Italy adds ‘femicide’ to the criminal code to curb violence against women

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has supported a measure to punish ‘femicide’ with beingness imprisonment.

Italy’s parliament has formally added the transgression of femicide – the deliberate sidesplitting of women and girls owed to their sex – to its transgression code, with a punishment of beingness imprisonment.

The measure was unanimously approved connected Tuesday, marking what Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described arsenic a motion of “political cohesion against the barbaric quality of unit against women”, according to Italian nationalist broadcaster RAI.

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Meloni’s authorities has backed the measure since its commencement and supported different authorities to support women, similar anti-stalking laws. Parliament is also debating a measure that prohibits intersexual intercourse without “free and existent consent”.

“We person doubled backing for antiviolence centres and shelters, promoted an exigency hotline and implemented innovative acquisition and awareness-raising activities,” Meloni said, according to The Associated Press quality agency. “These are factual steps forward, but we won’t halt here. We indispensable proceed to bash overmuch more, each day.”

The ballot besides coincided with the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Italy past twelvemonth recorded 106 femicides, 62 of which were committed by a spouse oregon erstwhile partner, AP reported, citing Italy’s statistic agency.

The numbers are successful enactment with planetary trends that amusement astir two-thirds of pistillate homicides were committed by a spouse oregon household member, according to UN Women.

The persistent occupation of unit against women came to nationalist attraction successful Italy successful November 2023 erstwhile a 22-year-old assemblage student, Giulia Cecchettin, was stabbed by her boyfriend. He was aboriginal sentenced to beingness imprisonment.

Rights groups successful Italy, similar the gender-based question Non Una di Meno, oregon Not One Less, accidental that Meloni’s authorities is excessively focused connected penalties alternatively than preventing violence.

Italy is 1 of the fewer countries successful the European Union without mandatory intersexual acquisition successful its public-school systems, and galore programmes necessitate parental consent.

Non Una di Meno said this week that the authorities indispensable besides absorption connected “sexual and affectional education”, arsenic good arsenic the “economic wellbeing of women”.