At least 58 women in Italy have been
killed by a partner or ex-lover so far in 2016, and more than
155 have died this way since January 2015, prompting anti-gender
violence campaigners to urge the government to commit more
resources to tackling the problem.
In the past week, a girl in Pordenone in northern Italy was
shot dead by her ex-boyfriend before he turned the gun on
himself, and on Thursday a 46-year-old teacher in the northern
town of Pastrengo was killed by her ex-partner who stabbed her
and hit her in the head with a vase as he told police he "lost
it for an instant", ANSA sources said.
These two recent cases are the latest in a series of
"femicides" or killing of women that is often linked to
gender-based violence and commonly involves spurned former
partners. The phenomenon has prompted many Italian women to hang
red blankets from their windows in protest.
Another widely reported case was of the 22-year-old Sara Di
Pietrantonio, a Rome university student who was strangled and
then set on fire by her ex-boyfriend, Vincenzo Paduano, who was
unable to accept that she had a new relationship and had
threatened and stalked her for weeks before he killed her.
The Telefono Rosa association that helps victims of
violence also pointed to figures that show 8,856 women have
reported facing violence since January 2015, and 1,261 have
faced stalking. They said that was just the tip of the iceberg
considering that about 90% of women do not report this sort of
violence.
The association said the government needed to do more to
fight the issue to avoid more deaths.
"How many more need to die before the government realises
that economic resources, means and efforts to fight gender
violence are completely insufficient?" Telefono Rosa President
Gabriella Moscatelli said.
"How many women, girls, mothers, daughters, sisters and
friends do we have to see massacred by ex partners that have
become monsters and assassins, before decisions are made to put
in place active policies that are appropriate for tackling the
enormous social problem of violence against women?" she said.
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