"The numbers describe a growing phenomenon. 'From the January 1 there 95 Red Code cases have been handled by the anti-crime division, the mobile squad, and the general prevention office,' emphasizes Police Commissioner Dario Sallustio. 'During the same period, 39 warnings were issued for both stalking and domestic abuse.' That's why it was important for the police headquarters to acquire an additional tool to help women victims of violence: the room for protected hearings for those who finally find the courage to seek help. Present at the unveiling of the plaque and ribbon-cutting were, among others, Prefect Salvatore Caccamo, Mayor Giacomo Possamai, Social Services Councillor Matteo Tosetto, Public Prosecutor Maria Elena Pinna who is part of the prosecution team dealing with gender crimes, various police department managers, and representatives from the 'Donna chiama donna’ (Woman Calls Woman) association, the 'Like a Spell' cooperative, and the Vicenza branch of Soroptimist International Italy. 'This room is one of the responses we try to provide to this hateful phenomenon of gender violence, particularly violence against women,' added Commissioner Sallustio. 'It's an attempt to avoid processes of secondary victimization, meaning to prevent women from having problems reporting acts of violence.'
The protected environment, set up on the fourth floor of the police headquarters on Viale Mazzini, has been divided into two areas. 'One is dedicated to protected hearings and is called "A Room for Your Voice"; the other is reserved for children (with toys, a drawing table, and books to read) because often women who come to report these incidents bring their own children, often small ones; so we have tried to create an environment, in what is a protected structure like the police headquarters, that is as familiar, comfortable, and suitable to be as least traumatic as possible for those who find the courage to report,' emphasizes Sallustio. The listening room will be managed by trained operators from the anti-crime police division, the mobile squad, and the General Prevention and Public Assistance Office, specially trained to make victims feel at ease as much as possible.
Among the objectives that the police headquarters aims to achieve through the 'Room for Your Voice' is also to optimize the tools available to fight gender-based violence. Primarily, the commissioner's warning. In this case too, the data is increasing, 'but it should not be seen as a negative signal, quite the opposite. It should be seen as a greater awareness on the part of women of the possibilities that the law and institutions offer to stem this phenomenon,' points out the commissioner. He continues: 'I understand that even to reach a request for a warning takes courage, but we create the conditions for this courage to be found. The warning is a flexible, agile tool that gives the possibility, even without a defender, a lawyer, to report to the police headquarters a certain fact that may in some way create psychological disturbance to the detriment of the woman.
And, therefore, the response of the police headquarters, of the commissioner, is an official warning, an admonition precisely, which is made to the abusive individual so that certain behaviors do not recur. Obviously, this also has a formal value because, in the event of a violation, it is clear that we move on to subsequent and heavier phases,' concludes Sallustio."
(GdV, venerdì 29 marzo)