Femicide laws newly introduced in Italy but prevention measures lacking

On the international day for the elimination of violence against women, 25 November this year, Italy’s parliament officially introduced femicide into the national criminal code, making the crime punishable by life imprisonment. The bill, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s conservative party, was voted through with strong bipartisan support.

It makes Italy the fourth EU nation to specify a legal definition of femicide in law, along with Cyprus, Malta, and Croatia.

The Italian law will apply to murders which are “an act of hatred, discrimination, domination, control, or subjugation of a woman as a woman”, or that occur when she breaks off a relationship or to “limit her individual freedoms.”

The latest police data in Italy shows a slight fall in the number of women killed last year to 116, with 106 said to be motivated by gender. In future, such cases would be recorded separately and trigger an automatic life sentence, meant as a deterrent.

In the Penal Code, the new Article 577 proposed by Ministers Eugenia Roccella and Carlo Nordio, feminicide is introduced along with a penalty of life imprisonment for “the killing of a woman ‘when the act is committed as an act of hatred or discrimination or prevarication or as an act of control or possession or domination as a woman, or in relation to the woman’s refusal to establish or maintain an emotional relationship or as an act of limitation of her individual freedom’. “

In a statement, Meloni said: “We have doubled funding for anti-violence centres and shelters, promoted an emergency hotline and implemented innovative education and awareness-raising activities.”

As reported by the BBC, Italy will henceforth record every murder of a woman that is motivated by her gender as femicide.

One of the expert commissioners who authored the new laws, Judge Paola di Nicola examined 211 recent murders of women for common characteristics in preparation for drafting the laws.

“Talking of such crimes as rooted in exasperated love or strong jealousy is a distortion – that uses romantic, culturally acceptable terms,” the judge told the BBC.

“This law means we will be the first in Europe to reveal the real motivation of the perpetrators, which is hierarchy and power.”

Critics of the new laws are repeating the same criticisms Australian lawmakers receive: that is, harsher penalties and increased funding for shelters address one branch of a multifaceted problem. To genuinely address the root of gendered violence, and to stem the rising numbers of women and girls in danger from men, requires social and cultural policies that empower women financially, economically, professionally, and in community.

Australia, and NSW, in a crisis

A 2024 report (The Men’s Project & Flood, M. 2024. The Man Box 2024: Re-examining what it means to be a man in Australia. Melbourne: Jesuit Social Services.) indicated that close to one in four men in Australia aged 18 to 45 say they have used physical and/or sexual violence against an intimate partner.

Bridget O’Kane is the Principal Solicitor at Inner City Legal Centre (ICLC) in Kings Cross, which provides legal services to vulnerable members of community, including sex workers and LGBTIQ+ individuals.

She says, “DV, like all crimes, is a factor of social circumstance. Sure, yes, there could always be better processes and legislation dealing with the crime itself and offenders, but, ultimately it is not a matter exclusive to the criminal justice system with which to deal with. If everyone is expecting answers from police and courts in relation to any sort of societal problem – including the management and prevalence of DV, then altogether we are at the wrong end and ipso facto we are not going to stop it or help it, not even necessarily deter it.”

O’Kane adds that greater penalties, or harsher sentences, do not address the emotionally-charged nature of violence against women.

“It’s universally accepted there is a resource issue where it counts as to the provision of assistance of legal services to both victims and offenders …

“[T]he result is definitely we have more offenders, more victims, more reporting, which means more matters going through court and increasingly are more lengthy matters, so the court is really wanting of resources too.”

Next year, Brisbane will host UN Women Australia’s International Women’s Day (IWD) event on March 4, 2026. Themed ‘Balance the Scales’, it will spotlight the emergency that plagues Australia. In NSW, conviction rates for sexual assault cases sit at just 7 per cent. According to BOCSAR, data recorded by NSW Police in 2023 showed that 1 in 10 victims of domestic assault are young people, 3 in 5 are women and Aboriginal women are 8 times more likely to be recorded as a victim.

Education and prevention

While Italy faces widespread criticism that it unduly focuses on criminalisation over prevention, NSW has taken the baton on a multifaceted approach to education, prevention, and penalties.

Last year, the NSW Government launched the State’s first standalone Strategy for the Prevention of Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence 2024-2028 which purportedly operates together with communities, schools, workplaces and sporting clubs and local organisations.

