Francesca Ghio’s testimony about childhood sexual assault sparks an investigation

First, a report in the Genoa council chamber, then an investigation was initiated by the prosecutor’s office. The account of sexual violence she experienced as a little girl, told yesterday by Francesca Ghio, a city councilor on the Rossoverde list, has now turned from a political act into a judicial act. Genoa, Francesca Ghio: “At the age of 12, I was raped within the walls of my home.” AVS city councilor pleads guilty to assault. Report by Francesca Ghio Ghio reported that she experienced violence at the age of 12. “I lived in the heart of wealthy Genoa when I experienced physical and psychological violence within the walls of my home,” she said. The assembly was silent at first, but then, when councilors realized she was the victim, messages of closeness and solidarity began to flow. The case is filed against unknown persons and entrusted to deputy prosecutor Vittorio Ranieri Miniati, who coordinates the pool of weak sections. The investigation will then be assigned to a judge from the group, who will assess whether the crime has been subject to a statute of limitations, given that 19 years have passed since the events. The first step should be to interview the victim within three days, as required by the Red Code. The statute of limitations begins after 12 years, but if the violence continued for a longer period of time, it might not expire. Therefore, Councilor Ghio’s full report will be crucial. The investigation was initiated ex officio because in the case of this type of crime there is no need for the victim to file a complaint, according to reports from portals and newspapers. “The Cecchettin family gave me the desire to react” Today in an interview with ANSA, Ghio explained: “I was prepared and decided to do it. I feel like my body has become food for everyone. A part of me died many years ago, the new voice that I dared to use yesterday gives me a lot of strength. It’s also nice to think that this willingness to react was passed on to me by Giulia and everything that the Cecchettin family did.” The city councilor is one of the most combative minority members of Genoa’s city council: in recent months, as a young mother, she managed to get the approval of an ordinance that allowed new parents, both men and women, to participate in council sessions remotely. In the courtroom, she explained why she was testifying, ending with a quote from the song Bandiera by singer-songwriter and feminist activist Giulia Mei: “I am a voice, I am a flag, my body is political, here I am called to represent the people.” Ghio emphasized that she was “honored to be able to tell in an institutional chamber” what she suffered, to “give her body, according to the teachings of the feminist and transfeminist movements, in the service of all, to give a voice to those who do not have the strength to do so “. Adding that resources are needed to combat gender-based violence “because society needs resources to educate our children” and help “those who do not have the tools to face what they have suffered.”