Italians nationwide protest violence against women

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 25 - Hundreds of thousands of people tookpart in protests across Italy on Saturday for the InternationalDay for the Elimination of Violence against Women, amidwidespread public anger and dismay over the murder of22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin by her ex boyfriend FilippoTuretta on November 11, the latest of a long string of femicidesand other acts of gender-based violence in the country.
   Marches took place all over the country to demand an end to theviolence and abuse, with the demos in Milan, Rome, Messina andNaples attracting especially big crowds.
   "We want to be alive. No more patriarchy" chanted theprotesters, many wearing purple scarves, at the demo at Rome'sCircus Maximus, which organizers said at least half a millionpeople took part in.
   "Dramatic news stories have shaken the country's conscience,"said President 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 andcommunities is the heartbreak of all of us.
   "When we are faced with a murdered woman, the broken life of ayoung person, a person humiliated verbally or in everydaygestures 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 andmen".
   European Parliament President Roberta Metsola referred toCecchettin's case and that of other femicide victims in a videomessage on Saturday. "Giulia, Ashling, Bernice, Paulina and tens of thousands otherwomen in Europe and beyond," Metsola"Femicide victims. Daughters, sisters, mothers.
   "We can and must act to protect women. With determination,training, awareness campaigns, and ambitious laws.
   "There are no excuses, it is already too late, we must defendwomen".
   On Friday Premier Giorgia Meloni renewed her pledge to continueto fight violence against women, describing it as an"intolerable phenomenon that must be fought at 360 degrees.
   "I am proud of the law that was voted by all the politicalforces (in parliament)," continued Meloni, referring to the newanti-violence and anti-stalking norms approved definitively bythe Senate on Wednesday.
   "There are areas where sharing can make a difference," sheadded.
   The government also had the number of the 1522 helplineprojected onto the facade of the premier's office at PalazzoChigi in Rome.
   Pope Francis called for action to prevent gender-based violencetoo.
   "Violence against women is a poisonous weed that plagues oursociety and must be pulled up from its roots," the pontiff saidin a post on X.
   "These roots grow in the soil of prejudice and of injustice;they must be countered with educational action that places theperson, with his or her dignity, at the centre".
   Labour Minister Marina Elvira Calderone said that women who havebeen put on a special programme of 'protection' after being thevictims of gender-based violence will be able to access a new'inclusion' benefit from the start of next year.
   In a video for the International Day for the Elimination ofViolence Against Women, Calderone said the support will last for18 months and will be renewable. The victims of the violencewill also be able to get help paying rent, she said. Calderonesaid there will be tax breaks for employers who hire women onthis programme too.
   Turetta was taken to Verona's Montorio prison on Saturday afterbeing extradited from Germany.
   The man, who was arrested near Leipzig in Germany last Sundayafter more than a week on the run, was escorted to the jail byCarabinieri police being handed over by the German authoritiesin Frankfurt and flown to Venice.
   He will have his own cell in Verona and be under 24 hoursurveillance for his own protection and to prevent self-harm,judicial sources have said.
   Turetta is currently being probed for kidnapping and voluntaryhomicide, but this could change to premeditated murder.
   Investigative sources have said that a few days before themurder, the suspect bought adhesive tape online that could becompatible with the piece of adhesive tape found in theindustrial area of Fossò near Venice where Cecchettin sufferedthe second stage of the fatal attack.
   Investigators are also reportedly considering charging him withthe crime of concealing the corpse. Cecchettin's body was founda week ago in a gorge between Lake Barcis and Piancavallo in theFriuli province of Pordenone. (ANSA).