The Tuscany Region has awarded the Silver Gonfalon to the Tuscan coordination of the Anti-Violence Centers Tosca

The president of the regional council, Antonio Mazzeo, Has awarded the Silver Banner, the highest honor of the Tuscan Legislative Assembly, to the Tuscan coordination of anti-violence centers TOSCA.

The award was received by Sabrina Gaglianone, delegate of the Coordination to whom the anti-violence centers of the region participate: ARPA Association (Massa Carrara), Ets Luna Anti-Violence Center (Lucca), One for the Other (Viareggio), All Free (Montecatini Terme), La Nara (Prato), Artemisia (Florence), Pronto Donna (Arezzo), Women's House (Pisa), Frida Khalo (San Miniato), Women Together Val d'Elsa (Siena), Woman Calls Woman (Siena), Woman Friend (Montepulciano), Donna Amiata Val D'Orcia (Siena), Olympia De Gouges (Grosseto and Orbetello).

“I am proud to present you with the highest honor of the Regional Council”. President Antonio Mazzeo opened his speech with these words and explained how “the Silver Banner wants to celebrate TOSCA's tireless commitment and dedication in the fight against gender violence. It's a way of saying thank you for the important work you carry out and which we often don't measure up to."

President Mazzeo, who asked for a minute of silence for the 25 women victims of femicide since the beginning of the year, quoted Don Lorenzo Milani explaining that in his 'I care', there is a sense of mission that the coordination and anti-violence centers carry out amidst many difficulties. “Tuscany is ahead of other regions in financing your business - he continued - but it's not enough, more needs to be done. TOSCA and the anti-violence centers are a beacon for many women who feel alone. Important proximity places for our community. They are a lighthouse, security, last shelter and moment of hope."

Thanks then came from President Mazzeo to all volunteers who make this extraordinary work possible day after day and often work in the shadows. “A shadow that must become a more lively and greater place of hope and if we succeed this recognition will have made sense”. President Mazzeo also made an appeal to men: “We first must demonstrate that we are agents of change, against gender violence. We don't turn our heads at certain gestures, even the slightest. Because as long as even the slightest form of oppression is tolerated on our part, we will be complicit in a system that is structurally discriminatory on a social, civil and economic level. And no one will ever be free as long as there is even one woman deprived of her freedom."

Regional councilor Donatella Spadi proposed the honor to the Bureau: “The TOSCA Regional Coordination deserves this recognition because the listening centers and shelters are a fundamental network for women victims of violence and also for their children. It is an intervention carried out in times of emergency that helps many people. Women who find points of reference that they desperately need. I know well how much effort you have to carry out all the activities and it is important to make everything you do known."

Receiving the Silver Banner Sabrina Gaglianone thanked the Regional Council for the important honor received, a recognition that comes close to the Coordination's fifteenth birthday. “We have been networking for many years - has explained - because together we work better. And having a single voice is also essential in relationships with institutions and when asking for funding”. “Talking about an emergency is anachronistic, because something that happens every day is no longer an emergency, but a deeply rooted structural phenomenon. It is a very complex phenomenon and for this reason it is important to act in a network. In this way we can also ensure the homogeneity of the methodologies that we use. In our facilities we have 186 beds for women and their minor children. Since 2013 we have had public funding that passes through the Tuscany Region which has implemented it over several years, but we still depend heavily on the contribution of the world of volunteering and we clash with the many rigidities of the Third Sector”.

"The dialogue with the Region is particularly important - concluded Sabrina Gaglianone - now that the Regional Council is preparing to review law 59 of 2007 on gender violence and we are available to give our contribution. Our work has as its final objective the rebirth of victims of violence and in addition to our thanks we also bring you that of the women we help every day".

They participated in the ceremony, to whom many representatives of the anti-violence centers were present, the advisors of the Bureau Federica Fratoni and Diego Petrucci.

The president of the regional commission for equal opportunities was present Francesca Basanieri, Ombudsman of Tuscany Lucia Hannibals and regional councilors Silvia Nofri and Marco Niccolai.

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