Gender violence in Italy: the cultural challenge toward a safer country for women

179 women have been killed – an average of one victim every two days – in Italy in 2013. 122 of them have died at the hand of a male relative, partner or ex-partner.

152 women have been killed in Italy in 2014, 77% inside the family circle, with a rate of 3.7 per million resident women versus 2.7 per million resident men at risk of domestic violence.

A woman every three between the age of 16 and 70 years has, at a certain point in her life, been a victim of psychological, sexual or physical violence, mostly by a man she knows: only rarely the aggressor is a stranger.

In crude numbers, it means that more than 6 million women in Italy, in the course of their lifetime, have experienced some sort of violence by a man; in 20% of the cases physical violence, in 21% sexual violence (not rape) and in 5.4% rape: 10% of the victims has been sexually abused before turning 16 years old.

Compared with 2012, 61% more abuses have been perpetrated against women with young children, 90% of whom has witnessed the violence and 90% of the women who suffered domestic abuse report they started or continued also during pregnancy.

Femicide represents today, one of the deadliest plagues in modern Italy: as the United Nations reported in 2012, “domestic abuse is the most pervasive form of violence in Italy”.

Despite the efforts made by the Government that since 2013 has increased the funds to dedicated projects against gender violence and passed a new legislation with the aim of “prevent the abuses, protect the victims and punish the perpetrators”, 93% of women abused by their partner decide not to report him to the police. Similarly, only 7.4% of women victims of rape or attempted rape report the crimes to the authorities.

As once again the United Nations have pointed out, there is a strong cultural component behind: even though times are changing, and Italian women are becoming more and more aware and empowered, the underlying patriarchal culture is hard to eradicate.

While women, in their role as mothers, are considered the cornerstone of the family, generally considered a matriarchal entity, it is not unusual for them to be considered a sort of male property, passing by the control of the father to the control of the husband. This also explains why many of the victims have been attacked by former partners, unable to cope with the loss of someone they thought to “own”.

Contrary to expectations, new generations are not immune from this archaic perception: 32% of young aged between 18 and 29 think that episodes of domestic violence need to be resolved inside the family, and 25% consider physical violence as an act of love or the result of an alleged disrespectful behaviour by the woman.

In many cases, as the UN reported, domestic violence is not even considered a crime; this not only jeopardises the chances of such abuses being reported but contributes to perpetrate the same culture, generation after generation. Many women, grown up in a violent environment, do not leave their abusive partners because they do not recognise the violence as a crime, but perceive it as a natural part of a relationship.

If it sounds Medieval, it is worth remembering that up to 1981 a man killing his wife who cheated on him could benefit from reduced sentencing based on the “honor killing”.

Additionally, the concept of family unity is still strongly rooted in the Italian mentality: as reported by many anti-violence centres, many women are pressured by their original family or their partner’s not to break apart the family, or to stay “for the sake of the children”. This pressure is even more effective when directed toward foreign women, often fearing to lose their kids to the father, especially when he is Italian, if they contact the authorities or leave.

On top of this cultural disadvantage, Italian women also suffer from economic disparity: rarely employed in prestigious positions, often the ones taking time off work to care for their families, they frequently have to rely on their partners’ economic support. Rather than not being able to provide for themselves, and even worse if children are involved, many women decide to stay: a decision also due to the fact that obtaining children’s support from the previous partner often requires a long judicial procedure and not always the sentences are properly and timely enforced.

Italy has undoubtedly made progress in the judicial system and in terms of prevention and support, thanks also to the numerous associations funded by Governmental and European funds, but culture is still the most difficult challenge to win.

Until the general perception of women being inferior to men will not be replaced with a true and genuine parity among genders, women will remain the primary object of violence.