Roma – Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Rachele Silvestri, was forced to do a DNA test on her son after a rumour circulated that his biological father was another married influential politician in Fratelli d’Italia. 

 The malicious gossip was spread around the Italian government accusing Silvestri and another influential party member of having an affair, that he would have been her son’s biological father, and even that this alleged affair and child were the reason for her being granted such an influential position within the party. 

 The rumour spread like wildfire and was widely believed leading Silvestri to send an open letter to the notorious Italian Newspaper Corriere Della Sera to address the accusations and clear her name.  

  She wrote in her letter:

 "I was forced to take a paternity test for my only three-month-old son. And the father is Fabio, my partner. Naturally, I had no doubts. Why, then, did I do it? Because, sometimes, the vulgar reality surpasses even the most fervent imagination. I have to start from the distant 2018 when I was elected parliamentarian from the ranks of the 5 Star Movement - she says - In 2019 I left the Movement and, after a period in the Misto group, I joined the Brothers of Italy. It was a choice of heart and reason because I had shared ideas and courage with Giorgia Meloni's party for some time.”  (Fatto Quotidiano, 2023)

 She also wrote about her decision to whereas why she wants to publicly address the issue writing that: 

“About a month ago, a friend tells me that there is a rumor that my child is not the son of my partner, but of a very influential politician from the Brothers of Italy, who is also married. My son would therefore have been born from a clandestine relationship, thanks to which I would also have obtained my candidacy"(Fatto Quotidiano,2023)

 In her letter, she goes on to call out the misogynist undertones of the rumour, and how it affected her saying: 

“Can you just imagine how I felt? You don't have to be a woman to understand disgust, violence, and humiliation. I wonder – she adds – But in how many ways can a woman's body be violated, trampled on, or abused? – he asks – How many times can the gift of procreation be exploited and degraded? In the name of what is violence against a newborn child justifiable? I don't know who did it - he accuses - Many, however, have chosen to share an evident slander, from phone to phone, from chat to chat, becoming accomplices to this crap. And even those who know but have decided not to speak are.”(Fatto Quotidiano, 2023)

Finally, she ends her letter on a powerful note writing:

“the alleged news came out in some media and many journalists called me asking for comment. The only thing I know is that whoever invented this story is a man, probably a politician. Someone - he continues - says that the slander was designed to attack some figures of my party, perhaps to insinuate a degradation from a low empire. Others tell me he was born of caciques in search of glory. Whatever the reason, it horrifies me. And I think that any person with common sense is inspired by a social ethos shared, with a living and supportive humanity who think the same way. Politics has nothing to do with this affair. Because if we don't share the fundamental principles of a civil coexistence, which goes beyond legitimate political beliefs, there is no hope for our society. I have chosen to make this story public to protect my son and Fabio - she concludes - legitimate father and my beloved companion, my wish is that no one is lenient with the author of the slander and with those who contribute to spreading it: do not be neutral, have the courage to break the chain of indifference.”(Fatto Quotidiano,2023)

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