Violence against Women in Italy called a "social emergency"

[stephaniealexis8]

"ANSA) - Rome, November 25 - Equal Opportunities
Minister Mara Carfagna on Tuesday called for urgent action to
address violence against women in Italy.
Marking a UN international awareness day on the problem,
Carfagna said violence against women was a ``social
emergency`` in Italy.
``I hope this day gives cause for deep reflection and a
useful debate on appropriate solutions for freeing women from
fear,`` she said.
``Politicians, and the government in particular, must
give the public immediate results. Certain rights should be
guaranteed to everyone``.
Although the minister unveiled no new initiatives for
dealing with the problem, she mentioned three existing bills
awaiting a final green light from parliament.
The draft laws would criminalize stalking, make sexual
violence an aggravating factor in sentencing and outlaw
streetwalking.
But on Monday, the largest opposition centre-left party,
the Democratic Left, said the bills were not enough.
They said a greater commitment was needed from the
government and called for more funds to be allocated to boost
preventative measures and increase the number of police
interventions.
Daniela Melchiorre, a former justice undersecretary and
member of the tiny opposition Liberal Democrats party, added
her voice to the complaints on Tuesday.
She attacked the centre-right government for eliminating
a 20-million-euro contribution to a national action plan for
tackling violence against women, set up under the last
administration.
``Among other things, these resources would have gone
towards shelters for victims of domestic violence,`` she
said. ``An all-encompassing policy is needed along with
a campaign for preventing violence, starting with schools.
The focus must also be placed on protection - increasing
criminal penalties is simply not enough``.
The bill on streetwalking has also been condemned, with
critics suggesting it will simply make women more vulnerable
to traffickers and violence by driving prostitution further
underground.
Over a million Italian women have been the victims of
some form of physical or sexual abuse over the last 12
months, while almost seven million have experienced violence
at least once in their lives, according to national
statistics institute Istat.
Domestic violence is the biggest problem, Istat noted,
pointing to the fact that 70% of rapes are carried out by the
victim`s partner and that 96% of women do not report the
violence to authorities."


I would love to hear from those who live in Italy what they think of this situation and possible initiatives? Is this a real problem?

What can possibly be done from within a molto machismo culture to expedite such a paradigm shift?

[paolo]

Hi Stefanialexis
I do not truly qualify as living in Italy but I go to Italy 4 times a year for a total of 2 /3 months - I did read the article - My impression was that Italy overall was very safe for women - Safer than the US - As far as domestic problems : I think in the US is worse. Not so much because Italian are better than American but because most of the people in the US live in single family homes - many houses are isolated and that just gives more opportunity to violence than for family living in an apartment complex in a city in Italy ....
This are just my 2 cents however -

[Villa]

One of my teachers in Perugia mentioned that not to long ago men in Sicily(perhaps other parts of Italy)could kill their wives and get away with it just for thinking that they had been unfaithful.

And remember the strange case of Franca Biola la ragazza di Sicilia di 16 0 17 anni
who had to leave Sicily for going to the police for being raped and brutalized?!

Before Franca Viola arrived on the scene in 1965, Sicilian custom was straightforward, if barbaric. Women, who were not expected to enjoy sex,
were nonetheless expected to defend their virginity and family honor at all costs. If a bridal arrangement was agreed upon between a man and
a girl's parents, but the girl had cold feet, it was an uncomfortable situation. The groom-to-be would sometimes kidnap the girl, take her to
a secluded villa, and either woo her or rape her in private (thereby rendering her unsuitable for any other man on the planet). If the girl
succumbed to the groom out of the public eye (where she was required to resist any sexual advance), good for her. The marriage would take place.
If she resisted and was raped, screaming "No! No!" at the top of her lungs, good for her. She is virtuous. The marriage would take place.

