In our country an adult of fifty or sixty years of age can have sexual intercourse with a fourteen year old, without this involving any violation of the law. It may seem absurd, but this is the current norm which evidently underestimates or does not take into account the extreme vulnerability and emotional instability that characterize early adolescence. In Europe, Italy is among the most permissive countries from this point of view: many nations have already set the minimum age of sexual consent at 16 years. These include Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom and numerous others. In our country, however, there is a clause: if the adult plays a powerful or educational role towards the minor, the minimum age rises to 16 years. Too little. And the case of Daniela Casulli clearly demonstrates this.

The woman, now forty-eight, allegedly had sexual intercourse with a fourteen-year-old when she was around forty-three. Convicted at first instance, she was then acquitted on appeal because “the act does not constitute a crime”. She was indeed a teacher, yet the boy with whom she had the relationship was not one of her students, and for this reason it was not possible to accuse her of an abuse of position. Even the social condemnation, although existing, was however much more lenient than that which would have concerned a man in the same situation.

The “shameless” statements

Daniela Casulli, in fact, is not only free, but has been invited to several television and radio programs – most recently La Zanzara – where she presented herself with a casual tone, without showing any shame, openly declaring that she had had relationships with the minors involved in the trial even during the proceedings itself. “I knew I was legal,” he said, without any sign of repentance. Her lawyer has already announced that he will ask for the patient’s reinstatement at school, as if to challenge the common sense of justice. This is precisely why the state must intervene. The law is the mirror of the morality of a people and its level of civilization. In this case, it is clear that we are faced with a profound fracture between collective perception and what is established by our penal code.

The age of consent needs to be raised

But it is not just a moral question: it is scientific research itself that suggests that the age of consent in Italy should be raised. Already in the 1990s, some studies had highlighted how minors involved in relationships with adults tend to develop greater confusion about the concept of consent and, over time, a strong sense of guilt. This is because there cannot be true consent between a fourteen-year-old and a forty-year-old man or woman: consent presupposes a balance of power, and such an age difference makes it impossible. Furthermore, even if Daniela Casulli was not the teacher of the boy with whom she had relations, her figure still remains authoritative and potentially capable of generating awe or idealization in the minor. More recent studies have in fact confirmed that 14-year-olds are not able to fully understand the pressures, manipulations and implications linked to a sexual relationship with an adult, and because of this they can develop depressive symptoms, post-traumatic disorders and other forms of psychological distress.

This applies to both genders, although culturally we are led to believe that a boy who sleeps with an older woman is “lucky”. This is a sexist and macho interpretation of reality. In fact, although initially the young man may experience a feeling of “triumph” or social gratification with peers, over time having sexual relations with much older women could generate identity confusion and risky sexual behavior in him, both in the short and long term.