Femicide: Italy’s newest crime

The Italian parliament has voted unanimously to introduce the crime of femicide – distinct from murder and punished with a life sentence.

Previous attempts to pass a law that specifically criminalised the murder of a woman motivated by her sex had failed to gather enough support. Then the headline-dominating murder of Giulia Cecchettin by her ex-boyfriend in November 2023 “shocked the country into action”, said the BBC.

Over 90% of the 116 women murdered in Italy last year were killed because of their sex, according to the national statistics agency. After this week’s parliamentary debate, during which many MPs wore red ribbons in memory of the female victims of male violence, Italy becomes one of the few countries in the world – and only the fourth in the EU – to categorise femicide as a distinct crime.

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How widespread is femicide?

Every 10 minutes, a woman or girl somewhere in the world is killed because she is female, according to a newly published UN Women report on femicide. Last year, an estimated 83,000 women and girls were killed deliberately – with nearly 60% murdered at the hands of an intimate partner or family member. By contrast, only 11% of male homicides that year were carried out by an intimate partner or family member.

There is no real sign of global progress in addressing the issue, said the UN, with few countries even recording and reporting their femicide statistics. We “need better prevention strategies and criminal justice responses to femicide”, said John Brandolino of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Why has Italy made the change now?

In Italy recently, there has been a series of killings and other violence targeting women. “High-profile cases”, such as Cecchettin’s murder, “have been key in widespread public outcry and debate about the causes of violence against women in Italy’s patriarchal culture”, said The Associated Press.

Cecchettin’s sister, Elena, attracted widespread media attention with her view on Giulia’s murder. She said the perpetrator was not a monster but merely the “healthy son” of a patriarchal society. “They were words that brought crowds out across Italy demanding change,” said the BBC.

What will the new Italian law change?

“In a symbolic move”, the bill was passed on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, said the BBC. The femicide law will apply to murders which are “an act of hatred, discrimination, domination, control, or subjugation of a woman as a woman” or that occur when she breaks off a relationship or to “limit her individual freedoms”.

The law does have its critics, who think the definitions of femicide are too vague and will be hard to prove. And even its backers agree that Italy still needs broader measures to counter sex-based violence and abuse. A separate measure to define sex without consent as rape, also “expected to get final approval” this week, “has been unexpectedly stalled” by the far-right League, said The Guardian. It would leave “room for women and men to use a vague law for personal vendettas without any abuse taking place”, said League leader and deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini. Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, his coalition ally, criticised the delay, saying it is “women paying the price”.