ANALYZING FEMICIDE IN ITALY. OVERVIEW OF MAJOR FINDINGS AND INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
ANALYZING FEMICIDE IN ITALY. OVERVIEW OF MAJOR FINDINGS AND INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS

Summary/Abstract: In Italy, femicide is an event much debated on newspapers, but scientific investigation and discussion is still rare. Instead of simply focusing on a national case, the article tries to highlight national characteristics of femicide by comparison with other international findings. The article discusses the Eures data on femicide in Italy in the period 2000–2005, regarding 1080 victims and 954 perpetrators. To sum up, the Italian data that confirm international findings are: strong predictors at individual level, intra-ethnic lethal violence, a connection between intimate partner violence and femicide, endemic conflict in the couple, a high risk during estrangement or divorce, a high number of unemployed perpetrators with no previous criminal record, and social settings of low gender equality and rising gender equality. The Italian data that do not confirm international findings are: older victims and perpetrators, non foreign-born victims, senior victims, the presence of couples in long-term relationships, perpetrators with mental health issues. These data show how femicide is a universal phenomenon with some characteristics that are constant across different countries. At the same time, some elements of femicide are specific to the Italian national context; they should be taken into consideration when designing and implementing actions for prevention and control.

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