A complaint has already been presented to the carabinieri and others will arrive shortly. Hundreds of victims of sexual harassment suffered last weekend in Rimini on the occasion of the meeting of the Alpine troops are ready to file a lawsuit against unknown persons.
Non Una di Meno, the group that collected and disseminated the numerous reports, is working with its own legal team.
A story that arouses controversy, while reports of episodes increase over the hours. Whistles, heavy jokes, unsolicited attention, and someone even stretched out their hands .
In the afternoon, a 26-year-old went with a friend and her lawyer to tell what happened: on Saturday afternoon, she reported, she was surrounded and attacked by three people in the crowd . They would have taken her by the arm, yanked and insulted with explicit sexual references, before she wriggled away by running away.
THE MINISTER - Defense Minister Lorenzo Guerini , who took part in the initiatives on Sunday, speaks of " very serious behavior ". “Episodes that certainly must be ascertained by the competent bodies, but which cannot and must not be underestimated. Episodes, I want to reiterate strongly, which would be the opposite of the values of the Alpine troops and of an event that is a celebration of solidarity, principles and beautiful traditions. It is wrong to make generalizations, but at the same time there must be no tolerance : harassment and violence must never and in no case find any justification and must be condemned without hesitation ”.
THE DEFENSE OF THE ALPINE - The national alpine association rejects the accusations: "It is clear that if there are limited and detailed complaints we will take action, but at the moment there are no results", said the president Sebastiano Favero.
In a press release, the association blames young people who "pretend to be Alpine" by wearing hats, even though the majority of the testimonies speak of men of a certain age: " There are hundreds, if not thousands, of young people who, despite not being Alpine, take advantage of the situation : for them, to mingle in the big party, it is enough to buy an Alpine hat, even if not original, on any stall ”, we read.
MANY WILL NOT REPORT - Many of the victims, however, will not report, also because in Italian law it is not easy to configure crimes in the behaviors reported in Rimini. For example, in France there is a specific law that punishes catcalling , "street" sexual harassment.
“The reports that have come from the meeting of the Alpine troops in Rimini - said the vice president of the Emilia Romagna Region Elly Schlein - must be taken seriously even when they do not take the form of a complaint to the police; often women do not report because they are afraid of not being believed. Those who reported need the support of the institutions. These are not rude or drunken episodes - these are harassment . And too little has it been understood that the problem is much deeper, it is also cultural ”.
(Unioneonline / L)