.
On Sunday 24 November, in the morning at the “Due Mari” shopping center in Maida and in the afternoon at the “Le Fontane” shopping park in Catanzaro, stands will be set up where female personnel from the force, also together with Soroptimist members, will be available to raise awareness of the delicate topic among those who wish, also through the distribution of information material. A similar initiative will be held on Saturday afternoon in Montepaone at the “Le Vele” shopping center.
Furthermore, on November 25th, in various areas of the province, the Carabinieri will participate in various awareness meetings on the delicate and important topic.
In this context, the Carabinieri support the effectiveness of every single social awareness initiative on the phenomenon which must be integrated into a choral action which, thanks to adequate tools and coordinated images (posters, banners, video clips), helps women to read behaviors in time , attitudes of one’s partner before they lead to real physical violence.
The ultimate aim is to spread greater awareness, so that women do not silently accept abuse and abuse, but find the strength to report.