On 17 December 2024, a panel discussion on the subject concerning gender violence was held at the “Prefetto Carlo Mosca” Conference Hall in the Scuola di Perfezionamento per le Forze di Polizia (SFP). During this event, the book entitled “Femicide” was presented in the presence of the author, National Police Vice Questore Marta Sabino, former trainee at the XXXIX Advanced Training Course in this Institute.
The session was opened by the Director of the SFP, National Police Dirigente Generale Maurizio Vallone, who underlined that the subject of femicide is highly topical and pointed out that the observed slight decrease in the phenomenon is certainly positive but not sufficient, as the objective to be pursued is well summarised by the slogan ‘not one less’ that has long characterized the awareness-raising campaigns.
Then, the moderator, Mrs. Anna Maria Giannini, Full Professor of General Psychology at the “La Sapienza” University of Rome, took the floor and provided further and well developed food for thought by emphasising the valuable work carried out by the police forces to protect threatened women with a commitment and dedication that often goes beyond the ordinary duties of law enforcement.
Among the various arguments which have been dealt with, an analysis of an increasingly multi-ethnic society emerged, thus highlithing that some couples have to face new and deep conflicts arising from existential, cultural and religious differences. These contrasts frequently lead to domestic violence and are characterized by the lack of protection against the negative influence of the telematic world, which is usually spreading thoughts and images promoting harmful behavioural patterns. At the same time, the web becomes a tool for disseminating forms of ‘virtual’ violence, such as revenge porn, online stalking and cyberbullying, phenomena that particularly affect the most vulnerable persons, especially minors and women.
A video greeting message by Professor Vito Tenore, Dean of the SFP’s board of trainers and author of the preface to the book, was also shown in the Conference Hall. He emphasised the importance of the book, which is based on a in-dept study of both the legislation and the analysis of the crime in question, thus bringing useful and scientifically sound material to the discussion area, in spite of what we frequently see today on television channels and the media, where improvised ‘experts’ talk about this phenomenon without a thorough knowledge of its various and multiple aspects.
Furthermore, the lecture delivered by the Vice-President of the Italian Soroptimist International Association, Mrs. Adele Manno, was also interesting. She illustrated several important projects supported by that Agency, also recognised by the UN, in the 162 countries where it operates with its Clubs to understand, condemn, counter and prevent the phenomenon, thus raising public awareness and the attention of all the citizens but, above all, providing help to the many victims of violence.
Then, other lectures were delivered by Carabinieri Corps Lieutenant Colonel Barbara Vitale, Commander of the Persecutory Acts Section of the Criminological Analysis Department of the Carabinieri Corps and by the National Police Vice Questore Pamela Franconieri, Section Director of the 2nd Division of the Central Operative Service, who, dealing every day “on the ground” with the topic of femicide, provided data and concrete elements for a better understanding of the phenomenon.
After the exhaustive lecture delivered by the author of the book, Marta Sabino, who illustrated the early stages of the book writing, which was started at the SFP when she was attending the XXXIX Advanced Training Course and where she was analyzing this topic for her individual dissertation, Mrs. Vanessa Villani, a police officer of the Provincial Police of Frosinone, took the floor and provided her moving individual testimony.
The police officer reported to the audience the dramatic event occurred in 1993, when she was the victim of an assault committed by her partner, who didn’t accept her intention to leave him and, consequently, attacked her during the night, leaving her almost lifeless in the presence of their three-year-old son. This report was addressed to the trainees of the XL Advanced Training Course, as well as to the Senior Officers from the Scuola Ufficiali Carabinieri (Carabinieri Corps Senior Officers’ Academy), the Scuola di Polizia Economico-Finanziaria della Guardia di Finanza (Guardia di Finanza Economic-Financial Police Academy) and the Scuola di Allievi Commissari dell’Istituto Superiore di Studi Penitenziari “Piersanti Mattarella” (Officer Cadets Academy of the Higher Institute of Penitentiary Studies).
The life-saving intervention of the family and the extraordinary resilience of Mrs. Villani enabled her to come out of a coma that lasted several months and to tell the investigators what had actually happened that night, thus allowing the course of justice to take place with the arrest and subsequent prison sentence of the attacker.
Then, Mrs. Villani urged all women to be always fearless and to have trust in the State and in the possibility of recovering even from the most difficult and dramatic situations. Moreover, Mrs. Villani stressed the importance to immediately recognise from the first signs that the ‘love’ of a violent partner is something wrong and therefore to promptly resort to the protection tools now offered also by the recent Red Code legislation.
Despite her painful experience, the police officer Villani managed to find in herself, as well as with the help of her family and friendship network, the strength to study, graduate and finally find a job that allowed her to be financially independent, thus becoming the reliable testimonial of a “path of rebirth” that she hopes will be always followed by all women victims of violence.
