Italy’s parliament has approved a law that introduces femicide into the country’s criminal law and punishes it with life in prison.

Italy’s parliament on Tuesday approved a law that introduces femicide into the country’s criminal law and punishes it with life in prison.

The vote coincided with the international day for the elimination of violence against women, a day designated by the U.N. General Assembly.

The law won bipartisan support from the center-right majority and the center-left opposition in the final vote in the Lower Chamber, passing with 237 votes in favor.

The law, backed by the conservative government of Premier Giorgia Meloni, comes in response to a series of killings and other violence targeting women in Italy. It includes stronger measures against gender-based crimes including stalking and revenge porn.

  • Taleya@aussie.zoneEnglish
    1·
    10 hours ago

    Femicide is a specific type of murder that only applies under certain circumstances; but one of those circumstances requires the victim to be female. That is a gender based discriminating factor.

    This is a common practise in law. Murder in and of itself does not have a specific single charge in most systems, it’s categorised by intent and circumstance, ranging from manslaughter to crimes against humanity. Femicide is a subset of hate crime that has resulted in death due to misogynistic or sexist opinions, actions against women

    A murder charge that factors in the context of the murderer’s opinion of gay men as a factor in the crime is not discriminating against heterosexuals. It’s merely a recognition that certain motivators and context involved in the crime (eg homophobia) have become so significant within society that they warrant their own classification. And as a classified crime, it now has the options for its own sentencing. That is what is occurring here.