The issue of violence against women seems to have no end in sight. Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 102 female deaths in the country at least half of which have been linked to violence by an ex-partner or current partner. The primary cause of the gendered nature of this violence is patriarchal culture.
The death of 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin has prompted outrage all over the country with the preparations for nationwide protests in place. Cecchettin’s body was found with over 20 stab wounds in a lake north of Venice. The suspect is her ex-boyfriend, Filippo Turetta who was captured hitting her on a CCTV camera before her disappearance. Cecchettin split up with Turetta and had gone shopping for her graduation with him when she went missing according to her sister. She was a student of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Padua.
Turetta was detained in Germany and is being extradited to Italy for investigation. Cecchettin had been missing for a week and search operations were underway when her body was found.
Public response on the violence
The Guardian reported that one woman is killed in Italy every three days. The people of Italy and especially feminist groups have launched protests expressing their widespread outrage against femicides taking place in the country.
Incidentally, today also happens to be the international day for the elimination of violence against women. Feminists group Non una de meno is organizing protests for the cause. Giulia’s sister, Elena, is also spearheading the demonstrations in Rome. Scores of vigils and protests have been going on for over a week since she was found but the outrage has not died.
Elena has been actively calling out the root cause of such violence in the country which is the normalization of toxic male behaviour and called those committing violence against women “children of patriarchy and rape culture”. Despite this being no news and a well known fact, there is a need to keep reiterating it because of the grasp patriarchy has on our society.
Non una de Meno or Not One More was started in 2015 with the murder of Sara Di Pietrantonia, a 22 year old who was burnt to death by her ex-boyfriend for similar reasons. The objectives of Non Una de Meno are the fundamentals of feminism that include making abortion accessible, enabling bodily autonomy, combating the gender wage gap, racism and starting a conversation on gender violence. These demands have been underway for a very long time and are yet to see fruition. 
Responses from Authorities on the Violence
Gerogia Meloni, the first woman prime minister of Italy said, “Every single woman killed because she is ‘guilty’ of being free is an aberration that cannot be tolerated and that pushes me to continue on the path taken to stop this barbarity.” And on Wednesday, Italian legislators unanimously backed policies that aimed combating gender violence in the country. It is unfortunate however that it had to happen as a response to the outrage expressed at Giulia’s death.
Silvia Menecali of the Women against Violence Network has stated that news media reporting that still focuses on looking for the reason or intent of the murderer is problematic. It serves as a justification of the actions of the criminal and undermines the injustice that has taken place. She further says, “This kind of narrative carries on legitimising femicide as a reaction to a woman’s behaviour.”
It is important to point out that such crimes are not that of passion and are misrepresented as such by media globally. They are instead crimes of power that are a resultant of patriarchy and rape culture.
