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Women's Defence Groups, or Defence Groups for Women and for the Assistance of Freedom Fighters (Italian: Gruppi di difesa della donna e per l'assistenza ai combattenti della libertà), was a multi-party organization of women during the Italian Resistance. Formed in Milan in November 1943, the initiative was spearheaded by the Italian Communist Party, as part their vision for a united front against fascism.[1]
The groups had a double objective: engaging in the struggle against the fascist regime while advocating the emancipation and empowerment of women.[2]
History
The groups were formed collaboratively by women from diverse political backgrounds. Prominent participants included communists Giovanna Barcellona, Lina Fibbi, and Caterina Picolato; socialists Laura Conti and Lina Merlin; actionists Elena Dreher and Ada Gobetti; as well as women associated with the Giustizia e Libertà (Justice and Freedom) movement. Republican and Catholic women, along with those without prior political or ideological commitments, also joined. These groups predominantly operated in the northern midlands of Italy. Scholars attribute this geographic spread to the influence of local women's clothing, which fostered individual initiative and civic awareness.[3]
Initially, the women's groups aimed to support resistance efforts in auxiliary roles.[1] However, they quickly assumed leadership responsibilities in areas such as information dissemination, propaganda, issuing orders, and handling ammunition. Some women even directly engaged in armed resistance as "gappistas".[1][4]Ada Gobetti was among the first to criticize the use of the term "assistance" in the group's name.[5] In 1944, the organization's objectives were reformulated to prioritize activities that broadly promoted women's emancipation.[6]
In Turin, the GDG primarily organized in factory settings, forming groups of approximately ten workers. They gathered in private homes, where they received practical instructions on factory sabotage, typing, telegraphy, and first aid. Additionally, a women's newspaper titled "Noi Donne" (Our women) was published, drawing inspiration from titles used during the Spanish and Paris wars in 1937.
In Milan, the groups were organized by Irma Brambilla, Iole Radice, and Lidia Salvano. Meetings were intentionally held in different locations, often on Sunday mornings, to avoid detection. Impromptu rallies in factories occurred when a young woman from one area, during her lunch break, arrived at a factory where fellow members had already been notified of an upcoming rally. She would efficiently lead the rally and swiftly disappear thereafter.
Movies and documentaries
In 2016, a documentary film Nome di battaglia Donna (Battle name: Woman) directed by Daniele Segre was released. It showcased stories of several of the surviving WDG activists from the Piedmont region.[1]
^Archivio Centrale Unione Donne in Italia, busta 1, fascicolo 1, sottofascicolo 2. Riunione della Segreteria provinciale dei Gruppi di Difesa della Donna, Milano, 1 gennaio 1944.
^Marina Addis Saba, Partigiane. Tutte le donne della resistenza, Milan, Mursia Editore, 1998, pp. 40-50, ISBN 88-425-2299-6.
^Gabriella Bonansea, Donne nella resistenza, in Enzo Collotti, Renato Sandri, Fediano Sessi (edited by), Dizionario della Resistenza, Turin, Einaudi, 2000, p. 272.
^Patrizia Gabrielli, Il 1946, le donne, la Repubblica, Rome, Donzelli, 2009, p. 45-46.
^Franca Pieroni Bortolotti, Le donne della Resistenza antifascista e la questione femminile in Emilia (1943–45), in Donne e Resistenza in Emilia-Romagna, vol. 2, Milan, evangelist, p. 77.
