Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

There are 971 women who turned to the anti-violence centers of the city network in the first half of 2021. Among the awareness initiatives is a video that will be broadcast on Wednesday and Thursday on the digital screens of the metro stations and on board the city buses
 
Milan, November 23 2021 – International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is celebrated on Thursday 25 November. This year the municipal administration has decided to remember, as part of the anniversary established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999, the Afghan women, victims of a heavy suppression of their freedom following the Taliban takeover. All day, starting at 10am Palazzo Marino a banner will therefore be displayed with the words "Milan with Afghan women" to express closeness to the girls and women who are forced to live such a difficult situation. 

“The city of Milan – declares the councilor for Welfare and Health Lamberto Bertolè – has long been committed to combating violence against women and, together with the extraordinary network of shelters and anti-violence centers and the many organizations involved in the area, we have created a system that works both on the prevention of the phenomenon and on the construction of personalized paths of liberation and escape from the spiral of violence and reacquisition of autonomy. The Administration has already approved an investment of 1,6 million euros to support this type of activity over the next two years: an effort that we are committed to maintaining and intensifying, trying to bring out requests for help and overcoming the wall of distrust that stands very tall in such cases. This year, in particular, Milan stands alongside Afghan women who have been denied fundamental rights that they have laboriously earned over time. We want to dedicate this important day to their courage." 

The anti-violence network of the Municipality of Milan provides 9 anti-violence centers and 9 shelter homes, offering listening through telephone or on-site interviews, health care, legal assistance, psychological or psychiatric consultancy, in many cases facilitating the taking charge by the social services . There are 971 women who, in the first half of 2021, turned to the affiliated structures and were supported. Of these, 50 have agreed on a reception program in the nine city shelters. Although the number of women who asked for help remained stable compared to previous years, the requests have become multiple and more complex to manage, a sign of a worsening of the phenomenon. 

The majority (over 360) are aged between 18 and 39, but the number is also significantly high in the 45 to 54 age group (around 330). The victims are Italian in 64% of cases and the violence suffered is almost always of a psychological nature (over 800) or physical (over 650), although there is no shortage of cases of economic violence (over 210), sexual violence (over 230 ) and stalking (210) and very often different types of abuse overlap and coexist. 59% of the women helped have children - often minors - who therefore almost always witnessed violence against their mother. In 74% of cases the 'torturers' are husbands, ex-husbands, cohabitants or ex-cohabitants, partners or ex-partners.

To support the assistance work of the Milan Network, the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Science has committed itself to providing 20 thousand euros for the creation of internships and work grants for work reintegration and professional retraining paths and projects for women victims of domestic violence. gender, services for family-work conciliation, independent housing projects, expenses for health promotion, legal expenses for civil legal procedures.

Alongside concrete and continuous support for women who suffer violence, the Municipality has imagined, on the occasion of the Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a series of awareness-raising initiatives. During Wednesday and Thursday, a video created by the master in Art Direction and Copywriting from the Polytechnic of Milan will be broadcast on the digital screens of the subway stations and on board the city buses which, starting from the stereotype of "she asked for it ", wants to bring out the strength and energy of women, enhancing the choice and will to escape from the spiral of violence. In the same period, announcements will be issued in the subways with the aim of making known the toll-free number 1522, active 24 hours a day to support victims of violence and stalking.

“ATM - declares Mobility Councilor Arianna Censi - is a great public service and its task is also to support these initiatives by disseminating information and spreading awareness messages. The dissemination of the video was promoted by the Welfare department and was agreed together with the Equal Opportunities commission of the Municipality of Milan".

The Municipality's anti-violence network has also organized an online meeting, from 9.30 to 16.30, to present its activity through the voices of those who manage the anti-violence centers and shelters affiliated with the network. The meeting will be live streamed at the links https://youtu.be/xETnXGnysDw (for the morning) e https://youtu.be/ss8MUa9ZFUU (for the afternoon).