Turin, 20 Oct. (LaPresse) – “Whore, slut, bitch, die. If you write this to a woman on social media, you’re not making a joke, you’re not being funny, you’re not offering criticism – you’re perpetrating a form of violence, and we can no longer carry on pretending this is normal just because it happens on social media.” So said Vittoria Ferdinandi, mayor of Perugia, in a video on her Instagram page, denouncing the insults she has received online. “Those in politics must accept even the harshest criticism; it’s part of democracy. But when a woman is attacked for her physical appearance, for her body, when it comes to sexist jokes and threats, we are no longer in the realm of political dissent. That’s why I’ve decided to report the most serious attacks, but that’s not enough,” she adds, revealing that she has joined the project launched by the mayor of Florence, Sara Funaro. “Together,” she explains, “we have decided to turn this hatred into something tangible, by channelling any compensation into a fund to provide free legal assistance to women who are victims of hatred and violence on social media. Because it is not right that only those who have the means to do so can defend themselves.”
Perugia: Mayor denounces sexist insults: “Let’s turn hatred into concrete action”
Turin, 20 Oct. (LaPresse) – “Whore, slut, bitch, die. If you write this to a woman on social media, you’re not making a joke, you’re not being funny, you’re not offering criticism – you’re perpetrating a form of violence, and we can no longer carry on pretending this is normal just because it happens on social media.” So said Vittoria Ferdinandi, mayor of Perugia, in a video on her Instagram page, denouncing the insults she has received online. “Those in politics must accept even the harshest criticism; it’s part of democracy. But when a woman is attacked for her physical appearance, for her body, when it comes to sexist jokes and threats, we are no longer in the realm of political dissent. That’s why I’ve decided to report the most serious attacks, but that’s not enough,” she adds, revealing that she has joined the project launched by the mayor of Florence, Sara Funaro. “Together,” she explains, “we have decided to turn this hatred into something tangible, by channelling any compensation into a fund to provide free legal assistance to women who are victims of hatred and violence on social media. Because it is not right that only those who have the means to do so can defend themselves.”