On Saturday evening a large feminist cortege crossed the streets of Florence following the rapes made by a pair of carabinieri (paramilitary police).

An umpteenth act of gender violence where the word of the victim is questioned, her behaviour analyzed and blamed, by multiplying reservations and hypocrisies. A case that shows in a grievous way how impossible is it – to think safety for woman to be connected to more uniforms in the streets, as those same uniforms regularly harass and take advantage of their standing.

The cortege, opened by hundreds of women, left shortly after 9 pm from piazzale Michelangelo and grew through all its course. The demonstration then stood in piazza della signoria in front of the municipality building from where Dario Nardella (the city mayor) stated in the past days his gruesome declarations about “blast culture” and tourism – effectively dropping the responsibility of what happened on  some “reckless” female tourists. The cortege then ended in piazza della Repubblica, by pointing the finger against that rape culture that rules our country and its institutions, revamping the urgent need of building a grassroots solidarity from below between women, one able to make everyone really safe.

WE DO NOT TRUST THE STATE, SELF-DEFENCE IS OURS AND WE WON’T DELEGATE IT!

The cortege flyer call hereafter:

Demonstration in solidarity to the woman who were raped in Florence and to all the victims of gender violence We take to the streets in order to reaffirm that:

• It is not a matter of a last minute emergency. Rape culture exists everywhere they say that the victim “asked for it” or “who knows whether is it true”.
• All the victims of violence must be believed, and have a great courage
• Women do not want to be kept under surveillance and controlled, in a completely patronizing logic, by those same people (including the mayor) that impose code of behaviour and of dressing.
• Women to not want to be exploited by the racists when a foreigner rapes.
• Safe streets are made by women who cross them, and each one conquers her own freedom, day after day, by fighting violence outside and inside their home. To say that the – guilty – women do provoke is the same to say that the men – all of them – are naturally inclined to rape. We know that it is not the case. Women want to be able to self-defend and invest on themselves, on their networking ability and to value the experience of everybody.

For information: nonunadimenofirenze [at] gmail [dot] com