WHEN SILENCE IS NOT GOLD

POMELLATO CALLS FOR SOCIAL SENTINELS TO STAND AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THIS INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2025

“Look around you,” urges Jane Fonda, a steadfast advocate for Pomellato’s women’s empowerment initiatives since their inception. “One in three women suffers from domestic violence,” adds actress Mariska Hargitay, drawing from her decades of advocacy for survivors. America Ferrera echoes this stark reality: “One in three.”

For International Women’s Day 2025, Pomellato reinforces its commitment to women’s empowerment with a compelling new chapter in its Pomellato for Women initiative. Through its 8th annual video campaign, the Maison delivers an urgent message calling for collective responsibility and action against violence.

Pomellato CEO Sabina Belli emphasizes the video’s urgent message: “Domestic violence is a collective wound that scars our entire society. As a Maison that has cared for women since 1967, we believe that transformation begins when we all accept our role as social sentinels. This means being vigilant and brave enough to act. It means understanding that silence is not neutrality – it is complicity. We must move beyond awareness to action, beyond sympathy to systemic change.”

The campaign features an influential ensemble including Academy award-winning actress and activist Jane Fonda, award-winning actress, director, producer, and activist America Ferrera, actress and founder of the NGO The Joyful Heart Foundation Mariska Hargitay, actress Laura Harrier, Olympic athlete Mattia Furlani, and renowned Professor of experimental biology Vita Salute San Raffaele University Milan Italy Gianvito Martino, who join forces with Pomellato CEO and founder of #PomellatoForWomen platform, Sabina Belli to challenge society’s complicity in this crisis

Pomellato For Women

The cruel reality of domestic violence lies in its spiral of silence—where women face not only their abuser’s violence but also society’s judgment. The devastating choice between speaking up and reliving trauma, or remaining voiceless, traps many survivors in what Belli calls “a silent epidemic.”

“Violence is not a tradition” declares Furlani, representing crucial male allyship, while Martino asserts firmly: “Domestic violence is not a private issue.” Fonda emphasizes that “accountability must be non-negotiable” while Harrier, Hargitay, and Ferrera jointly stress that “justice must be clear, visible, and enforced.”

The video charts a course for change through three vital steps: “We speak out. We break the silence. We listen to survivors” the participants declare in turn. “By being Social Sentinels—watchful, compassionate, and unafraid to step in,” the ensemble urges collectively, we can create real change. As Belli reassures survivors: “You are not alone.”

The campaign’s message crescendos with a unified voice: “There is hope. There is help.” “Let us work toward a future where domestic violence is no longer a shadow over our homes, our communities, and in our hearts,” Fonda advocates. Hargitay concludes with a powerful vision: “And, one day, when we look back, we will know that this was the moment we chose to rewrite history.”

How do we acknowledge this problem?

We must amplify survivors’ voices and honor their truth while actively dismantling the culture of silence, challenging harmful norms, and ensuring perpetrators face real consequences; only through unwavering accountability and stronger legal protections—from our homes to our workplaces—can we create lasting change.

Freedom starts with connection—by linking survivors to a powerful network of support services, shelters, and advocacy groups, replacing isolation with community, fear with hope, and silence with the empowering message that resonates across every hotline and shelter: you are not alone, and there is a way forward.

The video builds to a powerful vision of hope, suggesting that real change is possible when society collectively stands up against violence. True change demands men step forward as active allies, joining women in solidarity to forge a world where fear has no place in any woman’s story.

In an ongoing commitment to combat domestic violence, Pomellato renews its support of CADMI (Casa di Accoglienza delle Donne Maltrattate), Milan’s first anti-violence center for women, and of the Kering Foundation’s L.A.-based partner FreeFrom, an organization dedicated to establishing long-term financial security for survivors of domestic violence.