(see related)Several political
leaders on Friday followed the example of Lower House Speaker
Laura Boldrini, hanging red banners to protest violence against
women from their office windows on Friday.
Among them was junior culture minister Dorina Bianchi in
Rome.
"Violence against women must be fought not only with
stiffer laws but also by a new culture of respect," she said.
"We must always remember the blood of those women, who were
killed because they had the courage to rebel and to seek
self-determination".
Catania Mayor Enzo Bianco, who also chairs the National
Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI), called on mayors
across the country to follow suit.
Palermo Mayor Leoluca Orlando, who is the regional ANCI
chair, hung a red banner from City Hall as did the mayor of the
town of Sambuca di Sicilia, which conferred honorary citizenship
on Boldrini two years ago.
The mayor of the Bologna-area town Valsamoggia, where a man
has confessed to poisoning his pregnant girlfriend, has called a
sit-in to show solidarity with the victim and all battered
women.
"We must raise our voices together - to encourage women
living in fear to speak out and ask for help, and to commit to
building a different society based on... respect not bullying,"
said Mayor Daniele Ruscigno.
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