Tensioni simboliche nelle politiche antiviolenza tra impianto normativo e operatività quotidiana: una lettura femminile e femminista

This article examines how the institutionalization of policies addressing men’s violence against women in intimate relationships has intersected with the development of local welfare systems. This process has contributed to reshaping professional roles and operational practices within anti-gender-based violence centres (CAVs). It has also redefined the meanings attributed to the interventions carried out by both institutional and non-institutional actors working with women seeking support. Drawing on a set of oppositional dimensions that the literature commonly associates with the masculine and the feminine, the article reconstructs national and regional regulatory and coordination instruments, with particular attention to the Emilia-Romagna region. Through this analysis, it identifies recurring lines of tension within the policy framework. Building on these tensions, the article discusses the main transformations that have affected the everyday practices of anti-gender-based violence centres and their implications for the women they support. In particular, it reflects on the public/private divide and explores how this dimension has shaped the process through which men’s violence against women has become a public issue and an object of social intervention.