Oria Gargano

Oria Gargano was born and lives in Rome. After a university specialisation in journalism and a Master’s in Women's Studies and Equal Opportunities Policies at the Alma Mater University in Bologna, she has been head of the centres for women victims of violence and trafficking for ten years.

In 2007 she established the BeFree Social Co-operative against trafficking, violence and discrimination. Oria represents Italy at the European Political Centre Against Violence on Women in Brussels.
BeFree has the aim of being a “permanent workshop” on  methods of reception and support, study, planning and training where it is possible to discuss topics tackled in years of work in the front line, in order to develop updated, efficient and innovative methods, to go “inside” reception using more “pondered” tools, to go “beyond” reception, by studying and conceptualising good practices, suggesting models of action and favouring the development of guidelines to be used in a constructive debate with other agencies and brought to the attention of social policies.

The Co-operative has gained the certainty that the victims of trafficking, violence and discrimination should not be excluded from the circle of “respectable” people, but involved in reception models of a holistic nature, not judgement-based, aimed at integrating human rights and focusing on the practice of political relations among women to favour their empowerment. Moreover, she believes that the entire community should be involved in  building relations based on respect, that everyone should be able to listen to different words from those spoken normally and that nobody can shirk the civil value of understanding the problems of others and feeling involved.

Related links:
BeFree Cooperativa.