Campaigners highlighting violence against women spread red paint across Rome’s famous Spanish Steps on Wednesday, saying it represented the victims’ blood.
Six activists from the Italian group ‘Bruciamo Tutto’, or ‘Burn Everything’, were led away by police following the protest involving what they said used children’s washable paint.
They held up sheets of paper listing recent victims of violence against women.
‘This is their blood — a massacre that society refuses to see... as if it were normal to die at the hands of one’s own husband, partner or son,’ said one activist, according to a statement from the group.
Their name comes from a call to action made by the sister of Giulia Cecchettin, a university student killed by her ex-boyfriend last year in a case that triggered nationwide grief and anger at violence against women.
‘Don’t hold a minute’s silence for Giulia, but burn everything,’ Elena Cecchettin said, calling for a revolution in what she said was a culture that allowed such violence.
The Spanish Steps, designed by architect Francesco de Sanctis between 1723 and 1726 and oveerlooked by the Trinita dei Monti church, are one of the Italian capital’s most iconic landmarks.
Protesters — often climate activists — are increasingly targeting cultural sites in their campaigns as a way of increasing publicity.
Last week campaigners from ‘Just Stop Oil’ in England sprayed an orange substance on Stonehenge, the prehistoric UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s government has increased penalties for people who damage monuments and cultural sites.
