UN.I.RE.: Gender Violence is Also a Cultural Issue! Proceedings from the International Graduate Conference "Cultural Actions and Practices that Honor the Implementation of The Council of Europe-Istanbul Convention"

The volume collects the proceeding of the International Graduate Conference UN.I.RE. - Gender Violence is Also a Cultural Issue!, held at the University of Trento in January 2019. All the contributors, prominent scholars who gave the plenaries and graduate students who presented in the panels, discuss from different angles and disciplines virtuous state actions and civil society initiatives that honour the implementation of The Istanbul Convention, the first legally binding treaty on combating gender-based violence, while also revealing some deficiencies and shortcomings. The essays focus on the four pillars of The Convention, namely prevention, protection, prosecution, and integrated policies, in particular on cultural questions. Lisa Marchi introduces the volume by offering ample space to the illustration of the Project UN.I.RE. given by its coordinator Marina Calloni, to its Europe-wide implications anticipated by Michele Nicoletti in his capacity of former President of the Assembly of the Council of Europe, and to the need for it argued by Simonaa Lanzoni as GREVIO member. The volume opens with three contributions that underscore the central importance of culture in dealing with GBV issues: Trento-Unit coordinator Giovanna Covi who discusses the ineluctability of culture; Leela Gandhi who illustrates the crucial philosophical conceptualization of non-violence as ahimsa or radical harmlessness; Lisa Marchi’s discussion of the artistic project Kintsugi: precious wounds; Renate Klein’s invitation to promote cultural awareness, civic responsibility, and the development of appropriate cultural skills in the fight against GBV; and Daniela Belliti who examines The Convention from a moral perspectives and highlights the crucial role of feminist thought in advocating the complementarity between the fields of law and morals. The essays by graduate students have been clustered around two main themes: those discussing the often imperfect response of national migration and asylum legislation and policies when dealing with survivors of gender-based violence; those comparing the actions of institutions and citizens on the ground to combat GBV in different contexts (among others,Chile, the U.S., Serbia, Italy, Germany and France). All the contributions included in this volume argue that prevention measures, such as training professionals, running awareness campaigns, harmonizing national migration and asylum laws to the articles of The Convention, and including a gender-sensitive approach to cultural and educational materials and initiatives, require the involvement of both institutions and civil society actors and appear to be an essential, although often undervalued, tool to fight gender-based violence.