PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – The celebration leaves room for reflection by involving a range of actors from the university world, at both student and executive levels, and institutional levels. On the occasion of International Women’s Day, “Women Tell” arrives at the Palermo Polyclinic, an event that, starting from personal experiences, pays tribute to the work of female figures in health care and culture.
The event is part of a series of initiatives that see a flourishing activity of the Sicilian capital and its institutions on the occasion of Women’s Day, through a series of insights into the evolution of the female role.
Maria Grazia Furnari, director general of the Polyclinic, stresses, “We wanted to dedicate this day to women by giving it a somewhat original slant. We will talk about those female figures who are engaged in cinema and art or who, in any case, have affirmed their role in society, through their own inclinations and with the utmost freedom of expression: there will also be a health slant, because the Polyclinic every year carries out a questionnaire on gender equality and the difficulties that can be encountered in this regard in the workplace.”
Explaining the objectives of the questionnaire are Antonella Plaia, professor of Statistics at the university, and Chiara Di Maria, researcher in Economic Sciences and Statistics. “This survey, conducted between November and January, is in its second year and involves all employees and residents of the Polyclinic,” explains Plaia. “We formulated a series of questions about the possibility of having learned, about themselves or others, of violence of any kind.
From the analysis, Di Maria points out, “it emerges how the perception of discrimination and gender differences is much more felt in youth groups: women perceive more discrimination, but making age groups this issue is much more felt among young people. It means that perhaps a form of consciousness related to gender inequality is developing.”
On the issue, the University devotes constant attention. As Rector Massimo Midiri points out, “already in the past years we wanted to dedicate a proctorate on gender equality, led by Professor Pasciuta: women should not be celebrated only on March 8, we need to get out of the erroneous schematism that this issue is addressed only one day a year. To do this, we need to put in place a series of policies that aim at a paradigm shift and provide for an increasingly active and equal role of women: still gender equality has not been achieved, but the trend is evolving quite rapidly and should lead in 2-3 years to achievement.”
The man-woman relationship, according to Midiri, must be addressed “even in the contexts of legality, albeit with harsh laws: finally life imprisonment has become the penalty for feminicides, perhaps this can break a vicious circuit. The university acts on the education of young people, but perhaps it would be more appropriate to start from the elementary and middle school benches: students know that in our university they are protected and, above all, followed.”
For the mayor of Palermo Roberto Lagalla, “Women’s Day constitutes a moment of reflection, deepening and focusing on the problems that still await us and those that, thanks to the tenacity of women and the role of institutions, have been overcome and resolved over time. Today in Italy the literacy figure is more favorable to women, who have higher titles than men: the cultural process is fundamental and should probably be rewritten as one of the major lessons for the whole society. The issue of interpersonal relationships is a cultural gap that needs to be bridged with patience and determination.”
Despite the many steps forward over the decades, according to Palermo Prefect Massimo Mariani, “there is still a great deal of work to be done: a whole series of rights revolve around women, and talking about rights means focusing on, for example, education or decent working hours. This day should not be a ritual celebration, but precisely a time to reflect on everyone’s rights.”
Alongside this issue there are two others on which the attention of institutions is strong: unequal access to top positions and assaults on health personnel. Addressing the issues is Salvatore Iacolino, director general of the Department for Strategic Planning of the Regional Department of Health: “Out of 18 general directorates of hospital health care companies, only two are headed by women: there is still a clear difficulty with respect to very important roles that are still exercised by men. The issue of the safety of health workers concerns above all the female gender, on this we have intervened with a series of corrective actions: the safety program set up by President Schifani also concerns the Polyclinic.”
The president of the Palermo Medical Association, Toti Amato, also dwells on this last aspect: “Yesterday for the first time a man who assaulted a health care worker was sentenced to a year and a half in prison: the Medical Association has repeatedly asked for interventions, it is good that a first result has finally been achieved.”
– Photo xd8/Italpress –
(ITALPRESS).
