Violence against women is society's failure

(see related stories) (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 25 - President Sergio Mattarella markedthe International Day for the Elimination of Violence againstWomen on Saturday by stressing that gender-based violence is afailure of society as a whole.
   The day has taken on extra special significance in Italy thisyear due to the murder of 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin,allegedly by her ex-boyfriend, in a case that has causedwidespread 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 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.
   "The number of women who are victims of aggression and abuse is,in itself, a denunciation of the existence of a phenomenon thatis not just related to abnormal situations.
   "We cannot just counter this with intermittent indignation.
   "We are far from embedding the profound cultural change that ourConstitutional Charter calls for". (ANSA).