Mori: "Women's freedom will save the world."

"Call me 'lawyer': I'm convinced that language shapes reality, that what is named and expressed somehow exists ." Thus begins, with a statement that's almost a declaration of intent, the conversation with Roberta Mori, spokesperson for the National Conference of Democratic Women of the Democratic Party. She explains: " Ours is an open space, where both party members and non-members can participate. Our goal is to build a more just society."

How can we achieve such an ambitious goal? " We want to change the paradigm: build an alternative to a patriarchal system that humiliates, demeans, and slows the process of emancipation of women and society. To do this, " Mori continues, " we set ourselves concrete goals to improve the conditions of women and therefore of society: political initiatives, projects, and alliances within the social fabric built on a widespread, territorial basis." Of course, we point out, the Democratic Party has historically had few female leaders, indeed none. Then Elly Schlein arrived. "The arrival of a feminist secretary and the inclusion of the values of the term 'feminist party' in our manifesto have given a very strong boost to this drive for change and emancipation and generated much more powerful support for the cause. A feminine approach can truly trigger profound change. Even our conference, though autonomous, feels more supported; we feel that the secretary is at our side," says Mori. She then reiterates the need for a feminist, as well as a female, leader.

The critical reference is to Meloni: " Women's freedom," Mori explains, " doesn't come only from the inclusion of the crime of femicide , as important as it is. We believe that matters cannot be resolved with the penal code, but with prevention policies, anti-discrimination policies, lifelong learning, and promoting self-determination." And it is here, according to Mori, that the right is failing: " Law 194, which gave women rights, is the one they believe must be attacked on all fronts. I am amazed that they legitimize anti-abortionists in counseling centers and that, faced with reports on women's working conditions, it is the opposition —with its proposed law on part-time work by Senator Camusso —that must promote the issue of female employment and prevention policies. Or that it must always be the opposition that proposes the issue of emotional education, whose funds are then diverted to fertility." The "original sin," according to the Democratic Party spokesperson, lies precisely in that concept of the traditional family so dear to the right: "We all have a family, of course, but we stand for respecting the desire to love and create plural families, where women can self-determine and not end up victims of gender stereotypes."

And seen this way, even the involuntary part-time work that many women (31.5%) are forced to endure is no coincidence: " The issue of parenthood and the sharing of care responsibilities is the real challenge. And the Democratic Party, with its secretary, has long been relaunching a concrete proposal on equal leave. Often, care responsibilities are shouldered only by women because they earn less, are marginalized in careers, and thus we return to the issue of the gender pay gap ." Action is needed immediately. Because improving women's conditions, Mori argues, leads to an improvement in society as a whole: "Women's freedom will change the world, because it is the hallmark of a community's progress. The gentle revolution that women have led throughout history is the key to understanding our times too, a time of war."

Lawyer, we ask her at this point, do you therefore believe that female and less "muscular" leadership could lead to peace? Or discourage conflict? "How can we not think this through, if the solution to new problems between peoples always lies in force? How can we not think that even the ancestral element of power relations is strongly connected? Why must diplomacy be so mortified? I want to believe that in these often completely male-dominated gatherings, the contribution of protagonists of a different nature, with other experiences in the field of gender, can truly make a difference." Returning to the Conference for which she is spokesperson, Mori concludes by speaking of a concrete initiative they are promoting: a training school inspired by the thinking of women past and present that can " raise greater awareness and promote new practices in politics ." A school "for young women, but also for young men." Because, Mori concludes, " it is necessary for men too to rediscover themselves as active allies: only in this way can we combat violence against women."

FROM

Asia Buconi