Conference Program

Thanks to the Istanbul Convention, violence against women has been explicitly recognised as a serious violation of human rights (Art. 3); a violation that often occurs silently and is difficult to detect, particularly within family settings and intimate relationships.

This difficulty can be attributed not only to structural factors – such as economic dependence, feelings of shame or fear of retaliation – but also to the presence of distorted cultural representations of care, love and emotional relationships, which contribute to normalising or rendering invisible the many facets of violent behaviour.

From a pedagogical perspective, one of the elements that needs to be addressed is the parenting models learned by women who are victims of violence. The ways in which one learns to care for others, to experience emotional relationships and to interpret gender roles are, in fact, deeply influenced by the models observed and internalised through family experiences. These models can also lead to an inappropriate (uncritical) interpretation of certain behaviours that risk being perceived as “normal”, as signs of love.

This paper is part of the PRIN PNRR 2022 Phoenix research project. In particular, it draws on an analysis of interviews conducted with mothers who are victims of violence and who took part in the project’s activities. The narratives shared, and subsequently analysed, highlight how (and to what extent) learned and internalised parenting models can significantly influence the processes of attributing meaning to relational experiences, sometimes contributing to a distorted or partial interpretation of emotional dynamics. From this perspective, there is a clear need to promote educational programmes capable of making these learned models visible –and thus subjecting them to critical scrutiny – fostering processes of awareness and the development of new concepts of care and love, this time based on mutual recognition, respect and dignity.