Flash mob against #sexualviolence in Rome
The first phase of the campaign in Italy against #sexualviolence in conflict ended on 22 March, with a press conference and a flash mob
Flash mob in Roma @ Campidoglio: the final video
The campaign is promoted in Italy by the British Embassy with the support of Roma Capitale, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Se Non Ora Quando and Avvocati Senza Frontiere.
Inspired by the Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict initiative promoted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a priority for the UK presidency of the G8 in 2013, this Friday’s events follow a series of initiatives that have taken place over the past few months in order to increase awareness in Italy of a phenomenon, the use of #sexualviolence as a weapon of war, horrendous both in the scale and in the degree of impunity of the perpetrators.
Following the lighting of the Coliseum on International Women’s Day (8 March), the campaign “Against Sexual Violence in Conflict” presented to the media, in the presence of the Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno and the British Ambassador to Italy Christopher Prentice, a document with a list of practical recommendations that Ambassador Prentice will bring to the attention of the UK Foreign Secretary William Hague in view of the G8 foreign ministers meeting in London on 10-11 April.
The press conference was followed by a flash mob in Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome, with over 100 dancers performing to the music of “Dog Days Are Over”, by Florence and the Machine, with choreography prepared by Francesca La Cava. The dancers were from the IALS school, the British Embassy in Rome, and several NGOs and schools that have decided to support this initiative against sexual violence in conflict.
The backstage of the Flash mob in Rome: Watch the video of the backstage of the flash mob