Insubria opens a University Anti-Violence Support Desk: a listening and guidance service close to female students

The University of Insubria has launched an Anti-Violence Support Desk in partnership with Fondazione Felicita Morandi ETS, as part of the Varese Anti-Violence Network. The service is being established today in the heart of the Bizzozero Campus, and will soon also open in Como, close to the female students and women staff members of the academic community. It is dedicated to listening, information, initial reception and guidance towards anti-violence centres and local services. Its aim is to combat gender-based violence in all its forms: psychological, physical, economic, digital, intra-family and extra-family violence.

On behalf of the local interinstitutional network, Rossella Dimaggio, Councillor for Educational Services of the Municipality of Varese, confirms that “the opening of an Anti-Violence Support Desk within the university is a fundamental achievement for our city. Strengthening the local protection network and promoting a culture of prevention, respect and awareness in places of education represents a fundamental milestone for our network. It is important to safeguard places of knowledge attended by female students because we believe that the prevention of gender-based violence must first and foremost pass through education, proximity and the possibility of turning to competent people who are able to understand and/or prevent the different facets of gender-based violence. The fight against gender-based violence is not only an act of care, but a civic duty. This Support Desk is a further piece added to the local interinstitutional network of our province, confirming the administration’s ongoing commitment to protecting equal opportunities, especially among the younger generations.”

The service was presented at the Rectorate in Varese, in the presence of Rector Maria Pierro, her delegates Paola Biavaschi and Camilla Callegari, and Giovanna Scienza, President of Fondazione Felicita Morandi. Also taking part was Loredano Pollegioni, Delegate for Research and Technological Innovation and a member of the University Equal Opportunities Committee. Lawyer Anna Danesi, the Confidential Counsellor, also attended, bearing witness to the university’s policy of protecting gender differences and paying attention to the psychological well-being of the academic community.

“The establishment of a listening centre in a place that symbolises culture,” said Rector Maria Pierro, “takes on particular significance: on the one hand, it makes it possible to provide concrete help in a space where women study, work and build their path towards emancipation every day; on the other, it represents an explicit cultural message aimed at promoting respect, prevention and the fight against every form of violence.”

The University Anti-Violence Support Desk is located on the first floor of the Antonini Pavilion, in Via Ottorino Rossi in Varese, in the premises of the Teacher Training Centre. Here, every Friday from 2 to 4 p.m., the operators of the Anti-Violence Centre of Fondazione Felicita Morandi are available to female students and women staff members of Insubria for listening and guidance activities. A dedicated number for direct contact is also active: +39 339 4658579.

To support the work of the operators, the university is also assigning two specific figures who, thanks to two scholarships, will be able on the one hand to help identify situations of distress and on the other to examine the legislative aspects of the issue, also addressing highly topical matters such as gender transition and men who experience violence. In this regard, the Oggi Observatory, the Insubria Youth Gender Observatory, is also due to open soon. It will carry out research to detect events that have not yet emerged and vulnerable individuals.

The University Anti-Violence Support Desk represents a further step in the collaboration between the University of Insubria and Fondazione Felicita Morandi, which are already engaged in promoting prevention and information activities on the different forms of gender-based violence and in strengthening the local support network.

Giovanna Scienza, President of Fondazione Felicita Morandi ETS: “Our Foundation has been operating in the Varese area since 2005, consolidating itself over the years as a point of reference for the protection of women victims of violence and their children. This commitment sees us playing an active role within the Anti-Violence Network not only at local level, but also through constant institutional dialogue with Regione Lombardia, law enforcement agencies and the hospital authority. Establishing a listening desk in a place that symbolises culture and professionalism, such as the University of Insubria, is not only the activation of a service, but the launch of a powerful message. To bring hidden situations to light, we must be present precisely where everything seems to be going well. It is essential to remember and to inform people that, unfortunately, the different forms of violence have no social or economic background: violence is dramatically ‘democratic’. We are convinced that a society can heal and improve only if concrete cultural actions are put into practice. Education in asking for help and reporting violence finds its highest expression precisely in the place where women and men meet to become the professionals of tomorrow. With this service on the Bizzozero Campus, we want to offer female students and all women staff members a safe and competent haven in which to transform fragility into a path towards freedom.”

Paola Biavaschi, Delegate for Gender Equality and Equal Opportunities: “In a context in which violence against women continues to record worrying figures, the university wants to be ready to respond to any situations of distress and to guide people towards the services of the local network, offering an accessible and recognisable point of reference.”

Camilla Callegari, Delegate for Disability Policies and Psychological Well-Being: “The new Support Desk is intended as an accessible and competent listening space, a protected environment that encourages the early emergence of situations of fragility. The service is part of the actions dedicated to the well-being of the academic community, with the aim of identifying distress and accompanying people towards appropriate support pathways.”

In the attached photograph, from left: Giacomo Furlanetto, Loredano Pollegioni, Giovanna Scienza, Rector Maria Pierro, Paola Biavaschi, Camilla Callegari, Anna Danesi.