The president of the parliamentary
oversight committee for state broadcaster Rai Barbara Floridia
on Monday called on the company to take strict action in
relation to the case of a journalist accused of sexism and
victim blaming towards a young woman who has reported Senate
speaker Ignazio La Russa's son for alleged sexual assault.
In an article published in the right-wing newspaper Libero on
Saturday, Filippo Facci, who is due to host a new current
affairs programme on Rai 2 in the upcoming season, wrote: "a
22-year-old girl was undoubtedly high on cocaine before was
being high on Leonardo Apache La Russa".
The comment sparked a storm of criticism from opposition parties
and the condemnation of the Italian National Press Federation
FNSI and other journalists' groups.
"We are getting ready to work on the new service contract: it
would be useless, contradictory and above all debasing to talk
about inclusion, equal opportunities, the fight against gender
violence and sexism, if then all of this might even run the risk
of being contradicted by the facts," wrote Floridia of the
populist opposition Five Star Movement (M5S).
"Respect for certain principles and values is at the basis of
civil coexistence and of the very concept of public service,"
she continued.
"In addition to the attention that the oversight committee will
devote to the case, I expect a serious and strict stance from
the company," concluded Floridia.
The Senate speaker La Russa has also come under fire for
publicly defending his youngest son and appearing to put the
blame on the alleged victim after Corriere della Sera reported
that a compliant has been filed against him by a 22-year-old
woman for allegedly sexually assaulting her at his home after a
night at a Milan disco on May 18.
"I am counting on the Public Prosecutor's Office, in which I
have always placed my trust during my long professional career,
to shed light (on the matter) as quickly as possible in order to
dispel any doubt," said La Russa in a statement on Friday.
The Senate speaker, who is a leading exponent of Premier Giorgia
Meloni's Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, also challenged "the
account of a girl who, by her own admission, had consumed
cocaine before meeting my son".
Such an account, he said, "objectively raises many doubts", as
does the fact that "the complaint was filed after 40 days".
"Over and above his son's responsibility, which it is down to
the judiciary to clarify, it is disgusting to hear words from
the second highest office of State that once again intend to
undermine the credibility of women who report sexual violence on
grounds of how long it has taken them or whether they had
consumed alcohol or drugs, as if this were an automatic
presumption of their consent," said centre-left opposition
Democratic Party (Pd) secretary Elly Schlein.
"The President of the Senate cannot perform secondary
victimisation," she added. "It is precisely because of these
kinds of words that so many women do not report (sexual
violence) for fear of not being believed. It is unacceptable for
those holding institutional positions to legitimise sexist
prejudice," concluded Schlein.
On Sunday Equal Opportunities Minister Eugenia Roccella drew
further criticism by apparently justifying La Russa's response
on grounds that he is the father.
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