According to the latest figures from Italian National Statistics Institution Istat, 6 million, 788 thousand women between 16 and 70 years of age have suffered some form of violence during their lives and almost 3 and a half million have been the victims of stalking. Therefore, to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women Camst launched its own action plan, reaffirming its partnership with D.i.Re. – “Donne in Rete contro la violenza”, a national association that brings together 84 organisations across Italy with a total of 111 anti-violence centres and more than 60 shelters. Promoting cultural change With more than 3,000 staff and experts – lawyers, psychologists, educators, activists and volunteers – D.i.Re. supports 20,000 women in their escape from violence every year. The association belongs to the European network against gender violence WAVE – Women Against Violence Europe, and runs awareness-raising and information campaigns as well as training courses and research programmes to promote the cultural change needed to dismantle the stereotypes and prejudices that fuel the power inequality in which male violence against women is rooted. Listen to the podcast “La lotta contro la violenza inizia (anche) sul luogo di lavoro” [“The fight against violence (also) begins in the workplace”]From values to actions: Camst’s projects The Group – which provides employment to more than 12 thousand women out of a total workforce of 15,000 – runs a large number of joint projects with D.i.Re., starting from programmes to provide work in the company’s production facilities or offices to women who have fled violence, with the aim of giving them greater financial independence. Alongside this project, launched in 2021, online training courses are run by the association’s trainers for local managers (150 people) to raise awareness of the phenomenon of violence and offer them tools to support female colleagues in difficulty. A informative leaflet “Fuori dalla Violenza” [“Escaping Violence”] has been published and will be distributed in paper form to all the company’s employees to help them to recognise the forms and signs of violence and provide victims with tools and contacts to help them to escape it. Download the leaflet