More recently, as part of the $38 million funding under the 2024/25 Budget to roll out primary prevention activities across the state, the NSW Government announced The Game on for Change – Preventing Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence (DFSV) Through Sport Grant Program.

In a statement, NSW Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Jodie Harrison said, “Sport has incredible influence and reach in our community and can be a way to promote positive and healthy behaviours and attitudes… The NSW Government is creating a safer state and stopping the violence before it starts is how we work towards eliminating domestic, family and sexual violence.”

However, Domestic Violence NSW (DVNSW) responded to BOCSAR crime data released in June 2025 by stating that demand for services and support is rising, severity is increasing, and current funding falls dangerously short.

CEO Delia Donovan said: “Specialist DFV services are already stretched past breaking point, operating under outdated funding models that haven’t kept pace with inflation, population growth or the complexity of need. Today’s BOCSAR crime data again shows how critically important it is to invest in current services so they can meet the rising demand …

“Despite alarming increases in reported domestic violence-related assaults, the NSW Government hasn’t delivered the baseline investment needed to respond. The recently announced Justice Package included little to no new funding for the frontline DFV services that victim-survivors rely on every day.”

Marking a year of NSW’s coercive control laws in June, DVNSW’s Angie Gehle, Senior Justice Policy and Advocacy Officer said: “[O]ur members highlight the need for ongoing, comprehensive and up-to-date training across police, courts, and the broader justice system. Moving from incident-based responses to recognising the patterns of coercive control demands a deep, system-wide understanding.”

NSW criminalises domestic violence through the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 (NSW), which includes provision of Apprehended Domestic Violence Orders (ADVOs) and penalises stalking and coercive control for current or former intimate partners. The Act also enables civil protection orders for high-risk offenders called Serious Domestic Abuse Prevention Orders (SDAPOs). According to the NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ), “SDAPOs can last for up to five years and require the person who has the order imposed on them to report to a police station at a particular time, notify police when commencing an intimate partner relationship or of any dating profiles they create or use.”

People who breach these orders face up to five years’ imprisonment and/or a $33,000 fine.

That’s been followed by a commitment by the NSW Government of more than $3 million over the next two years to partner with sporting organisations on programs that address the drivers of domestic, family and sexual violence.

ADVOs have a role within a broader approach to protecting the victim and penalising the offender.

O’Kane says, “The imposition of ADVOs has (and continues) to evolve and change the ways the courts work – there are certain dedicated days for DV lists, specialist courts and dedicated practice notes in addition how evidence is heard and DV hearings are run. (I) acknowledge – it has changed the whole complexion of the legal system in many respects. ADVOs or ‘AVOs’ are terms that are widely used and known, a day to day everyday expression that all understand – it unequivocally conveys the gravity of its purpose when used.”

She adds, “There is definitely a broader understanding of DV and how pervasive it is in the community. We have adapted our entire court system around it (as well as) police systems, so to say ADVOs are ineffective is not correct. But, after all, ADVOs are just promises – albeit with criminal sanctions if contravened, but it is not as if we are locking away the defendant from the person that is in need of protection.”

As to efficacy, O’Kane says, “I believe there is a lack of data or research available on DV offending, deaths, or whatever metric for measurement is chosen for use with comparative analysis of offenders contravening an ADVO versus police not having made an application for it to be taken out versus private application versus installation of application and enforcement versus offending where there is no ADVO.”

Italy’s agenda faces criticism

Italy’s statistics agency Istat recorded 106 femicides in 2024, 62 of them committed by partners or former partners.

Elena Biaggioni, a lawyer and the former vice president of the feminist non-profit Women Networking Against Violence, told US outlet NPR that the femicide legislation focused on penalising the crime rather than preventing the death of women.

“[W]e would prefer to work on prevention, proper education in schools. We’re one of the few countries that have no sexual education in schools, for example. Choosing to only focus on criminalisation is simply the wrong approach.”

She went on to point out that “On the same day that this bill was approved, the other one that would introduce a consent-based legislation for sexual violence was not approved.”

Italy ranks 85th in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2025, with just over half of all women in employment. By contrast, Australia rose 11 places to 13th out of 148 countries.

Fabiana Costantino is with Action Aid Italy, which created the temporary museum dedicated to exposing the patriarchal systems underpinning Italian society. She told the BBC, “For us, the way to fight against violence against women is to prevent the violence, and to prevent the violence we have to build equality.”