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submitted 6 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

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.

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[-] gbzm@piefed.social 235 points 6 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

People here seem weirdly confused about the term "feminicide": it means homicide motivated by misogyny. It's a subset of hate crimes.

They exist in all western societies I'm aware of, if you're confused it's probably only because you're unused to thinking of women as a protected class and hate for women as aggravating circumstances, the way hate for any race of religion is in most legal systems.

Yes they're 50% of the population, but also yes they're disproportionately the targets of violence because misogyny exists. Yet they are rarely treated as such in many legal systems.

[-] Drekaridill@lemmy.wtf 81 points 6 days ago

Genuinely thought it just meant killing a woman and was confused

[-] daizelkrns@sh.itjust.works 49 points 6 days ago

It does get misused in that exact way sometimes. I'm from Mexico, these cases have been making big headlines here for a while now, some prosecutors are misclassifying cases as femicide to grab attention to their political careers.

Local one a couple of years ago where a dude ran over a woman. Local prosecutor was pushing for femicide, fortunately it was moved to manslaughter as it should have been from the start. Not everything constitutes a hate crime and cases like that (in my opinion at least) would make the distinction meaningless

[-] Saapas@piefed.zip 46 points 6 days ago

It seems weird to consider half the people as "protected class". But only one gender. Dunno why they didn't just make hate crime the charge and make misogyny fall under that

[-] yesman@lemmy.world 57 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

They're a protected class because they're singled out for violence because of their class. And it's a real world problem not a logic quiz. Misogyny and misandry are not equivalent in reality the way they are in the dictionary.

[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 22 points 6 days ago

Does that make hate crime murder against men less worth prosecuting as such? Why shouldn't the legal definition be symmetrical?

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[-] RamRabbit@lemmy.world 19 points 6 days ago

If someone murdered a male due to their sex, would you treat that any differently than someone murdering a female due to their sex?

[-] its_kim_love 18 points 6 days ago

Nothing more than sex based whataboutism.

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[-] RamRabbit@lemmy.world 25 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Exactly. This should have been something that applies to all: 'murdering someone due to their sex is now a hate crime'.

Having the law give more consideration to one sex over another, particularly with something like murder, is quite sexist.

[-] its_kim_love 27 points 6 days ago

This would be true if there were commensurate rates of murder where the motivation is misandry. Otherwise you just like the veneer of equality to cover up the rot underneath.

[-] RamRabbit@lemmy.world 19 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

If perpetrators happen to be of one sex more often, then it means the rates of being charged with the relevant crime will be higher for that sex.

A crime must be treated equally, regardless of sex. The law treating one differently based on their sex is itself sexist. As I stated before, this should have been something that applies to all: ‘murdering someone due to their sex is now a hate crime’.

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[-] paraphrand@lemmy.world 25 points 6 days ago

I would assume the thinking is centered around wanting to draw specific attention to the issue. And to more clearly cite it as a unique thing for awareness purposes.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 23 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

This. The goal is to send a message. Over half the women killed were murdered by intimate partners. Such a crime would already be punished by life imprisonment for Aggravated Homicide.

However femicide also includes refusal for emotional relationship, or resistance to limiting her freedom as motivators, as admissible motives for femicide.

https://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/20211564_mh0421097enn_pdf_0.pdf

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[-] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 28 points 6 days ago
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[-] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 23 points 6 days ago

Yea… I’m with the incels that don’t really understand the point. If murder was already a crime that would be punished by life in prison, narrowing the specificity of who was murdered doesn’t change much of anything.

“Cool, if it makes you happy I guess 👍”

[-] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 22 points 6 days ago

It includes stronger measures against gender-based crimes including stalking and revenge porn

Read?

[-] frog_brawler@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

My comment is very clearly specifically in reference to the term “femicide” and the official recognition of it within Italian law. It’s murder. If a woman kills another woman, it is not a femicide, that’s just a murder… the penalty is the same in the end… right???? Overall, it seems a relatively unnecessary level of specificity.

