The number of women turning to the is growing women’s desk for the request of a bed place within the provincial night reception system: if in 2022 there were 211 applications, last year it rose to 273, while from January to 12 March this year the total has already reached 96. The provincial councilor for health and social policies Mario Tonina outlined the situation, responding to a question filed by PD councilor Paolo Zanella. «In recent years – we read in Zanella’s question – even for foreign and Italian women, mostly alone, with precarious work contracts or victims of trafficking and seeking international protection, the situation has worsened and the reception in low threshold is no longer enough.” The dem councilor recalls the numbers: «To date, there are only two structures guaranteed for women in difficulty, in Trento. These are the Casa della nuova, with 30 beds, open all year round, and Casa Paola, 14 beds, which welcomes women only in the winter period”. But “many women are on the waiting list and have no alternative but to be homeless.” Hence the request to the councilor to have a complete picture of the requests at the one-stop shop, of women seeking international protection and of the Province’s strategies.
Monitored phenomenon
«For years – replies Tonina – a constant and attentive person has been active in the Province monitoring of the phenomenon of people on the street. Particular attention is given to the phenomenon of women on the streets with dedicated tools: the women’s help desk and a “homeless women table” whose main mandate is to monitor the phenomenon of homeless women present in the Trentino area”. And if the number of requests at the counter for a bed is growing, as of March 12, there were six women registered on the waiting list. With an average wait to enter a dormitory, recorded in 2023, of 2.13 days. The councilor then focuses on the number (also relating to mid-March) of women requesting international protection “welcomed into the extraordinary reception project”: the total is 305 women, “corresponding – Tonina specifies – to approximately 30% of the collective of reference”. Of these, 70% are over the age of 18. 60% are Ukrainian, 30% Nigerian. Finally, Piazza Dante’s line regarding homeless women: «For years now – underlines the councilor – the The Province pays particular attention to the phenomenon of women on the streets, aware of the peculiarities that the female phenomenon has compared to the male one, of its intrinsic vulnerabilities and well-defined characteristics”. The provincial orientation, concludes Tonina, «is increasingly aimed at quality and not only quantity, where the objective is not only to offer beds but also and above all to encourage the taking care of the individual woman, with her characteristics and fragility”.
