Italian parliament unanimously votes to make femicide a crime

Deputies in the Italian parliament have voted unanimously to introduce a specific law making the crime of femicide – the murder of a woman motivated by sex – punishable by life imprisonment.

In a symbolic move, the bill was approved on a day dedicated to the elimination of violence against women across the world.

The idea of ​​a law on femicide had been discussed before in Italy, but the murder of Giulia Cecchini by her ex-boyfriend was a tragedy that shocked the country.

In late November 2023, a 22-year-old girl was stabbed to death by Filippo Turretta, who wrapped her body in a bag and dumped it on the lakeshore.

The murder was headline news until he was caught, but it was the powerful reaction of Giulia’s sister Elena that stuck.

The killer was not a monster, he said, but a “healthy son” of a deeply patriarchal society. Those were the words that brought out crowds across Italy demanding change.

Two years later, after a long and passionate debate session in Parliament, lawmakers have voted for a law on femicide. This makes Italy one of the very few places to classify femicide as a specific crime.

The law, introduced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, was supported by her own hard-right government as well as opposition lawmakers. Many people wore red ribbons or red jackets to remember the victims of violence.

From now on, Italy will register every murder of a woman, motivated by her gender, as femicide.

Judge Paola Di Nicola, one of the authors of the new law, said of its importance, “Feminicides will be classified, they will be studied in their real context, they will continue to exist.”

She was part of an expert commission that examined 211 recent murders of women for common characteristics, then drafted femicide legislation.

“To talk about crimes that are rooted in exaggerated love or intense jealousy is a distortion—to use romantic, culturally acceptable terms,” ​​argues the judge, surrounded by her research at her home in Rome.

“This legislation means we will be the first in Europe to expose the real motivations of criminals, which are hierarchy and power.”

Italy will now join Cyprus, Malta and Croatia among EU member states that have introduced a legal definition of femicide in their criminal codes.

There is no agreed definition of femicide around the world, making it difficult to count and compare statistics.

Italian law will apply to killings that are “an act of hatred, discrimination, domination, control or subjugation of a woman as a person”, or which occur when she breaks a relationship or “limits her personal freedom.”

The latest police data in Italy shows a slight decline in the number of murders of women last year to 116, with 106 said to be gender-motivated. In future, such cases will be registered separately and automatic life imprisonment will be given as a deterrent.

Gino Cecchini is not sure such a law would save his daughter: her killer would have been sent to prison for life in any case.

But he believes it is important to define and discuss the problem.

“At first, a lot of people, especially on the center and far right, didn’t want to hear the word femicide,” Mr Ketchetin told the BBC. “Now it’s a world where we can talk about it. It’s a small step, but it’s a step.”

His own focus is on education, not law.

After Giulia’s murder, her father described taking “a very intense look at what was happening around me” and then decided to create a foundation in her name, dedicated to preventing others from suffering like his family.

“I wanted to understand what came through (Filippo’s) mind,” explained Gino Cecchini. “He was a student, a loving son. Just like a normal person.”

What he found, he says, was a society full of stereotypes about women and notions of male superiority, and young men struggling to manage their emotions.

His daughter’s ex-boyfriend stabbed her to death in a premeditated attack after she refused to move back in with him.

Mr Catchettin now visits Italian schools and universities to talk to young people about Giulia and the honour.

“If we give them the right tools to take charge of their lives they won’t act like Filippo, they will probably act differently. They won’t stick to the model of Superman or Macho Man,” is his hope.

But bringing those ‘tools’ into schools as a mandatory curriculum of emotional and sexual education is not easy. Far-right lawmakers have opposed all but optional sex education classes for older children. The Cecchetin Foundation wants these to become mandatory and begin as soon as young people have access to the internet.

The femicide law has its critics.

When the bill was first introduced earlier this year, one group called it a “poisoned meatball.”

“There is no lack of protection, no legal gap to fill,” says Valeria Torre, a law professor at the University of Foggia.

He believes the new definition of femicide is too vague and will prove difficult for judges to enforce.

Also, since most women killed in Italy are murdered by current or former partners, it will be challenging to prove that gender was the motive.

“I fear the government just wants people to believe it is doing something about this problem,” he told the BBC. “We really need more economic effort to address this problem…to address the problems of inequality in Italy.”

Even those who approve of making a law against femicide agree that it should come with comprehensive measures against gender inequality.

Italy’s problems on that front are currently on display at the Museum of the Patriarchate, a thought-provoking new exhibition in Rome.

Italy currently ranks 85th on the global gender gap index, almost the lowest among all EU states, with more than half of the women in employment to name just one issue.

“For us, the way to fight against violence against women is to stop violence, and to stop violence we have to build equality,” argues Fabiana Costantino of Action Aid Italy, which has created a temporary museum to imagine a day when male dominance will be consigned to the past.

The exhibits include a loudspeaker that sounds a cat and a room with the names of women killed by men inscribed on the wall.

“Violence has many forms – like a pyramid,” says Fabiana Costantino. “We have to destroy the base to destroy the problem in its worst form, which is femicide.”

Parliament’s huge session on Tuesday ended late in the evening in Rome with a final speech by a ruling party lawmaker, who said violence against women “will not be tolerated, will not go unpunished.”

This law was approved by all 237 delegates and welcomed with thunderous applause.

Judge Paola Di Nicola argues, “This shows that there is a uniform political will in our country in the fight against violence against women.” However he admitted that there was still a long way to go.

“It shows that Italy is finally speaking out about deep-rooted violence against women. The first effect is to force the country to discuss something it has never faced before.”

Additional reporting from Giulia Tomasi

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