Six Women Killed in a Matter of Days as Wave of Femicides Shakes Italy from Calabria to Rome and Venice

A new series of femicides has shaken Italy, where six women have been killed by their partners or former partners since August 15.

Two of the most recent crimes took place on Tuesday. In a rural area near Cosenza, in Calabria, a 72-year-old woman was beaten to death with stones by her 74-year-old husband.

That same day, in Colleferro, south of Rome, a 50-year-old woman of Polish origin was stabbed to death by her husband, a 69-year-old Tunisian man.

Another killing was recorded a day earlier, on Monday, near Venice. The victim, 39, was killed by her 43-year-old former husband, whom she had repeatedly reported to police for domestic violence.

Data published after the incident showed that the same man had previously been reported for violence by three other women, dating back to 2002.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported that femicide has been added as a new criminal offense to Italy’s Criminal Code. The phenomenon is being considered a national emergency, at a time when lethal violence against women has reached alarming levels in the country.

Meanwhile, according to ANSA, a campaign designed to educate young people about building healthy relationships with the opposite sex has been suspended. This happened after the government decided that students’ participation in the program developed in Italian schools would require parental consent.

The rise in killings of women has brought measures to prevent violence within the family, as well as institutions’ response to reports filed by victims, back into the focus of Italy’s public debate.