The law technically banned the practice. Yet it continued unabated until Franca Viola went to the police, invoked the law, and pressed charges
against the mafia brute who had raped her. According to director Damiano Damiani("The Most Beautiful Wife"), Franca is considered an Italian folk
hero of feminism. The movie The Most Beautiful Wife is a dramatic retelling of Franca Viola's story, with Ornella Muti playing the part of the wronged girl.
As such, she is front and center in every scene. Every actor supports her. The music supports her. The cinematography even supports her. The truth
is, had Ornella Muti not turned out to be one of the world's great beauties, The Most Beautiful Wife would have probably remained a movie for Italians
who were familiar with the Viola story.

I just ordered this movie.

The Most Beautiful WifeOct 31, 2006 ... You see, the story of The Most Beautiful Wife, is fairly solid. ...
The Most Beautiful Wife works exceptionally well in telling this story, ...
www.dvdinmypants.com/reviews/H-N/mbwife.php - 46k - Cached - Similar pages

[stephaniealexis8]

Hi Stefanialexis
I do not truly qualify as living in Italy but I go to Italy 4 times a year for a total of 2 /3 months - I did read the article - My impression was that Italy overall was very safe for women - Safer than the US - As far as domestic problems : I think in the US is worse. Not so much because Italian are better than American but because most of the people in the US live in single family homes - many houses are isolated and that just gives more opportunity to violence than for family living in an apartment complex in a city in Italy ....
This are just my 2 cents however -

Grazie, Paolo! While you may not consider yourself an on-the-ground Italian I'd think that, having come from Italy and spending so much time there, your eye is probably more keen than most. I have not seen any comparison between USA and Italy regarding numbers of domestic abuses, but I think it may be telling to see the statistics from each, side by side.

I think Italy has much more awareness about this problem. I just don't see the government of the United States talking so directly to its male population as Italy.

You also bring up a very good point about living arrangements in Italy as opposed to the United States. I have to wonder if neighbors in Italy are more likely to looking the other way, or to intercede, if they hear or witness possible abuse.

[stephaniealexis8]

One of my teachers in Perugia mentioned that not to long ago men in Sicily(perhaps other parts of Italy)could kill their wives and get away with it just for thinking that they had been unfaithful.

And remember the strange case of Franca Biola la ragazza di Sicilia di 16 0 17 anni
who had to leave Sicily for going to the police for being raped and brutalized?!

Before Franca Viola arrived on the scene in 1965, Sicilian custom was straightforward, if barbaric. Women, who were not expected to enjoy sex,
were nonetheless expected to defend their virginity and family honor at all costs. If a bridal arrangement was agreed upon between a man and
a girl's parents, but the girl had cold feet, it was an uncomfortable situation. The groom-to-be would sometimes kidnap the girl, take her to
a secluded villa, and either woo her or rape her in private (thereby rendering her unsuitable for any other man on the planet). If the girl
succumbed to the groom out of the public eye (where she was required to resist any sexual advance), good for her. The marriage would take place.
If she resisted and was raped, screaming "No! No!" at the top of her lungs, good for her. She is virtuous. The marriage would take place.

The law technically banned the practice. Yet it continued unabated until Franca Viola went to the police, invoked the law, and pressed charges
against the mafia brute who had raped her. According to director Damiano Damiani("The Most Beautiful Wife"), Franca is considered an Italian folk
hero of feminism. The movie The Most Beautiful Wife is a dramatic retelling of Franca Viola's story, with Ornella Muti playing the part of the wronged girl.
As such, she is front and center in every scene. Every actor supports her. The music supports her. The cinematography even supports her. The truth
is, had Ornella Muti not turned out to be one of the world's great beauties, The Most Beautiful Wife would have probably remained a movie for Italians
who were familiar with the Viola story.

I just ordered this movie.

The Most Beautiful WifeOct 31, 2006 ... You see, the story of The Most Beautiful Wife, is fairly solid. ...
The Most Beautiful Wife works exceptionally well in telling this story, ...
www.dvdinmypants.com/reviews/H-N/mbwife.php - 46k - Cached - Similar pages

Villa, thank you so much for this, you so know that title is one I'm putting down! And yes, I was aware of that horrible Sicilian practice (a great essay was written about it in the anthology "Hey Paesan!", see the Libro forum...) I was pretty shocked to read just how recently that went on for!

