The Italian government approved a draft law that for the first time introduces the legal definition of femicide in the country’s criminal law and punishes it with life imprisonment.
The move, announced on the eve of Women’s International Day on Saturday, aims at tackling a shocking string of homicides and violence targeting women in Italy through strengthening measures against gender-based crimes like stalking and revenge porn.
The proposal, agreed on late Friday, still needs to go through parliament and be approved by both chambers to become law.
“This is an extremely significant bill, which introduces the crime of femicide in our legal system as an autonomous crime, punishing it with life imprisonment,” said conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni, who strongly backed the initiative.
“It introduces aggravating circumstances and increases sentences for crimes including personal mistreatment, stalking, sexual violence and revenge porn,” she said in a statement.
While the center-left opposition welcomed the move, it stressed that the new law only tackles the criminal aspect of the problem, while leaving economic and cultural divides unaddressed.
Recently, femicide has emerged as a systemic problem deeply entrenched into Italy’s patriarchal culture, with some violent incidents renewing debate on gender-based crimes.
Particularly striking was the killing of Giulia Cecchettin, the 22-year-old university student brutally stabbed to death by her former boyfriend Filippo Turetta in November 2023. Last December, Turetta was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Recent studies show that, while homicides have been declining in the Mediterranean country, the rate of femicides tends to be stable or only slightly decrease, while remaining strictly linked to the family or the “emotional sphere” of the victims.
Official data by the Italian Interior ministry recorded 113 femicides in 2024, of which 99 committed by relatives, partners or ex-partners.
