Prevent and Promote Table: aneducational offer to prevent gender-based violence

On Thursday, May 29th, an educational offer plan for the prevention of gender-based violence, intended for schools in Padua and its province, was presented at Palazzo Santo Stefano, the headquarters of the Province of Padua.

The project was carried out by the Prevent and Promote Table, established within the framework of the Network Protocol for combating violence against women. The Municipality of Padua plays the role of lead partner, supported by numerous other institutional, health, educational, and judicial entities, including the University of Padua.

For the 2025-2026 school year, the Table has developed an educational offer, shared by all participating entities, aimed at primary schools and lower and upper secondary schools in the city and province. The intent is to promote education on respect, consent, and equality, fostering the cultural change necessary to combat structural gender-based violence.

This is the first project of its kind in the history of the province of Padua, offering workshops conducted by expert operators from the Centro Veneto Progetti Donna (Veneto Center for Women’s Projects), intended for comprehensive institutes and made possible thanks to the contribution of the Municipality of Padua, the Province of Padua, and the Giulia Cecchettin ETS Foundation. It also includes programs for upper secondary schools, implemented by the ULSS 6 Euganea Health Authority, the University of Padua, and the Padua Chamber of Commerce.

The participation of the University of Padua in the educational plan developed by the Prevent and Promote Table of the Network Protocol for combating violence against women is part of our University’s consolidated commitment to fighting gender-based violence and discrimination,” states Gaya Spolverato, delegate for Equal Opportunities Policies at the University of Padua

For years, the University of Padua has been promoting equal opportunities through the adoption of a three-year Gender Equality Plan, through the preparation of the Gender Budget, and lastly through numerous targeted actions and initiatives. These include the online course ‘Equity and Inclusion. Issues of gender, homophobia, transphobia, racism, and discrimination’, communication campaigns, and the decision to appoint gender equality representatives in each of our Departments. We also believe that education is one of the fundamental levers to combat gender-based violence. It is indeed one of the pillars on which the UNIRE – Responsible University project is based, the structured and unified action plan promoted from 2024 by the University of Padua, as part of its commitment against violence and discrimination. Alongside widespread training for the entire university community, from top roles to students, the University’s attention is also focused on educational interventions for local schools; working in synergy between institutions is in fact fundamental to implement widespread, specific, targeted, and coordinated interventions to act more effectively against gender-based violence.

Overall, the presented educational offer project includes 26 programs in the Comprehensive Institutes of the Municipality of Padua (funded by the Municipality of Padua), 14 programs in the Comprehensive Institutes in municipalities of the province with less than 5,000 inhabitants (funded by the Province of Padua), and 26 programs in the Comprehensive Institutes in municipalities of the province with more than 5,000 inhabitants (funded by the Giulia Cecchettin ETS Foundation).

For the high schools in the province, the offer expands with:

• It’s (for) sure love’ – a sexual and emotional education program by the ULSS 6 Euganea Health Authority in all second-year high school classes in Padua and its Province
• PCTO against gender inequality’, promoted by the Padua Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Rel.Azioni Positive and the Order of Chartered Accountants: 4 programs of 5 meetings each
• ‘Against violence of all kinds’, organized by the University of Padua: 20 programs for students, 15 training programs for teachers.

Also noteworthy are some interventions in the extracurricular sphere, thanks to the collaboration with the Youth Project Office and the “Mariasilvia Spolato” LGBT+ Anti-Discrimination Center of the Municipality of Padua, which offer complementary programs on the themes of equality, respect for differences, and relational well-being.