Italy records 16% increase in femicide

According to data released by the interior ministry on Monday, there were 125 femicides between August 1, 2021 and July 31, 2022, up from 108 during the same time period the year before. 108 of those killings occurred in a “family-emotional” environment, with 68 women killed by their spouse or previous partner.

A woman is killed every three days in Italy

Silvana Arena,74, was reportedly killed by her husband on August 7 at their house in Venaria, close to Turin. She was beaten to death with a stick.

On july 27, Marzia Bettino, 58, was murdered at her Genova home. Her spouse was arrested later. When she was killed, the couple was going through a divorce. 

Valentina Di Mauro, 33, was killed at her house near Lake Como two days earlier. Di Mauro’s partner has been arrested.

The Eures research found that 3,344 women were killed in Italy between 2000 and October 31,2020, accounting for 30% of the country’s 11,133 total murders during the last two decades.

Elisa Ercoli, the president of Differenza Donna, an organisation that aims to combat gender-based violence and promotes women’s rights told the Guardian, “It’s a clear consequence of a total underestimation of institutional policy for this type of crime.”

Based on 2018 data, the European Institute for Gender Equality ranked Italy ninth out of 15 EU nations for the number of femicides committed by partners or former partners, and tenth for femicides committed by relatives.

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The UN has said that violence against women and girls is “one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today remains largely unreported due to the impunity, silence, stigma and shame surrounding it.”

The UN estimates that 35% of women globally have at some time in their life suffered either physical and/or sexual intimate relationship abuse or sexual assault by a non-partner.

The volunteers at the multilingual women’s helpline Telefona Rosa are available to assist women in Italy who are victims of gender-based violence.