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[-] falseWhite@lemmy.world 50 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

"Let's slap a bandaid instead of fixing the underlying societal problems causing this and score some popularity points" - every politician ever.

Edit: okay maybe there are a few smart politicians, but they're not scoring the popularity points with this:

“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 the head of Italy’s Democratic Party, Elly Schlein. “Repression is not enough without prevention, which can only start in schools.”

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[-] paraphrand@lemmy.world 44 points 6 days ago

A lot of people in here seem upset for some reason.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 22 points 6 days ago

It's actually pretty sad. Kinda scary to.

[-] ButteryMonkey@piefed.social 21 points 6 days ago

Pretty sure threads like this are why there aren’t more women on Lemmy..

[-] Tujio@lemmy.world 17 points 6 days ago

Fucking hell some of these comments read as redpill bullshit.

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[-] El_guapazo@lemmy.world 18 points 5 days ago

There needs to be more accountability for law enforcement for this too have any real effect. Studies show up to 40% of law enforcement self identify as domestic abusers. So why would they investigate themselves?

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[-] Smoogs@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago

This post has helped me root out all the shitty piece of shit incels to block on Lemmy. Thank you for this.

[-] DupaCycki@lemmy.world 17 points 5 days ago

I don't see how the femicide part makes any sense or difference. There were already the exact same punishments for killing of anyone, so isn't this essentially copy pasting existing laws but with a specific group highlight? If that's the case, it will do absolutely nothing.

The second part is fine, though I hope it's meant for everyone and not just women. I don't know about Italy specifically, but in many European countries if you fall victim to these crimes as a man, you'll likely receive no help.

Would be great to see some more protections for everyone, as well as more serious punishments for violations against anyone. Making anything like this gender-specific will just fuel already problematic anti-other-gender sentiment.

[-] Smoogs@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago

inequity is real.

If each and every person should matter then It should be ok to recognize each and every person for what they are being targetted for. And I see this law as doing just that. It’s recognizing that a person may not be targetted for being an individual but a part of a group. And that is important. So That is taking their individualness into importance by recognizing the group they are being targetted by.

This should be allowed if you’re being legitimately concerned for EVERYONE’S safety here.

people who may be at their job as a sex worker. Or if they are simply female and that in itself could be weaponized against them.

They will face a violent discrimination just as another person fitting into a different group might. And it’s important to recognize that, make that a law, and keep them safe too. So if “Being targetted for”is a law , recognizing group profile is part of that.

[-] DupaCycki@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago

If you aim for equality, making separate laws for separate genders is not the solution. This is anything but equality. Especially when there are already laws protecting the groups in question, as part of the entire nation. The problem here is completely different and requires different solutions.

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[-] postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago

I think a better law would be more generic in defining what defined group targeting.

Why only protect one group? How many other divisions will there be?

How balkanized will you make the law when ypu apply it to people?

Will more wealth entitle you to more protections?

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[-] DishonestBirb@lemmy.world 39 points 6 days ago

This is confusing. So killing a woman is now criminally worse than killing a man? That seems absurd.

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[-] DomeGuy@lemmy.world 33 points 6 days ago

Does this imply that previously killing women wasn't criminal in Italy?

I presume that femicide is a subset of "homicide", but I can't tell if it means "any killing of a woman", "any killing of a woman by a man", "any killing of a woman because she's a woman", or "any killing of a woman by a man because she's a woman".

And I shudder to imagine how trans-women and trans-men fit into this weirdly sexist label.

(In America we have nice gender-neutral crimes, with enhancers if it was done out of prejudicial hate.)

[-] gbzm@piefed.social 42 points 6 days ago

It means the murder of a woman motivated by misogyny. It is a subset of homicide and also a subset of hate crimes. It can be thought of as recognizing misogyny as a motive of hate and thus an aggravating circumstance to a homicide, and women as a protected class. Killing a trans woman or a trans man could very well get a "transphobia" label for a double hate crime, depending on the motives that get established. This is not as complicated as you seem to believe.

