“Free to be”, yes, but only to be as someone else wants. A story that is the emblem of the paradox that happened to Stefania Secci, 36 years old, former model and now activist for women's rights, originally from Pula and resident for a few years in Genoa.
The facts: on the occasion of November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, she was invited as an influencer and disseminator of awareness against gender violence, to hold a meeting at the theater entitled, precisely, “Free to be”, in Pino Torinese, in the province of Turin. As collateral events, then, she was supposed to participate in two meetings in the morning at the Vittone Institute in Chieri and at the middle school in Pino Torinese.
Meetings with students that suddenly went off the rails. "The intervention scheduled for November 25 will not take place because the Institute has acquired further information on Mrs. Secci and, at the moment, it is not believed that her meeting with students could have a didactic and/or educational impact," wrote the director Elena Maria Garrone. The reason? A campaign of hate and defamation that has been going on for days around some artistic nude photos, which portray her, from the time when she worked as a model.
"A situation that left me speechless," says Secci today, who a few months ago triggered the investigations that led to the arrest of the owner of a modeling agency and her assistant, also receiving an award in the Campidoglio . "For years I have tried to take concrete action against gender violence by informing and redirecting victims to the organization of which I am the patron, "Faro legale". I would never have imagined having to defend myself from such a wave of mud. I was the victim of gender discrimination as a woman. Unfortunately, I am certain that if I had been a man, all this would not have happened ."
How did things go?
"Some time ago I was invited directly by the Municipality of Pino Torinese, and I happily accepted to speak to both adults and children, privileged recipients of certain messages. Suddenly, however, I was involved in a hate campaign. Someone found some of my artistic nude photos dating back to years ago, when I was a professional model, a career that I then decided to end to dedicate myself full time to social activism. I have never denied my past as a model, of course ."
What use was made of those photos?
"They were shared in private chats to discredit me, to stir up a ruckus against me. Treated as pornography, moreover. It wasn't, and even if it had been: so what? Every woman and every man can do what they want with their body. For a naked breast I no longer had the social or intellectual depth to discuss certain topics, I wasn't a person fit to talk about women's rights. Credible people, is the message, don't take nude photos."
What kind of communication did you receive from the schools involved?
"None, they didn't even think they owed me any explanations. I learned indirectly, that is, from the Municipalities that had invited me, that the events had been canceled because the schools had backed out ."
Are you thinking of taking legal action?
«I am taking action with my lawyer Vanessa Bonaiti to make those who defamed me answerable ».
Are the meetings still cancelled even after this media storm?
"Absolutely yes, while there has never been any hitch with the meeting at the theater. I hope that the kids who wanted to hear what I have to say will come there ."
Is there any good in this whole story?
"Yes, the solidarity I received from many people and feminist associations. And the opportunity to reiterate that such things must never happen again ."
