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On 8 March 2008, a group of activists occupied an abandoned warehouse of Atac, the local public transport company, in the Tuscolano quartier. In a few months, the former “Cecafumo” station in via Lucio Sestio, until then only frequented by mice and pigeons, was transformed into Lucha y Siesta, a feminist and trans-feminist political space, ecological and multifunctional, which has now become a model of active citizenship, solidarity and a unique cultural space in Rome.
The 14 rooms of this shelter have welcomed about two hundred Italian and foreign women so far, sometimes with children, fleeing situations of violence and economic, social, psychological and physical disadvantage. Moreover, the listening center assistants and the professionals who collaborate in the project have provided free career guidance and psychological and legal, civil and criminal support to more than a thousand women.
Since 2016, the association has also been managing a Semi-Autonomy House in the VII Municipality of Rome, which temporarily accommodates women and minors in difficulty or who, have come out of mistreatment contexts, but not yet independent.
Lucha y Siesta provides training courses for anti-violence workers and awareness-raising events about the importance of respecting differences, as well as summer film clubs, theater performances, concerts and exhibitions with international guests. A playground for children is also available for the most populous neighborhood in Rome, and anyone can make use of a library with hundreds of books, a study room and participate in a tailoring and creative recycling workshop.
From an economic point of view, the activists of Lucha y Siesta have calculated that the project has saved the administration of the city of Rome about 6,776,586.00 euros
In 2018, the former mayor Virginia Raggi included the property in the plan agreed with Roma Capitale to remedy the poor management of Atac. Since then, the city council has rejected all the proposals made by the activists, putting the structure up for auction. A few months later, recognizing the danger, the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) wrote an official letter to the Italian government and sent a delegation to visit the House with the aim of protecting the initiative. The “Lucha alla città” Committee was set up in 2019 to conduct a fundraising campaign with the aim of buying the property, thus helping the project become more autonomous, rich and open to the community, thanks to professionals capable of rethinking it in a more inclusive, dynamic and eco-sustainable way.
“Violence against women has many aspects. One of them is certainly such attempts to abolish the places set up by groups and associations of feminist culture, where initiatives for awareness, prevention and protection of women who have suffered violence have already been in practice for years. These interventions are all the more shameful and unspeakable in a country where femicide cases take place daily and attacks on women’s rights and freedom is growing in an alarming way,” commented writer and journalist Lea Melandri, Honorary President of the Committee, referring to the dramatic situation of 2019.
After years of precariousness and uncertainty, intense negotiations and continuous demonstrations, in August 2021, the Lazio Region finally won the property, opening a new phase towards its recognition as the first trans-feminist common space in Rome.
A space that is more than a mere building, or group that resists, but rather an irreversible process born from below, able to welcome and provide stimuli, suggestions and practices of coexistence and social cohesion of vital importance for the entire community, now finally belongs to “all”.
For those who have found here a safe place to rebuild their lives, for the girls and boys who grew up here and for the people who have always believed in this shared dream, this was a moment of great celebration, but also of profound reflection.
“Yes, it is important to celebrate but, above all, we want to give impetus to this initiative,” explains Rachele Damiani, psychologist and activist of the association.
“Now we have to question ourselves on how this city, this community and the new city council intend to reverse the trend towards the enhancement of these spaces of feminism and trans-feminism not only in monetary terms but above all in terms of value, sociability, relationships, politics and imagination. To what extent are the institutions willing to repay the credit they owe us? So far, they haven’t recognized anything of the huge value we brought to the community in terms of building the imaginary of a different city capable of intersecting a series of transversal issues.”
From an economic point of view, the activists of Lucha y Siesta have calculated that the project has saved the administration of the city of Rome about 6,776,586.00 euros, considering their voluntary work and the indispensable social and cultural activities provided in a situation chronically lacking in facilities and services. To this should be added all the renovation and recovery work on the property, which in 2008 was in a state of total degradation, carried out and supported by the occupants themselves and difficult to quantify.
“We are coming out of a very dark period and only a solidary, feminist and trans-feminist community is capable of reviving this space,” Rachele concludes.
