March 8 between mimosas in uniform

(To Except Consuls)
08/03/17

Even for women in uniform belonging to the security and defense sector today is celebrated International Women's Day. The origin of this recurrence dates for the first time in February 1909 in the United States on the initiative of the American Socialist Party, but did not reveal the motivations that aimed at the choice of that date. In fact, until the 1921 each state established different days for the celebration of the anniversary, until during the 2 ° conference of Russian Communist women in Moscow in 1921 is confirmed as the only date for the celebrations the 8 March in memory of the manifestation of the 1917 against the tsarism of the women of St. Petersburg.

In other States, however, reference is made to an accident at work in which some American workers lost their lives due to a fire in 1857, because they were locked up inside the factory by the employer who wanted to prevent them from participating in a strike, In Italy and other states have agreed to remember a fire in a shirt factory in New York in 1911 in which 134 women lost their lives.

Among the allies of the Atlantic Alliance we have been the last to recruit women since 2000, equating them with tasks traditionally dedicated to men and employing them at the forefront of international missions. Ultimately, the change took place right from 2000, when the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 on 'Women, Peace and Security' which, for the first time, recognized the specific role and experience of women in this area. conflict prevention and resolution.

Today we particularly want to remember not only the entry of women into the Armed Forces and the Forces of the Order but above all the conditions for general improvement, socio-economic, and political initiatives, while on the other hand there is still no lack of discrimination and violence that women have been subjected to and for which 17 December 1999 was also established International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Do not forget all the cases where women have been victims of harassment and abuse, reporting in some cases moral and biological consequences that have marked them throughout their life, coming to lose their jobs and bringing out how the military organization controls are never enough and in addition a culture of respect and acceptance must prevail, which must be an example within these systems. Who would ever accept that his sister, daughter, fiancée ... be treated with violence or contempt in an organization founded on rules, respect and above all on order? How can we fail to understand that the best means of relationship for a woman is respect, delicacy, sensitivity, being present in moments of difficulty without ever taking advantage of it and above all imagining it as a flower to be protected and treated.

After the excursus of the cases of harassment and violence committed in the military and that involved the national news, just two days ago we remember how the American Navy is risking being overwhelmed by a scandal on social networks where photos of nude marines have appeared with obscene posts written on a "Marines United" Facebook page. While the Pentagon has announced the opening of an investigation the number of women involved in the scandal has not yet been defined, nor how many photos have been published with or without the consent of the military in ambiguous attitudes. The members of the group invited to provide new photos in version hard of their colleagues between vulgar comments and invitations to rape. The case was entrusted to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and the perpetrators face court martial.

Unfortunately it is not the first episode of harassment against women in the US military: only last 2016 the US military received 6.000 complaints about sexual harassment, a figure that does not reflect the actual number, since many female soldiers do not come out in the open for fear of worse consequences. In Italy the situation does not have these dimensions but the phenomenon must be constantly monitored.

In all areas of employment, however, women try to stand out for their commitment, seriousness and dedication to work, sometimes achieving remarkable results both in work and in sport.

How can we forget the first woman in command of naval units, the first woman director of a patrol car, the first woman of AM in space, the first women in submarines thanks to the fury of a student of the Naval Academy, the first woman of the MM to win a championship of horse riding, the first woman in a wedding carabiniere in full uniform, the first woman general of the CC, etc. Unfortunately, in negative we must also count the first official woman in handcuffs recently.

Without false hypocrisies, however, we must ask ourselves if, given the same roles played by women in uniform, this has not led to a negative influence in the life and personality of women, especially in the heavy and risky tasks where traditionally it is the man who carries them out; if this commitment does not mean for a woman to suffer serious injuries on the fighting fronts or to give up having a family, children, a peaceful life.

Currently, the female staff of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Carabinieri, among officers, non-commissioned officers and volunteers, travels on altitudes near the 12.000 units where the most substantial presence is in the Army, followed by Marina, Aeronautica and Arma dei Carabinieri.

Women in uniform are now a constant reality in the defense and security sector that characterizes life in the controls and in the operating units both on national soil and abroad. From Afghanistan to Lebanon, the presence of women is carried out with tasks of all kinds in both the technical, logistical, health and even combat roles. On land on board the naval units, on airplanes, on radiomobiles for public order, in forests, in places of detention, in hospitals. They are joined by women in the civil defense and security sectors, sometimes coming from the military roles, who side by side, are committed to perform their duties by dividing the tasks of wives, mothers, housewives with a workload really commendable and that it would deserve facilitations of all kinds so as not to overload their delicate tasks. Recall that within the family is the woman who willy-nilly assumes a primary role in the conduct of domestic life, in the organization of the house, in preparing meals, in caring for children, in assisting the elderly, in carrying out the burdensome tasks that family management requires and that have a considerable weight in the life of every woman and that often see her sacrificed for love.

We pass from words to deeds to raise these conditions by giving a helping hand to our women, to these teachers of love, who however and everywhere in the world go to history for taking us from their wombs into this world.