Crimes against women and the law on feminicide

The "Law on Feminicide" is generally identified as the first part of Italian Law Decree N° 93, dated 14 August 2013, and converted into Law by N° 119, dated 15 October 2014, together with the numerous amendments made to its text. The main critical points in both are analysed in this essay. The problem is that, in the Italian legal order, this use of the law decree did not comply with the constitutional requirement of urgency, just as the extensive use made of criminal law for the purpose of regulating relations between the genders is to say the least inappropriate. Moreover, the fact that the criminal legal action brought by a third party is irrevocable goes beyond the bounds of processes of female self-determination, depriving victims of the possibility to come to an independent decision about a violent relationship, albeit with the support of the services provided for that purpose. The use of gender-neutral language also highlights the fact that both the legislator and politics have not yet expressed an intention to develop on issues that closely concern relations between men and women, illustrating that the solution to gender violence should not be sought in the ambit of criminal law, but in changes to the cultural models established over time and assumed by many to be functional.

Keywords: Gender - Violence - Rights - Self-determination

Paola Donadi, I crimini contro le donne e la legge sul femminicidio in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL DIRITTO " 1/2015, pp 103-119, DOI: 10.3280/SD2015-001005