“United for Anna. Let us speak out against all violence”

“If we don’t really make ourselves heard, things will never change.” There were many of them yesterday morning, in Piazza della Rocca, in San Felice to remember Anna Sviridenko, the mother brutally killed by her ex-husband Andrea Paltrinieri on Monday evening. A single cry from the square to ask not to get used to feminicides, to fight because the tools are there. Many were moved by thinking of Anna, of a mother who had always put her children first: she traveled thousands of kilometers to bring her children from Austria, where they lived, to Modena, in order to allow the little ones to see the father. In the meantime, she had been living since November 2022 in the house that her friends had helped her find and furnish, right there in San Felice. “It was almost impossible to see her – declared the many citizens present at the demonstration – she was always in a hurry, she never stopped. Children and work: this was her life”. Various local associations organized the event, united by the slogan “#FAIRUMORE”. Yesterday the Administration confirmed all possible support for Anna’s family. “As a community we must do our part, rally around the family and fight this plague – says the mayor, Michele Goldoni –. I spoke with the lawyer who follows the family, we are collaborating. He was not officially resident with us but all we can do for the two children and for the family we will do it as a community, at the first useful municipal council we will talk about being a civil party in this process”. “We are here because it is right to be there – Alessia and Giada, high school students declared yesterday – there is still a long way to go to stem the phenomenon”. Also present yesterday was Giulio Calanca, Anna’s friend for a long time together with his brother Davide. “An extraordinary woman, an out of the ordinary figure, a mother in love with her children, who did everything just for the love of her children” commented Calanca. Alex Cestari, from Piazza del Mercato and Anpi, underlined from the stage how important it is to keep attention high on the issue of feminicides: “We need to make noise and be united against all violence”. Serena Ballista, Udi Modena once again pointed out that the problem is cultural. “It concerns logics of power in the couple’s relationship. For too many men, female self-determination remains a problem of treason to which they react with violence.” Also present was Anna Martinelli from Donne in Centro. “Today – she says – we see femicide but there is a more subtle violence to bring out, the economic and psychological one”.