The proposal, agreed on Friday, must also go through Parliament and be approved by both chambers to become law
The Italian government approved a bill that, for the first time, introduces the legal definition of female in the country’s criminal law and punishes it with life imprisonment.
The measure, announced on the eve of International Women’s Day, which is marked this Saturday, aims to combat a series of homicides and violence against women in Italy by reinforcing measures against gender -based crimes, such as persecution and revenge pornography.
The proposal, agreed on Friday, must also go through Parliament and be approved by both chambers to become law.
“This is an extremely important proposal that introduces the crime of femicide into our legal system as an autonomous crime, punishing it with life imprisonment,” said the first conservative minister Giorgia Meloni, who strongly supported the initiative.
“It introduces aggravating circumstances and increases penalties for crimes that include personal abuse, persecution, sexual violence and revenge pornography,” he said in a statement.
Although the center-left opposition was congratulated with the measure, he stressed that the new law only addresses the criminal aspect of the problem, leaving unanswered the economic and cultural cleavages.
Recently, femicide has emerged as a deeply rooted systemic problem in Italian patriarchal culture, with some violent incidents to renew the debate on gender -based crimes.
Particularly remarkable was the murder of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old university student brutally stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta in November 2023. Last December, Turetta was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Recent studies show that while homicides have been decreasing in the country, the rate of femicide tends to remain stable or to decrease only slightly, remaining strictly linked to the family or “emotional sphere” of the victims.
The official data of the Italian Interior Ministry recorded 113 femicides in 2024, 99 of which committed by family members, partners or former partner.
