Kering and the Kering Corporate Foundation sign a joint charter on the prevention and combat against domestic violence in Italy

∞The Kering Foundation partners with the Italian NGO Donne in Rete contro la violenza (D.i.Re) to prevent and combat violence against women
∞Following a successful pilot programme at Gucci, this commitment will be rolled out across all Kering brands in Italy

 

Raising the awareness of Kering employees in Italy
Kering and the Kering Foundation signed a Charter today with the Italian NGO Donne in Rete contro la violenza (D.i.Re) to involve all Kering employees based in Italy in combating domestic violence against women. François-Henri Pinault, Chairman & CEO of Kering and President of the Kering Corporate Foundation, and Titti Carrano, Chairwoman of D.i.Re, jointly signed the new Charter.

 

The Charter is intended to raise the awareness of all employees of the Kering Group based in Italy regarding domestic violence and help them comprehend this issue that affects all social classes:

 

•Employees identified as “ambassadors” within the Kering Group will be trained by the Kering Foundation and by D.i.Re to support and refer potential victims to D.i.Re, should they encounter situations of domestic violence in their personal or professional lives.
•All Kering employees will receive regular information about national campaigns run by D.i.Re to combat domestic violence.

 

This partnership with D.i.Re in Italy echoes a similar partnership signed in France in 2010 with the NGO Fédération Nationale Solidarité Femmes (FNSF). With 120 “ambassador” employees trained to date in France, the Kering Foundation has asked D.i.Re to design a tailor-made programme for Kering brands in Italy.

 

“Our employees must be our prime ambassadors, alongside the Kering Foundation, so as to strengthen the voice of domestic violence victims. This partnership with an Italian NGO is fully in line with our partnership with the Fédération Nationale Solidarité Femmes, signed in France in 2010. It illustrates the consistency, continuity and determination of the actions carried out by the Kering Foundation. These charters signed in France and Italy are only the beginning: we intend to expand our action to other regions of the world where Kering operates”, said François-Henri Pinault, Chairman & CEO of Kering and President of the Kering Corporate Foundation.

 

For the Italian NGO Donne in Rete contro la violenza, this partnership is the first alliance of its kind to be signed with a private multinational, who holds a strong presence in Italy.

 

“In Italy, the issue of domestic violence against women is still largely concealed and neglected even though it has been highlighted for over twenty years thanks to the work of anti-violence centres and research by social laboratories of cultural change. The anti-violence centres, who care for an average of 14,000 women each year, have collected data and analysed the root causes and characteristics of this problem. Thanks to their initiatives, there is a heightened awareness of the issue amongst Italian society but a lot remains to be done still. We need to intervene on a cultural level. Projects like this charter signed with the Kering Foundation, as well as experimental initiatives, are essential to raise public awareness of the issue of violence against women", said D.i.Re Chairwoman Titti Carrano.

 

Gucci, the pilot brand
Gucci has played an essential role in the lead up to the signature of this partnership. In 2012, upon reading the results of the charter signed in France, Frida Giannini, Creative Director of Gucci and member of the Kering Foundation Board of Directors, proposed to extend the project to Gucci in Italy.

 

After a phase of collaborative planning with FNSF to design a training programme, D.i.Re and the Kering Foundation then set up a pilot trial at Gucci. Since May 2013, 85 Gucci employees have already attended four awareness training modules organised in Florence, Milan and Rome.

 

With the engagement of other Kering brands in Italy, the charter will now be rolled out nationwide to reach over 6,000 employees.

 

“I am honoured that Gucci was chosen as the pilot company for this project in Italy. The issue of violence against women transverses our society, transcending differences in nationality, culture, religion or social class. It is essential to act in several ways, at various times and with diversified resources in order to try and curb the problem. Teaching people how to help women in distress, whether friends or colleagues, is already an essential step in fighting the taboos, raising awareness and trying to overcome this huge problem”, said Frida Giannini, Creative Director of Gucci and member of the Kering Foundation’s Board of Directors.

 

Violence against women: a persisting taboo in Italy
In 2007, ISTAT, the Italian national institute of statistics, published a research study on violence, and other abuse, against women, revealing that an estimated 6.743 million women aged 16 to 70,( i.e. 31.9% of Italian women in this age bracket) are victims of violence; 5 million women have been subjected to sexual violence (23.7%), and 3.961 million to physical violence (18.8%). Around 1 million female victims of domestic violence have suffered rape or rape attempts (4.8%). The data was later reported by Rashida Manjoo, UN Special Rapporteur for the implementation of the CEDAW Convention in Italy.
In 2012, 120 women were victims of femicide in Italy: data reported over several years shows that every three days a woman is killed.

 

Last June, Italy ratified the Convention of the Council of Europe on “Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence”. By signing this Convention, Italy has committed to take action to improve its legal instruments on the protection of women victims of violence, to support the anti-violence centres, to duly enforce the laws, and most of all to work in favour of cultural change with both prevention and awareness projects. It is essential to work with younger generations in schools and universities in order to address the issue of violence against women from various perspectives and to recognise it as a serious violation of human rights.

 

D.i.RE
D.i.Re was founded in 2008. With 20 years of activity, it is the first and only Italian network of independent women’s centres and shelters combatting violence against women. D.i.Re promotes national political action and cultural change with regard to male violence against women. It coordinates 65 Anti-violence Centres and Women’s Shelters.

 

Of those women welcomed by the Centres in 2012
•15,201 women were supported by D.i.Re
•69.26% of those women were Italian
•72.12% of perpetrators were Italian
•92.14% were cases of domestic violence
•20.61% of cases involved an ex-partner
•493 women and 490 children were housed by the shelters

 

What the Centres offer:
•Confidential help line, personal consultancy
•Legal advice
•Psychological counselling
•Employment opportunities
•Assistance to minors
•Services for foreign women
•Services for trafficking and forced prostitution

 

The Kering Foundation
Launched in 2009, the Kering Foundation combats violence against women by supporting NGOs and social entrepreneurs, helps to increase awareness on the issue and encourages employee engagement across America, Europe and Asia. Since it was founded, more than 140,000 women have benefited from the support of the Foundation. www.keringfoundation.org @KeringForWomen

 

Press contacts
Kering
Emmanuelle Picard-Deyme + 33 (0)1 45 64 61 87emmanuelle.picard-deyme@kering.com
Claudia Mora+ 39 02 88 00 55 50 claudia.mora@kering.com

 

D.i.Re
Nadia Somma+39 339 7718933press.direcontrolaviolenza@women.it

 

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