"Don't give ironic or provocative smiles to strangers";
"avoid wearing valuables";
"remember that the aggressor observes and selects the victims also on the basis of some details such as jewels and excessively elegant or flashy clothing": there is controversy in Cividale del Friuli for the advice to women, potential victims of gender-based violence, contained in a brochure created and distributed by the Municipality in the high schools of the Friulian town.
The claims were contested by the students and signs of dissent also appeared in the corridors of the Paolo Diacono National Boarding School, with the young people meeting in assembly.
"We protest because we consider the sentences contained in this booklet unacceptable - said Beatrice Bertossi, coordinator of the student movement for the future -, but we also contest the very opportunity of a leaflet addressed to potential victims, when it is known that the prevention of must start first with the aggressors".
Placards displayed at school read phrases such as "We condemn patriarchal violence in schools", "Hands off our bodies, violence is never justified", "Against all oppression, against all oppressors".
"We are meeting among ourselves and we are also speaking with our teachers - reports Bertossi - to verify what other protest initiatives we can organize to reiterate our unanimous condemnation of an initiative of this type. We are convinced that violence is opposed with education, not with the blaming of the victims".
In a note, the students say they are "stunned by the scandalous distribution of brochures, produced by the Municipality of Cividale and the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, which are supposed to teach how to prevent aggression, but which instead only legitimize it.
The opposition in the city council also took sides against the contents of the flyer, for the part relating to gender-based violence.
"We are speechless - councilor Alberto Diacoli intervened on behalf of Prospettica Civica - in front of a brochure in which behaviors are blamed that should instead belong to the normal life and freedom of every individual".
Also from the opposition benches, Emanuela Gorgone (Civi_Ci), adds that "it is disheartening to verify once again how the topic of violence, especially that against women, is dealt with in a superficial and stereotyped way".