“Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The anniversary was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1999.
Violence against women – not only femicide and domestic abuse, but also rape and sexual harassment – is so universal that we consider it almost a natural, inevitable phenomenon.
This year, during the various lockdowns around the world, incidents of violence against women have doubled.
Unfortunately, this social emergency is not perceived in all its drama.
How would we react if similar violence were carried out not on people of different genders but of different religions?
Women must never give up and must continue to report, with strength and determination, every form of violence suffered.
Furthermore, I urge all the women of the world not to passively accept their condition as “inferior people” – typical of certain parts of the globe for religious reasons -, but to rebel and to clamor for equal dignity with men.
Defeating violence against women is possible, but a long, constant and priority commitment is needed, lasting much more than one day a year”.