[-] DomeGuy@lemmy.world 21 points 6 days ago

It's not complicated, it's just sexist and not explained in the linked article.

If a man kills a woman out of hatred for women that's a terrible crime and should be severely punished. But if a woman kills a man out of hatred for men, that is exactly as horrific a crime and should be punished no less severely.

Sexism in law benefits nobody.

[-] erin@piefed.blahaj.zone 24 points 6 days ago

It isn't sexism in law. Laws are written in blood. If women are frequently being killed because they refused sex or a relationship, then a law should exist as a deterrent. It isn't just "killing a woman because they hate women," it's specifically in cases where women are stalked, harassed, or pursued non-consensually for sex or a relationship. If women were targeting men in the same way, a law should exist in that case as well. That isn't the case, though. Women are VASTLY disproportionately killed by men for reasons pertaining to sex and relationships compared to the other way around.

Italy sees a problem: women are being frequently killed by intimate partners, stalkers, and harassers specifically because of their gender. They made a law to deter that. If the opposite problem presents itself they should do the same.

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[-] falseWhite@lemmy.world 16 points 6 days ago

It take a certain type of flaw in logic to assume that because a group is “getting” something, it means another group is losing something.

What if one group is getting something unproportionally more than the other.

That creates inequality, essentially meaning that the disadvantaged group is losing something. I.e. they get less that the other group.

So yeah, if you give one group much more than the other, they are losing something.

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[-] 5too@lemmy.world 8 points 5 days ago

I'm reading a lot of responses here that seem to rhyme with the "White lives matter!" responses to the BLM movement.

As was the case then, what seems to be getting missed by those saying this is the context. Italy has a major issue with domestic violence, including spousal murder. From the sound of it, it's usually women who are the victims. Thus, a new law to target wife abusers specifically.

There may be some merit to debating whether this is an effective move or not, I'm not up on my research there; but let's not deny that they see a need, and are attempting to address it.

Hi, saying "Italy has a major issue with domestic violence" it's misleading. Compared to what? To Europe? (we are on the lower end of feminicides, and this law try to target this issue). More in general, Italy it's a very safe place and homicides are lower than the average of europe.

Feminicides: https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/cp_data_news/femicide-remains-all-too-common-in-italy-and-europe/

General intentional homicide: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

To further expand: Is it an issue? YES, is it even slightly going towards a resolution with this new law? NOPE. It's just the next new big title from "Governo Meloni", a right wing party that is in charge, will get re-elected but is acting like it's on the opposition.

This is not like the “White lives matter” responses to the BLM movement. If they wanted to increase the "hate crime" or "gender crime" homicides penalties, they could have said something like "to address the feminicides we will be increasing all the hate/gender homicides penalties". But this government hate gays and trans, just love a christian traditional family and slogans (which none of our representatives was able to mantain btw).

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[-] ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago

These comments seem to be full of the same people who misunderstand that the word “racism” describes a massive cultural and societal issue that affects people in large, hidden ways throughout their life, rather than using bad words.

If they had a problem in Italy of men being murdered for not being obedient, it might be worth considering broadening the scope of this classification.

This does not even target the perpetrators as a class (even though we can probably guess a general demographic), just classifies the crime according to what has happened to the victim, and why. This is the same for all hate crimes that are prevalent enough to warrant it. Imo it is the culture and society that makes it a hate crime, not just the intent.

[-] ameancow@lemmy.world 11 points 6 days ago

I find it amazing that half the threads on this post I can't open because they're being piled on by people I've already blocked on lemmy. 🙄

Men with sexual insecurity is a driving force of contention and violent politics in this entire world. If you read that special protections are being made for a class of people who are suffering dis-fucking-proportionally and you say "What about meeeeee?" to it, you need to get your shit together. You're not healthy.

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this post was submitted on 25 Nov 2025
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