FEMICIDE IN ITALY: SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND THE CURRENT CRIMINAL LAW

Femicide is defined as the killing of women due to their gender. Femicide is a broader criminology category, which includes every kind of violence on women, systematically exerted in behalf of a patriarchal system, it is a violation of human rights, both in public and private sphere, in which violence is the result of misogynist practices. Every day in Italy hundreds of women are exposed to gender-based violence; the average of last decade is 170 femicides for year. The Italian Government has reacted to this escalation of violence introducing new laws aiming to tighten up punishments for the convicted of these crimes. Besides this, preventive measures to safeguard women and victims of domestic violence have been introduced as well.