Femicides become a crime in Italy

The Italian Parliament has passed a law defining femicides, the killing of a woman because of her gender, and punishing it with life imprisonment. The law received bipartisan support from the center-right majority and the center-left opposition in the final vote of the Chamber of Deputies, and was approved with 237 votes. The passage of the law also coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a day dedicated to the global fight against violence against women. "We have doubled the funding for anti-violence centers and women's shelters, promoted an emergency hotline, and implemented innovative educational and awareness-raising measures," said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday. Meloni added, "These are concrete advances, but we will not stop here. We must do much more every day." The law is a response to a series of murders and other acts of violence against women in Italy in recent years. It includes enhanced measures against gender-specific crimes, including stalking and revenge porn. The idea of enacting a law against femicide was driven by the murder of Giulia Cecchettini by her ex-boyfriend Filippo Turetta, who stabbed her and left her body near a lake. Cecchettini's murder sparked nationwide public outrage over the causes of violence against women in Italy's patriarchal culture. With this law, Italy joins the few countries, including Mexico, El Salvador, Belgium, and Cyprus, that classify femicides as a separate crime.