{:en}The main topics of the conference scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 24, at the “Antonio Arecco” Civic Library in Kursaal Palace in Loano, will be “Protection of the Child, Women and Social Rights in Family Law and International Context.” The meeting was organized by the Department of Social Services of the City of Loano and is being held on the occasion of the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women” on November 25.
“Women,” remind Loano Mayor Luigi Pignocca and Vice Mayor and Councilor for Social Services Luca Lettieri, "can be victims of different forms of violence: physical, sexual and psychological. According to some recent statistics, one in three women in the world (and also in Italy) suffers violence. And often this violence is perpetrated within the domestic walls by partners or ex-partners. The many cases of feminicide that unfortunately still fill the Italian news are the most concrete confirmation of how dramatically topical this phenomenon is. This is why it is essential to keep a constant spotlight on the problem, which ends up having significant repercussions even on children, who are often victims of equally atrocious violence.".
“At the Nov. 24 conference,” Pignocca and Lettieri further explain, "professionals and experts in different fields, all equally committed to the protection of children and women, will take part as speakers. They will talk about the rights of the child at the international level, the legislative update on international family law, how separations and divorces with minors are dealt with in the presence of mixed families, consisting of different cultures, and how violence in these families is dealt with from a legislative and psychological point of view. The objective of the day is to inform and, above all, to present the concrete initiatives of help and support towards women and minors of all nationalities implemented in our territory.".
Prior to the conference, at 3:30 p.m. at the Giardini Caduti di Nassiriya next to the civic library, the “Red Bench” against violence against women will be inaugurated. “This inauguration,‘ Pignocca and Lettieri recall, ’is along a path of awareness and information that the Municipality of Loano proposes on the occasion of the ‘International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women’ and is also meant to be a ”daily warning' against this serious problem.
The conference will open with greetings from the authorities: starting at 4 p.m. speakers will include Luigi Pignocca, mayor of the City of Loano; Luca Lettieri, deputy mayor and alderman for social services of the City of Loano; the Honorable Sara Foscolo, member of the 12th parliamentary social affairs committee of the Chamber of Deputies; and regional councilor Angelo Vaccarezza, chairman of the first council committee of the Liguria Region.
Introducing the topic of the meeting will be Monica Caccia, pedagogue and volunteer of Telefono Donna, who in her opening remarks will report on the theme of the conference, namely, “Protection of the Child, Women and Social Rights in Family Law and the International Context.”.
Chiara Venturi, deputy prosecutor of the Savona Public Prosecutor's Office, will speak on “The protection of women and minors from violence in the family environment, substantive and procedural aspects.” The topic of violence against women and minors will be addressed through the exposition of concrete cases: Dr. Venturi will illustrate which are the most frequent cases of crime, the opportunities guaranteed to victims to protect their safety and the precautionary remedies through which the phenomenon can be curbed.
Laura Amoretti, Equality Councilor of Liguria Region and member of Fidapa (Italian Federation of Women, Arts, Professions, Business) will speak on “The protection of women in the private and working sphere: a duty of institutions.” Women are often violated in the private and working spheres. Many are the forms of violence and as many must be the tools also and especially of the institutions to combat them. This is also where the role of equality counselors comes in.
Luca Battaglieri, a lawyer at the Savona Bar, will speak on “Marrying the Other. Litigation in family unions with foreigners. Examination of practical cases,” on the protection of children and spouses in the foreigner's path to integration.
Edoardo Pera, psychologist, psychotherapist of Aidos Association, will report on “Intervention in defense of women and children in post-emergency contexts.” Aidos (Italian Association of Women for Development) was founded in 1981 as an association of women; it is a nongovernmental non-profit organization and works mainly in the areas of education, health, training and protection of the rights of women and girls in developing countries. In her talk, Pera will describe the work she has done with Aidos with refugees abroad, especially in the Middle East.
This will be followed by a presentation of local entities working in the field of women's and children's rights advocacy.
Giovanna Ferro, psychologist-psychotherapist, head of the psychological counseling service of Telefono Donna, will present Telefono Donna, an anti-violence center, and its services with a talk titled “Telefono Donna, getting out of violence is possible: psychological intervention.” Dr. Ferro will explain how to deal with family violence in order to find a new life plan for oneself and one's children.
Veronica Caprino, a lawyer from the Artemisia Gentileschi Association, will present “The Artemisia Gentileschi Anti-Violence Desk as a territorial resource” highlighting the specificities of the Desk in protecting women victims of violence and minors.
Graziella Mura, president of the Northwest District of Fidapa Bpw Italy, will present the “Aims and Purposes of Fidapa Bpw Italy,” teaming up working groups and the Charter of the Rights of the Girl Child and all Fidapa actions aimed at improving the status of women.
Projects supporting women and children in need will then be presented.
Representatives from Asd Krav Maga Parabellum will explain how to “Prevent, Recognize, Assess and Manage Risk Situations.” Speakers will be Davide Carosa, a self-defense instructor and nurse at the Ser.T of Asl2 Savonese as well as instructor, founder and current president of Asd Krav Maga Parabellum; Barbara d'Alessandro, a mental coach instructor with a master's degree in neuro-linguistic programming and the first woman in Italy to be certified as a Wilding (the mental and psychological self-defense) instructor.
This will be followed by a talk by Sabrina Bonino of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction of Asl2 Savonese and a member of the Albenga section of Fidapa, who will speak on “Secondary Institute ‘G.Falcone’ of Loano: an integrated primary prevention intervention on adolescent population.” In collaboration with the institute's teachers and the Association of Italian Women Jurists, the psychological and legal aspects of violent relationships were discussed with the help of audiovisuals and the exemplification of clinical and forensic cases. In fact, domestic violence is often articulated into physical, sexual, psychological and economic violence with a victim-offender relational typicality that follows patterns outlined in the so-called ”spiral of violence.” Guidance was given on strategies that can be adopted to seek help from the appropriate structures in the area.
The conference will be moderated by Monica Caccia, pedagogue and Women's Phone volunteer. The speakers' talks will be interspersed with musical interludes dedicated to the figure of women by Paola Arecco (pianforte) and maestro Gianni Gollo (transverse flute).
Attendance at the conference is free while places last and will allow lawyers to obtain two training credits from the Savona Provincial Bar Association.
Tied to the conference, instructors from Asd Krav Maga Parabellum will hold a cognitive course on women's self-defense techniques on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 3 to 6:30 p.m. at the Valerga Schools gym in Corso Europa. The event is sponsored by the Tourism, Culture and Sports Department of the City of Loano, the Savona section of the Nursing Professions Orders and the Csen and is free admission (subject to signing a waiver to be completed on site starting at 2:30 p.m.).{:}
