In the third episode of the podcast Good luck One of the hardest passages in the life of those who suffer violence is faced with lucidity and without turns of words: the complaint. An act that is not only legal but emotional, psychic, sometimes almost physical. The title, Do not wake up the sleeping canalready makes you understand how much you often remain motionless for fear of worsening the situation. But the reality is that the dog sometimes has already bite. And he doesn’t stop, if nobody stops him.
Guest of the episode is the lawyer Ilenia Guerrieri, Expert of criminal law and vice -president of the Association “Women in the center”. An association that has chosen not to enter the 1522 network, not for rebellion but for autonomy. Because sometimes, to really help, you must be able to decide how, when, with whom. Volunteering there is made by lawyers, psychologists, ordinary people. All prepared, all with a goal: to restore dignity, listening and concreteness to women (and their family members) who choose to say enough.
The complaint is not just a sheet of paper
Developing means telling what has been experienced – and often what has been tried to forget – to an authority. To the carabinieri, the police, to a lawyer. But the key word here is “telling”. It is not enough to say “he beat me”, it must be explained how, when, where, what was he felt, who was present. It is painful, but necessary. Because the criminal trial is not an emotional narrative, it is a rational construction based on elements: words, yes, but also photos, recordings, messages, witnesses. A woman who tells is no longer alone: she is building a charge, she is opening a door.
And no, you don’t need a lawyer to submit the complaint. But it helps, not because you are unable to do it alone, but because knowing that she does not have to think about everything she makes the difference.
The state puts the face (finally)
With the Red code Something has changed. For some crimes – mistreatment, stalking, revenge porn, sexual violence – free patronage is guaranteed even without income limits. There are no more excuses like “I don’t have the money to face a cause”. It is the state that pays, just choose a lawyer enrolled in the public lists
And it is always the Red code To have forced justice to move: within three days of the complaint, the offended person must be heard by the prosecutor. Quick times, at least on paper. Even if, as often happens, it is the reality that brakes good intentions: electronic bracelets work, yes. But there are few, they cost too much, and then you get by. And while the state looks for the funds, there are those who continue to be afraid to leave the house.
“The problem is that these electronic bracelets are very expensive (…) often the magistrate has the application of the electronic bracelet but there is no availability.”
“We do not need more severe penis, we have the strictest penalties in Europe. We need to be effective and efficient justice, therefore there are fast processes.”
Who listens must be able to listen
The warrior lawyer insists on one thing: the moment of the complaint is very delicate. Whoever welcomes that story – whether he is a carabiniere or a social worker – cannot afford to make mistakes. It cannot diminish, ridicule, interrupt. Yet it still happens.
“Before the rule was in force that if you go around in the miniskirt or go around half naked you were looking for it (…) All this is no longer admitted in the courtrooms, these questions are really prohibited.”
It happens, especially in small towns, that a woman enters the barracks and feels say “is only a marital dispute”. For this there is 1522: to direct, accompany, prevent those who seek help from being silent.
What if it’s too late? It is not always
The complaint has temples, for stalking, for example, it is six months. For sexual violence, one year. But for the abuse in the family the law is clear: you look at the latest conduct. If today man insults you, and ten years ago he beat you, that complaint is still possible. And in the most serious cases – when there is a minor, when the violence is repeated – the complaint has no expiry. Proceed ex officio.
There is an important step in the episode, when it comes to violent men. Warriors does not justify, but explains. Many do not arise like this, they saw, they have undergone, they learned that love hurts. It is not an alibi, it is a context, and it is also for this reason that today there are compulsory rehabilitation paths for those who are condemned. Not to save them, but to prevent them from going back to hurting. European studies say they work: the recurrence lowers drastically, but you have to do them, and do them well, without discounts.
Fear is not weakness
Denouncing is difficult, everyone knows this, but the episode manages to explain why. It is not just out of fear, it is out of shame, for economic dependence, for children, for love. Yes, even for love. Because those who beat sometimes are also those who embrace you, pay you the bills, make you feel indispensable.
“Reporting is difficult because it involves reliving pain (…) The difficulty that a victim of gender -based violence has to tell (…) It is really to relive that emotional state and have the courage to tell it to a third without being afraid of being judged or feeling guilty.”
Understanding where the relationship ends and where the crime begins is not easy.
And then there is consent. That gray, ambiguous area, where there is no “brutal” violence but there is not even a yes. A drunk person cannot give a valid consensus. Silence is not a yes. And if he was under the influence of substances, he is not a excuse: he is an aggravating circumstance. The law says it, but you have to know.
“My role is to guarantee the process, not to give judgments”
Thus closes the warrior lawyer, with a personal reflection. He says it is hard, that pain sometimes stuck on him, but that the lawyer’s profession is this: keeping the head cold, even when the heart explodes. Ensure that the process is done, and that it is good. It is there, in that classroom, that justice is sought, not revenge.
Look at the episode
