Power, not love
Interview with Finizia Scivittaro, psychologist, psychoanalyst, and transcultural psychotherapist, lecturer at the seminar “Gender-Based Violence: Restoring new bonds, affirming rights, defending dignity,” organized by GRT on November 28–29–30, 2025.
How can gender-based violence de befined?
Gender-based violence represents a true social epidemic, cutting across all cultures and societies. Like all forms of violence, it seeks to erase the other or annihilate their capacity for free self-determination. In gender-based violence, the central issue is power, not love. It is characterized by relationships of power and control, usually exercised by men over women through physical, sexual, psychological, and economic violence. Gender-based violence always emerges from the intersection of two essential dimensions of our existence: the cultural and social dimension, and the subjective and individual dimension.
What are the main therapeutic tools for supporting a woman who has been a victim of violence?
A welcoming approach and care in the psychotherapeutic setting with women who are victims of violence are two extremely delicate and complex moments. For women who have experienced violence, asking for help is a difficult step, often burdened by feelings of guilt. For this reason, the initial welcoming approach should take place without hasty judgments and with the awareness that these women are often torn apart by highly conflictual inner experiences and pervasive feelings of powerlessness. It is important for the psychotherapist to be able to activate both formal and informal support networks alongside the therapeutic pathway. These networks mainly involve collaboration with other professionals—lawyers, social workers, healthcare providers—who can intervene in moments of greater urgency or need. Support groups bringing together women who have experienced violence can also be an effective tool to alleviate anguish and to build a stronger working alliance with therapists, helping to address the trauma of violence and to imagine new possibilities for change. An important aspect of subjective transformation for women who have experienced violence is the ability to file a formal complaint. Reporting is the outcome of a complex and articulated preliminary psychotherapeutic process. Reaching this point already represents a powerful tool for confronting the situation, grounded in ethical and justice-based principles.
What tools and resources can help overcome the process of secondary victimization that often affects women who experience violence?
Secondary victimization highlights how one’s culture of belonging—with its beliefs, prejudices, narratives, laws, and values—can shape cultural codes, judgments, and individual choices. In addition to the pain of the violence suffered, women often experience further harm due to the ways they are treated by institutions, professionals, or their social environment. They may not be believed, may be stigmatized, marginalized, or even considered responsible for what happened. In individual psychotherapy, it is essential for the clinician to decenter from their own cultural codes in order to more objectively grasp the woman’s lived experience. In cases involving people from other cultural backgrounds, the role of cultural mediators is crucial, acting as symbolic guarantors and bridges between two worlds. A meaningful way to overcome secondary victimization is to help the woman move beyond the identity of “victim.” This involves enabling her to take ownership of what happened and to transform it into an ethical and social commitment within her community.
During the course, what will participants learn?
Participants will be able to:
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acquire basic knowledge about gender-based violence and understand it as a complex phenomenon that requires awareness;
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understand the subjective and individual mechanisms that foster violent behaviors in perpetrators and victimization positions in victims;
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recognize early warning signs of violence and identify possible pathways out of violent situations.
Can work also be done with men, or is psychological work ineffective without cultural work that deconstructs masculinity?
Work with men who perpetrate violence is both possible and necessary. Most of these men do not seek help spontaneously; they tend to deny or minimize their violent acts and usually turn to services only when compelled by legal interventions. When they enter a consultation setting, they must be helped to recognize the seriousness of their actions and to take responsibility for them—an essential condition for beginning any process of introspection.
It is important to emphasize that combating gender-based violence also requires a male contribution at the cultural and social level—not only in terms of ideas, but also in sensitivity and the capacity to take strong, just actions against violence. Male engagement is necessary as an integral part of change, especially when men publicly position themselves against violence.
Male involvement is crucial to deconstruct patriarchal culture, assume collective responsibility, educate through new relational models, and give public and symbolic strength to social change.
If you work in the social or healthcare sector and would like to explore these issues further, register for the seminar—click here!
