Giulia Cerioli

This collage was born from reflecting on the privilege of the #StayAtHome message. If someone does have a home, is this a safe space?

During this pandemic, the heteronormative nuclear family has been invoked and strengthened as the ideal shelter for isolation, but what about those women surviving domestic violence? What about women who used to sneak outside their houses with an excuse, getting a chance to escape from daily violence and meeting a friend or attending a women’s centre?

What about women who were almost ready to file charges, separate from their cohabitant abuser or even step out of that house?

What about women who, at the height of COVID-19 contagion and hospital capacity, need to go to the ER, not only for treatment of their injuries, but also to have official documentation of the domestic assault?

In Italy, calls to women’s centres increased by 74.5% in the first month of the pandemic. Femicide occurs every three days and this violence does not pause because of the coronavirus emergency. On the contrary, it gets worse.

But please, beware of falling for the narrative that women are all hopeless victims, because women do have the power and the means to stop and overcome violence.

Help spread information and emergency numbers for women who may ask for help in domestic violence situations (1522 in Italy), but don’t you dare shame them for not wanting to call. Always believe women.