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Italy records sharp rise in femicides over the past year

Murders of women in Italy increased by nearly 16 percent over the past year, with the vast majority committed by a partner or ex-partner.

Published: 15 August 2022 17:34 CEST

Italy records sharp rise in femicides over the past year

Feminicide is increasing in Italy.(Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)

Data from Italy’s interior ministry on Monday showed there were 125 femicides between 1 August 2021 and 31 July 2022, compared with 108 during the same period in the previous year.

Of that number, the vast majority of murders — 108 — were committed within the family sphere or an emotional context, while 68 murders, or 63 percent of the total, were committed by the victim’s partner or ex-partner, data showed.

There were a total of 319 murders in Italy in the period.

The numbers show that, on average, a woman is killed every three days in Italy.

READ ALSO: ANALYSIS: ‘Violence against women conditions every aspect of our lives’

According to a November report by the European Institute for Gender Equality, Italy came in ninth out of 15 EU member states for the number of murders of women by intimate partners, based on 2018 data.

It came in tenth when looking at homicide committed by family members and relatives.

Womens’ rights campaigners say attitudes must change in Italy, where cases of violent crimes committed against women by their partners or ex-partners are often portrayed in the media as tragic stories of love gone sour, with the killers described as “jealous”.

READ ALSO: Almost half of Italian women report suffering sexual harassment

Almost 3.5 million women in Italy have been victims of stalking, according to data from national statistics agency Istat – but only 22 percent of those report the act or seek help.

Around one in three Italian women suffer abuse at some point in their life.

Femicide commonly refers to the killing of a girl or woman by a partner or family member.

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Demands for change as thousands attend funeral of murdered student

The funeral of 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin at a basilica in Padua, near Venice, attracted fellow students, public officials and ordinary Italians in a show of solidarity against one of the country’s most recent and most shocking episodes of femicide.

Cecchettin, who was studying biomedical engineering at the University of Padua, was stabbed to death last month by her former boyfriend, fellow student Filippo Turetta, who confessed to the murder before a judge, according to his lawyer.

Under grey skies, pallbearers carried Cecchettin’s rose-covered coffin into the Basilica of Santa Giustina, where mourners included Italy’s justice minister, as thousands of people gathered in the piazza outside.

“Giulia’s life was cruelly taken, but her death can and must be the turning point to end the terrible scourge of violence against women,” her father, Gino, said in his eulogy.

“In this time of grief and sadness we need to find the strength to react, and turn tragedy into a push for change,” he added.

Gino Cecchettin (R) with Davide and Elena, Giulia's siblings.

Gino Cecchettin (R) with his children Davide and Elena at Giulia’s funeral on December 5, 2023. Photo by ANDREA PATTARO / AFP.

He implored men to “challenge the culture that tends to minimise violence by men who appear normal”.

The killing of Cecchettin, who was due to graduate just days after her death, was front-page news in Italy and ushered in a period of national reflection on violence against women.

READ ALSO: Giulia Cecchettin: How Italy is facing up to gender violence after student’s murder

The couple disappeared on November 11. Turetta was found in Germany a week later, the day after Cecchettin’s body was found in a gully near Lake Barcis, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Venice.

She had been stabbed more than 20 times in the head, neck and body, according to local media, citing the autopsy report.

88 femicides

Marking what activists had hoped would be a turning point in Italy, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Rome, Milan and other cities on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, calling for cultural change.

Giorgia Meloni, the country’s first woman prime minister, assured women on Facebook “they are not alone,” reminding them of the call-centre number for victims of violence or stalking.

According to the interior ministry, as of November 26, 107 women in Italy were murdered this year, of whom 88 were killed by family members or current or former partners.

Thousands attend the funeral of Giulia Cecchettin on December 5, 2023.

Thousands attend the funeral of Giulia Cecchettin on December 5, 2023. Photo by ANDREA PATTARO / AFP.

Inconsistent official data on femicides makes comparisons with other European countries difficult.

Following Cecchettin’s death, Italy’s parliament adopted a package of bills to strengthen existing laws to protect women.

But critics say a cultural change is needed in the treatment of women, starting with compulsory education on the topic in schools.

READ ALSO: Italian schools to tackle ‘machismo and sexism’ after student’s murder

Cultural problem

Despite the recent attention, many see such crimes continuing unabated in the majority-Catholic country, where traditional gender roles still hold sway in many areas, with fewer women working outside than home than the EU average
and where abortion is hard to access.

A July 2021 report from the government’s department of gender equality found that “while violence is unacceptable for more than 90 percent of people, in some regions of Italy up to 50 percent of men consider violence in
relationships to be acceptable.”

READ ALSO: OPINION: Why ending violence against women will be a tough task in Italy

In a speech last month, the newly appointed president of the Tribunal of Milan, Fabio Roia, who has advocated for better training on gender violence among prosecutors, judges and law enforcement, warned that much was yet to be done.

“Violence against women that goes as far as femicide is a cultural and social problem, and unfortunately the power imbalance in gender relations is still strong,” said the judge.

A woman holds a placard reading 'It was a good boy (crossed out) - He killed her' during a protest in Milan on November 22, 2023.

A woman holds a placard reading ‘It was a good boy (crossed out) – He killed her’ during a protest in Milan on November 22, 2023. Photo by Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP.

A 2020 independent report measuring Italy’s compliance with the Council of Europe’s convention on preventing violence against women encouraged more extensive awareness campaigns and better training of professionals, among other measures.

It also recommended Italy “pursue proactive and sustained measures to promote changes in sexist social and cultural patterns of behaviour, especially of men and young boys, that are based on the idea of inferiority of women”.

The report also urged Italy to put in place national guidelines for education in schools on “affectivity, sexuality and reproductive health”.

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