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President Sergio Mattarella marked
the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against
Women on Saturday by stressing that gender-based violence is a
failure of society as a whole.
The day has taken on extra special significance in Italy this
year due to the murder of 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin,
allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, in a case that has caused
widespread shock and dismay.
"Dramatic news stories have shaken the country's conscience,"
said Mattarella in his message for the day.
"A human society that aspires to be civilized cannot accept,
cannot endure, this string of attacks on women and murders.
"The incurable grief and pain of the wounded families and
communities is the heartbreak of all of us.
"When we are faced with a murdered woman, the broken life of a
young person, a person humiliated verbally or in everyday
gestures in the family, in the workplace, at school, we (should)
feel that behind this violence lies the failure of a society,
which fails to promote real equal relations between women and
men.
"The number of women who are victims of aggression and abuse is,
in itself, a denunciation of the existence of a phenomenon that
is not just related to abnormal situations.
"We cannot just counter this with intermittent indignation.
"We are far from embedding the profound cultural change that our
Constitutional Charter calls for".
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