We have started a new path to make the many, important activities that the Network and all the members carry out every day, not without sacrifices and efforts, more and more transparent and visible.
This tool offers us the possibility of giving a photograph - authentic and comprehensive - of the actions we conduct to our stakeholders: activists, welcomed women, donors, institutions, media, the public.
A story based on projects and numbers that highlights how our actions concretely contribute to the fight against male violence against women. The opportunity to realize how many projects we are developing and how much there is still to be done to try to eliminate such a pervasive and deep-rooted phenomenon, such as male violence against women.
This first issue is dedicated to 2020, which was, for everyone, the year of Covid.
We had to reinvent ourselves, we had to find new forms of hospitality to continue to fight - with the 20.000 women we listen to every year - against male violence and to build paths of freedom for women.
Did we succeed? We have certainly been an important reference for the many women who experienced the nightmare of domestic violence within the walls of their homes in the pandemic.
We responded with immediate determination and ability by redesigning our activities, our listening.
Our anti-violence centers and our shelters have not ceased to be present to accompany women on their way out of violence, which was even more evident due to the long periods of forced coexistence imposed by the lockdowns.
2020 also made us discover the proximity of some donors, who contributed significantly to the establishment of the Covid Fund, thanks to which we were able to support many of the member organizations in the costs of sanitizing the environments and purchasing devices (masks, gloves, etc.). Simply, thanks to these extraordinary donations, we were able to continue our activity, both in the anti-violence centers and in the shelters.
We also have experimented with new forms of encounter among us, but - above all - with women, refining our reception methodology to make it functional and effective even with online meetings: video calls on WhatsApp, Skype and the other tools available were very useful for various and different situations. The skills of the activists, the ability of all to manage critical situations, have allowed us to maintain a high level of response to the women who question us.
We have continued to empower women through the voice and activities of our organizations, through advocacy actions and building relationships and relationships with all stakeholders in the system.
We have continued to work for cultural change, an indispensable premise from which the overcoming of all forms of male violence against women must and can start.Our action does not stop with solidarity and support, ours is political action to change society in every aspect. Women's politics is what we practice in the places of feminism and that we act in the streets to deconstruct the assets of a society ready to respond to male needs and built and based on models that we want to change.
Antonella Veltri, President D.i.Re – Donne in Rete contro la violenza
