Jennifer Guerra: “I was invited on TV to talk about women’s rights and abortion, then they didn’t let me know anything more”

Jennifer Guerra, 29 years old, writer, is one of the best-known voices of the new Italian feminism. In her books – from the last one Feminism is not a brandreleased in recent weeks by Einaudi – a The electric body (Tlon) e Love capital (Bompiani) – analyzes the women’s issue at all levels, including that of rights.

And precisely women’s rights, in particular the right to abortionwere to be at the center of his speech on the broadcast What will be Of Serena Bortone, on Rai3, on March 9th. A participation in the program that didn’t happen: after the agreements made to have her intervene, as she herself says, she was called back by the program’s editorial staff who announced that she was no longer included in the lineup.

An episode that in the days of Scurati caseand after the cancellation of another participation last March came to light, that of Nadia Terranova, it suggests that Guerra too was previously censored by state TV.

On Sunday, on the stage of Repubblica delle Idee in Naples, the writers Helena Janeczek and Rosella Postorino called her into question, saying that she too was censored by Rai. Can you tell us how it went?

“It was March, coinciding with Women’s Day. My new book had just been released, and the publishing house let me know that they would contact me to participate in the show What will be, on the topic of women’s rights. They called me from What will be, and this was taken for granted to me, so much so that they inquired about the logistical details, because I live in the province of Treviso, so to get to Rome the next day you needed to book the train etc. They anticipated some questions and one of these questions was about what had just happened in France, why the France has put the right to abortion in the Constitution. I said that abortion in Italy at the moment is very rare, and it is a right at risk because this government has subtly legitimized the presence of anti-abortionists in many positions.”

There had not yet been the case of the deputy director of Tg1 Incoronata Boccia and her televised declarations on abortion as a “crime”…

“Exactly, we’re talking about a month ago. Let’s get back to the facts. That phone call ended in a cordial manner, with a “we’ll let you know” which as far as I understood concerned the logistical details. At ten in the evening the person I spoke to he calls me back and tells me that maybe everything is off. I didn’t hear anything further, and I thought that maybe it was just a question of space for the guests on the show, they had simply called others. To tell the truth, I had a doubt even said it to my husband, but then I didn’t think about it anymore. Now, seeing what happened to Antonio Scurati and Nadia Terranova, I think it could have another meaning.”

Now do you think you were censored?

“Now I have the impression that there may have been, so to speak, an excess of precaution. Unlike Terranova and Scurati who had a written speech, I had been invited as a guest and therefore they could not know what I would say. Maybe they expected, when they anticipated the questions, that I would be more general. Then maybe they were afraid that I might say things they didn’t like. The possibility remains open that it was a question of timing, however…”.