Tomorrow, 25 November, marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
This is of particular significance at times like this. I have asked myself what the point of ‘international days’ is, including the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The purpose of these days is normally to keep a spotlight on a certain issue, but with one woman dying every three days, that spotlight is continuously on. I therefore believe that tomorrow’s International Day is, clearly, about continuing to raise awareness of this issue, but, above all, it allows all those who can do something to reflect on their own work, to reflect on what has been done and reflect on what can still be done.

Since this Government first came to office, we have done what I consider to be very important work, for which I wish to above all thank Minister Roccella, and indeed the entire Council of Ministers. We have increased funding for anti-violence centres to an unprecedented level. As you know, a law against violence against women was approved a few days ago, and it was approved unanimously, for which I must once again thank all political parties, because there are certain issues on which it is possible to move beyond divisions and work together. This law makes prevention tools much more effective and much faster, because, when it comes to this issue, speed can save someone’s life. We have worked on this; as you know, with the budget law, we have made the contribution for women who are victims of violence and in need of financial support structural in nature.

This is not enough, it is not enough. Much more needs to be done and I believe it must be done at a cultural level, as has been talked about a lot over the last few days, which is something else we have worked on: campaigns in schools, campaigns involving representatives from the world of culture, this evening involving many sporting champions, whom I thank for their level of awareness and sensitivity, and I also thank Minister Abodi for his participation.
Anything that can be useful to raise people’s awareness: schools, certainly, (Minister Roccella and Minister Valditara have presented the campaign for schools), and perhaps also taking a deeper look at the society we live in, at the impacts that modern life and Covid have had on society, especially on young people; getting to the bottom of these problems in order to be more effective in the responses we can give, on a psychological level and on a cultural level. 

We are here this evening to tell Italian women that they are not alone, and we are doing so with a telephone number. 
You can see it here behind me: 1522. 
If you’re scared, you can call this number at any time and you’ll find someone on the other end of the line who can help you immediately, because the regulations are there, the Institutions are there, and Italian women need to know it.

1522. If you think that being scared is normal, it isn’t. If you think that love can hurt, it is not love.
1522 is the number you can call when you want to defend yourself and remember that we are free; we are free and no one can take that freedom away from us or think they can possess us.
We are free and 1522 is the number to call to defend that freedom and to get help from the Institutions that are there for you, from the society that is there for you, as can be seen by the presence of these great athletes here this evening. 

So, my thanks go to them, thanks to Minister Roccella and thanks to Minister Abodi for this image that we hope will reach all Italian women. Thanks also to all of you.

[Courtesy translation]