The Arena di Verona is back in the battle against domestic abuse towards women. Fiorella Mannoia will be on stage with Alessandra Amoroso, Annalisa, Samuele Bersani, Brunori Sas, Elodie, Emma, Francesca Michielin, and Tananai on September 26. The profits from the tickets, which are available from July 4, will be donated to anti-violence centers and shelters.    

In Italy, every three days, a woman is murdered, and 60% of women who leave shelters do not achieve economic independence, Italy dropped from 63 to 69 in the worldwide gender gap ranking, and the state invests just 0.56% of its budget to assist women victims of violence. The numbers speak for themselves. For this reason, Una Nessuna Centomila – literally “One of a Hundred thousand no ones” – was born, the Italian foundation which organizes concerts and events to raise money for helping abused women.  

The Una Nessuna Centomila Concert will be held this year in the Arena di Verona, with the goal of using the aggregating power of music to convey a central issue in Italian culture.    

The concert wants to give concrete support to organizations and shelters assisting women victims of abuse, to help them escape their terrifying situations, rebuild their lives and achieve economic independence. 

At this morning’s presentation, Ferdinando Salzano explained that the objective of the concert is to donate all revenues to anti-violence organizations without deducting any production costs other than Iva (the value-added tax) and SIAE. 

Exactly like the ” Italia Loves Emilia” event that recently raised money for flooded areas in the Emilia region, this gathering will be possible due to sponsor support and financial backing of institutions. 

This is not the first time the Arena is hosting a concert by Una Nessuna Centomila. Thanks to the seven project creator artists, the amphitheater was able to attract ten thousand spectators in 2016 and raise 150 thousand euros. This year, fresh voices will join them on stage, including three male singers.  

The Arena’s superintendent, Cecilia Gasdia, took part in the presentation this morning and recalled the central role of opera in the theme of violence against women, beginning with Carmen, who was murdered by her lover, or Gilda del Rigoletto, who decided to sacrifice his own life to save that of his executioner, and ending with Madame Butterfly. “The music of the opera has brought and continues to bring to light various forms of violence against women,” the superintendent stated. “As a result, I will try to ensure that the opera world operates alongside and collaborates with the Foundation.” 

The main goal of the Una Nessuna Centomila events is to raise money to invest in organizations rather than specific projects, allowing them to run constantly. To survive, anti-violence centers and shelters must regularly provide proposals, which frequently have lengthy regulatory procedures. Meanwhile, volunteers and specialized specialists who operate silently require financial as well as communicative assistance.    

In fact, thanks to the assistance of the centers, between 25 and 30 thousand women per year have the chance to escape violent circumstances, which require a “call to kind arms” now more than ever, as Fiorella Mannoia explained during this morning’s meeting.   

The story of the Una Nessuna Centomila Foundation   

Una Nessuna Centomila started as a single concert in 2022. Initially scheduled for 2020, due to Covid, the event was postponed until June 11, last year, and was held in the Arena Campovolo in Emilia Romagna. It was the greatest anti-violence against women event ever held, not just in Italy but worldwide, with 2 million and 120 thousand euros collected and distributed to seven anti-violence institutes.    

The event’s name has a deeper meaning. “One” because when a woman fights for herself, she fights for all women; “None” because no woman needs to be a victim longer; and “One Hundred Thousand”, the number of voices that joined the seven artists during the event. 

So, following the show’s enormous success, the artists banded together to create something permanent, a foundation that seeks to replicate the concert once a year, along with a variety of smaller events.