ROME (AP) — Italy’s parliament on Tuesday approved a landmark law that formally defines femicide in the criminal code and makes it punishable by life in prison.
The vote coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, established by the U.N. General Assembly.
Backed by the conservative government of Premier Giorgia Meloni, the measure won broad support, passing the Lower Chamber with 237 votes in favor from both the center-right majority and the center-left opposition.
The law responds to a series of high-profile killings and other acts of violence against women in Italy, and strengthens penalties for gender-based crimes including stalking and revenge porn.
Cases such as the 2023 murder of university student Giulia Cecchettin have fueled public outrage and intensified debate over the roots of violence against women in Italy’s still deeply patriarchal culture.
“We have doubled funding for anti-violence centers and shelters, promoted an emergency hotline and implemented innovative education and awareness-raising activities,” Meloni said Tuesday. “These are concrete steps forward, but we won’t stop here. We must continue to do much more, every day.”
While the center-left opposition ultimately supported the law, it criticized the government for focusing primarily on criminal sanctions rather than addressing the broader economic and cultural inequalities that help sustain gender-based violence.
Italy’s statistics agency Istat recorded 106 femicides in 2024, 62 of them allegedly committed by partners or former partners.
Debate has also intensified over proposals to introduce sexual and emotional education in schools as a way to prevent gender-based violence. A government-backed bill would ban such education in elementary schools and require explicit parental consent for related lessons in high schools.
The ruling coalition argues the measure is necessary to protect children from what it calls ideological activism in classrooms. Opposition parties and activists have denounced the bill as “medieval.”
“Italy is one of only seven countries in Europe where sex and relationship education is not yet compulsory in schools, and we are calling for it to be compulsory in all school cycles,” said Elly Schlein, leader of Italy’s Democratic Party. “Repression is not enough without prevention, which can only start in schools.”
