In Naples, misleading posters on violence against women: appeal from associations to Manfredi

Senator Valente (Pd) denounces: "The telephone number refers to '1522', it is also an attack on the anti-violence centres"

NAPLES – “Dear Mayor, given the clear commitment of the Municipality of Naples to counter male violence against women and the support for the victims of such violence, we are negatively affected by the recent communication campaigns which in a misleading way tend to frustrate the efforts made so far and those still to be made”. This is the appeal signed by thirty associations that deal with male gender violence against womenand by over 250 women. The recipient is Gaetano Manfredi, mayor of Naples, after communication campaigns such as the one in via Marina and Fuorigrotta appeared in the city with large posters advertising an alleged number dedicated to violence suffered by males.

“It is an attack – the dem senator Valeria Valente explains to Dire – not only on women, but also on anti-violence centres: in fact in the body of this advertisement a telephone number is used as a decoy and also contrasts in a symbolic way with 1522, the national number of the ministry to support women victims of violence and give them contact details of the anti-violence centers present in all situations”.

The collection of signatures was carried out by the political group ‘Democrats of Campania for a feminist PD’ which gathered the support of associations, CAVs, shelters, professionals and individuals involved in prevention and combating to male violence against women, collected 260 signatures from women and 30 from associations for an appeal regarding “billboards which on a large scale have invaded the city and convey a false representation of domestic violence which it disproportionately affects women and girls as stated by the Istanbul Convention”.

The signatories define the campaign as “dangerous and insidious” and clarify: “The data and numbers show that in approximately 90% of cases of violence in emotional relationships it is the man to act towards the woman. It undermines the actions that the Municipality of Naples also implements and supports economically on a regular basis through the anti-violence centers and shelters, whose activity data confirm the continuous growth in requests for help and legal, economic, psychological and welfare support interventions. We believe – they continue – that it is important to avoid giving space to campaigns that convey false representations of the reality of violence because there is a risk of compromising the situation. work of those who fight every day against male violence against women and against femicides, of those who are committed to promoting a true and profound cultural revolution based on equal dignity and new relationship models. Dear mayor, we appeal to you – they conclude – to ensure that these posters that impact the living conditions of many women victims of violence are removed”.