The Italian parliament has unanimously approved a new law that classifies femicide - the murder of a woman due to gender-based motives - as a distinct crime, carrying a life sentence. This was reported by the BBC, according to Ukrinform.
The law was passed with unanimous support from 237 parliamentarians.
Symbolically, the bill was enacted on November 25, coinciding with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The proposal to recognize femicide had been discussed in Italy previously, but the shocking murder of 22-year-old Giulia Checchettin by her ex-boyfriend in late November 2023 brought the issue to the forefront, prompting nationwide protests demanding change.
The bill, proposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, received backing from her far-right government and opposition deputies. From now on, every murder of a woman for gender reasons will be classified as femicide.
According to the BBC, Italy will join Cyprus, Malta, and Croatia as EU member states that have legally defined femicide in their criminal codes. Recent police data indicates a slight decrease in the number of women killed, with 116 reported last year, of which 106 were said to be gender-motivated.
In the future, such cases will be recorded separately and will automatically result in life imprisonment. The Italian law will apply to murders that are described as “acts of hatred, discrimination, domination, control, or submission of a woman based on her gender,” as well as cases where the perpetrator commits violence in response to the termination of a relationship or restrictions on a woman's personal freedoms.
“Femicides will be classified, they will be studied in real context, they will exist,” stated Judge Paola di Nicola, one of the authors of the new law. She was part of an expert committee that examined 211 recent murders of women for common characteristics and subsequently developed the femicide law.
At the end of October, the Latvian parliament voted to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention aimed at supporting women who have become victims of violence after an intense 13-hour debate session. However, just a few days later, the parliament decided to postpone the withdrawal indefinitely. The delay in addressing the law for a year leaves its fate uncertain, as the next parliament may or may not consider unfinished bills from the previous one.