Education and awareness for a different future

After the tragic loss of his daughter Giulia, Gino Cecchettin chose to transform his pain into a seed for change by establishing the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation. Created to speak to young people, families, and institutions, its aim is to build a culture based on respect and love, not on possession.

What is the Foundation’s primary mission, and what is the first message you want to give to young people who hear about Giulia?

The primary mission of the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation is to deal with every aspect of gender violence, not just as a social phenomenon but as a cultural problem, working on multiple levels: increased awareness, prevention, support of victims, promotion of policies to further gender equality, etc. It’s more than education: it’s building a culture in which mutual respect is the basis of every relationship, and where violence is never considered an option. I’ve tried to transmit this message to all of the young people I’ve met: there’s no possession in love – only respect – and every relationship that is not based on respect is already flawed. We all have to start again from this principle, because change begins from listening and from every individual’s responsibility.

You promote a truly inclusive emotional education. How can society be made more aware of the less visible forms of violence, such as those against women with disabilities, who often receive less attention?

It’s essential to remember that some aspects of gender violence remain hidden and hard to recognize, as in the case of women with disabilities. Studies show that these women are often exposed to greater risks of abuse and discrimination because they are more vulnerable.

To make society more aware of these forms of violence, we need a skilled and integrated approach based above all on the training of professionals, of social and healthcare workers. A truly inclusive emotional education has to begin by recognizing that every experience is different, and that giving voice to the marginalized is an essential part of prevention and justice.

What are the Foundation’s plans for the future, and what goal would make you proudest, considering Giulia’s legacy

We’ll continue to expand our educational programs in schools, involving students, teachers, and families, and working more and more with institutions and communities to include emotional education as a permanent element of the learning process.

Along with this, we’ll intensify training at the workplace, because this is a fundamental space in which to promote a culture of respect, in which to recognize inappropriate behavior and thereby prevent violence and discrimination at home.

We also want to expand our activity in strategic areas such as sports, which has strong educational value especially for young people, as well as in more complex environments such as prisons, where we believe it is critical to work on awareness and cultural change.

The goal we must set, as the legacy of Giulia and of all victims of femicide, is to become a society that recognizes violence not as a private incident but as a collective problem, to be fought at its root, first of all through education.

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