Miniskirts for Ozgecan

Ozgecan Aslan was a 20 years old student of Medicine, who has been murdered because she stopped a man who wanted to rape her. It happened the 11 February 2015 in the Turkish city of Mercin. This event deeply touched the public opinion.

UN Women provides impressive statistics about the violence against women. Just to mention some of them:

- 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence;

- around 120 million girls worldwide (slightly more than 1 in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts at some point in their lives;

- between 40 and 50 per cent of women in European Union countries experience unwanted sexual advances, physical contact or other forms of sexual harassment at work.

Just in Europe, one third of women some form of physical or sexual abuse since the age of 15. And in Turkey last year 300 women have murdered. 

The worst is that in many situation the victims and their families cannot feel protected by the law.

Can something change?

Of course yes. 

And in the case of Ozgecan Aslan something actually changed. During the funeral, the women, usually behind the men in the celebrations, decided to go ahead and take the coffin against the tradition. 

And many protests have been raised all over Turkey. Many men have decided to participate in those protests dressing miniskirts. This was the invitation on Facebook:

“If a miniskirt is responsible for everything, if a miniskirt means immorality and unchastity, if a woman who wears a miniskirt is sending an invitation about what will happen to her, then we are also sending an invitation!”

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Italy - Libya: which are the real interests involved?

The situation in Libya seems getting worse and worse and also the Italian Embassy in Tripoli has closed few days ago due to the ISIS advance in the Country.

The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs has declared that Rome is ready for a military operation under the auspices of United Nations. The official reason is that Libya is so close to Italy that Isis could become a serious problem for the national security. 

But which are the Italian interests in its former colony? Why Libya is so much more important for Rome than Syria or Iraq?

After the Libyan Independence in 1947, and even after the Gaddafi coup in 1969, the economic relationship between Rome and Tripoli have been kept strong.

The total trade between those two Countries is around 11 Billion Euro per year. It was the double just in 2008, but after the political crisis, the trade has decreased, reaching the lowest point in 2011 (when Gaddafi died), at 4.5 Billion. The main businesses are gas and oil, that represent the 90% of the total import from Libya to Italy.

Brieafly, Libya produces less than 2% of the World oil, but Italy import the 25% of its total energetic need from Tripoli; without considering the contracts got by Italian companies for the construction of bridges, streets, and the supply of arms.

That is why Rome cannot risk to lose such a partner. We will see in the next weeks and months what will happen. Let's just avoid to hide economic interests under the reasons of pace and stabilization of the area.

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Italy: the extraordinary commonplace?

Living abroad gives you the opportunity to see how deep the stereotypes about your own Country are.

Sometimes they can be an advantage. Italians, for instance, are seen as latin lovers with emotional, romantic and passionate nature. And this can be a good help in romantic affairs, even if those caractheristics are often associated with less worthy elements, like being loud, unreliable and mummy's boy.

As well, foreigners love thinking Italy as the place of the sun, the sea and the good food, but also as a Country complicated, with a byzantine political system, a weak economy and a marginal relevance in the World.

Everything false? Of course not: all those commonplaces came from some real characteristics.

So, who are the Italians? What is Italy?

Few weeks ago the Italian Government has been presented a video, entitled "Italy: the extraordinary commonplace" to show the achievements of Italy in the last century. 

So, we discover that Italy is a World leader in major infrastructures and in pharmaceutic. Italy has been also one of the first Countries to send a Satellite into orbit after US and Soviet Union and it is the World leader in the production of luxury yachts.

Without considering the role of Italy in history, culture and arts: in Italy for example, there is the highest concentration of Unesco Sites in the whole World and its movie production got the highest number of Academy Awards for foreign movies (14). 

Not so bad for a country of 60 million people, often considered weak and in a permanent and irremediable decline.

To be honest, Italy is also one of the Country with the highest tax evasion in the World, it is ranked 73rd regarding the press freedom and 69th for the corruption.

And Italians? 

Like in every Country, you can find people closer to the classic stereotype, as well very far from it.
Dreamers? Maybe. Lazy? Sometimes. Optimistic? The most part.

"What is the fatal charm of Italy? What do we find there that can be found nowhere else? I believe it is a certain permission to be human, which other places, other countries, lost long ago" - Erica Jong

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