I think things are changing for the better, but like any progress for every two steps forward there is one pushed back. I just think Italy deserves shout-outs whenever it takes these positive steps.

[Luca-da-Roma]

I think that the violence against women is a common problem of all countries and Italy is not better or worse than U.S.A, U.K or other countries. Often in Italy the politicians use terms like "emergency" in order to move people consense.. In this period Italy is full of "social emergency": for example the rubbish in Naples, the security in Rome, the violence against women, the disoccupation.. these are real problems but here seems to be always in electoral period.. the easier initiative is the sure prision for who committs this crime but here for a lot of crimes criminals remain in freedom. Who often endures violence does not receive justice and felts abandoned from the State.

[Villa]

"In Guatemala an impoverished female underclass faces domestic violence, rape and the second-highest
rate of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. An epidemic of gruesome unsolved murders has left hundreds
of women dead, some of their bodies left with hate messages."
Molto triste. Ho una studentessa di Guatemala.

TheStar.com | World | Ten worst countries for womenMar 8, 2008 ... Discrimination against women rampant. BEST COUNTRIES TO BE A WOMAN ... have a level of violence that makes life unbearable for women. ...
www.thestar.com/News/World/article/326354 - 78k - Cached - Similar pages
Taking on violence against women in AfricaViolence against women goes beyond beatings. It includes forced marriage, dowry- related .... Worse, few countries have enacted laws to prevent abuse. ...
http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/...ist-women.html - 29k - Cached - Similar pages
stopVAW -- Stop Violence Against WomenNov 24, 2008 ... Country Pages provide resources concerning violence against women in several countries of the CEE/FSU region. The country pages describe ...
www.stopvaw.org/ - 23k - Cached - Similar pages

[Villa]

Just watched the Italian movie "The Most Beautiful Wife." This is
a must see movie if you want to understand about violence against Italian women.

[carlopesca]

As Luca da Roma wrote, in Italy most violations (specially those carried against the person) are not punished. During the last years/months several rules have been modified, lots of depenalizations were stated and one result of them is that rapers, the few reported and caught ones, are extremely soon free and often do not pay for what they have done.
There's a combination of shortened time allowed to the law to complete trials and abundance of chanches for a lawyer to obtain one postponement after the other, and crime is often not punished anymore. Here's an article about that:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17740235/

Talking about violence on women:
Rapists in Italy had the chance to clear their crime simply marrying their victim: it was called "matrimonio riparatore" (the repairing marriage) and according to it, if one liked a girl and she didn't reciprocate, he could rape (even an underage one) and then marry her, becoming this way not chargeable anymore. Do you think we're talking about stone age? This law was only cleared in 1981. Codice Rocco is the name of the code ruling it, if someone wants to go deeper.

Other rule of the Codice Rocco recently modified: sexual violence (and incest) is now classified as a crime against a person, while it was a crime against public morals until 1996 (yes nineteen ninetysix, no mistyping), and as such sanctions were ridiculous.
Now sanctions are adequate but few are put in prison anyway, since an appropriate delay will make any effort to send them to jail vane. If you can afford a lawyer you'll skip your punishent, poorer guys go to jail.

With such a background, women tend not to report violence because that often just adds shame to their pain.

Italian men are somehow afraid of women, violence and jealousy often come out of that plus ignorance... I don't know, most relationships seem not based on reciprocal respect, most people I see just get married or live together to have someone close, being too afraid of loneliness.

Italian men's attitude towards women in real life situations is rather aggressive: men can't usually stand a woman as a boss, usually quarrel instead of debating, and mobbed women on working places are increasing year after year and this can be noticed around.

Our government isn't into changing that at all: women politicians are ministers without portfolio and are a true minority, and apart from nice words one cannot feel any intention to modify tradition at all. Vatican is always there too, blaming basically everything progressive and usually not encouraging women's freedom: a good woman is married and has children, divorcing is a sin and so on.

On our women Ministers and their selection criteria, the following might say something:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5188289.ece

Don't like to sound pessimistic but our women rights situation is not better than our economy.