In Italy, members of parliament have unanimously voted to pass a separate law against femicide, or the killing of women. The law provides for life imprisonment for such crimes. Femicide is the hateful targeting and killing of someone because they are women.
Yesterday, Tuesday, was the International Day for the Prevention of Violence against Women. And on the same day, the bill on femicide was passed in the Italian parliament.
The idea of making a separate law on femicide had been discussed in Italy before. However, after a woman named Giulia Cecchetti was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2022, the demand for legislation in this regard became strong.
In late November 2022, 22-year-old Giulia was stabbed to death by Filippo Turetta. He then put her body in a bag and threw it on the side of a lake.
The incident was widely reported in the media until Turetta was caught. A comment made by Giulia’s sister Elena about the murder caused quite a stir. It was that the murderer was not a monster; rather, he was a “well-fed child” raised in a deeply patriarchal society. Her words brought thousands of people across Italy to the streets. They demanded change.
Finally, after a long debate in the Italian parliament, lawmakers voted in favor of passing a separate law on femicide. With this, Italy joined the list of a handful of countries in the world that have classified the murder of women as a separate crime.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni introduced the bill. In addition to the far-right government led by her, opposition members of parliament also supported the law. Many members of parliament remembered the victims of violence against women by wearing red ribbons or red jackets.
From now on, if a woman is killed in Italy because of her gender identity, it will be considered femicide.
An expert commission recently analyzed 211 cases of female murders. They then drafted a law on femicide. One of those experts is Judge Paola Da Nicola.
According to Judge Nicola, it is a distortion to say that such murders are committed out of intense love or intense jealousy. It is a way of covering up the reality by using romantic or culturally acceptable words.
The judge added, “The enactment of this law will mean that we are the first in Europe to identify the real motive of the perpetrators. And that is power and domination.”
Earlier, Cyprus, Malta and Croatia have included a legal definition of femicide in their criminal codes. Now Italy is joining the ranks.
