Rome
AP
—
Italy’s parliament on Tuesday authorised a legislation that introduces femicide into the nation’s prison legislation and punishes it with life in prison.
The vote coincided with the worldwide day for the elimination of violence towards girls, a day designated by the UN General Assembly.
The legislation received bipartisan help from the center-right majority and the center-left opposition in the closing vote in the Lower Chamber, passing with 237 votes in favor.
The legislation, backed by the conservative authorities of Premier Giorgia Meloni, comes in response to a collection of killings and different violence concentrating on girls in Italy. It consists of stronger measures towards gender-based crimes together with stalking and revenge porn.
High-profile instances, equivalent to the 2023 homicide of college pupil Giulia Cecchettin, have been key in widespread public outcry and debate about the causes of violence towards girls in Italy’s patriarchal tradition.
“We have doubled funding for anti-violence centers and shelters, promoted an emergency hotline and implemented innovative education and awareness-raising activities,” Meloni mentioned Tuesday. “These are concrete steps forward, but we won’t stop here. We must continue to do much more, every day.”
While the center-left opposition supported the legislation in parliament, it confused that the authorities method solely tackles the prison side of the downside whereas leaving financial and cultural divides unaddressed.
Italy’s statistics company Istat recorded 106 femicides in 2024, 62 of them dedicated by companions or former companions.
The debate over introducing sexual and emotional schooling in colleges as a solution to forestall gender-based violence has grow to be heated in Italy. A legislation proposed by the authorities would ban sexual and emotional schooling for elementary college students and require specific parental consent for any classes in highschool.
The ruling coalition has defended the measure as a solution to shield youngsters from ideological activism, whereas opposition events and activists have described the invoice as “medieval.”
“Italy is one of only seven countries in Europe where sex and relationship education is not yet compulsory in schools, and we are calling for it to be compulsory in all school cycles,” mentioned the head of Italy’s Democratic Party, Elly Schlein. “Repression is not enough without prevention, which can only start in schools.”