Once again, Italy has been shaken by the news of femicides of two very young women, Sara Campanella and Ilaria Sulaand the debate on gender violence has rekindled again with great intensity. The 22 year old Campanella, a student at the faculty of biomedical laboratory techniques, was stabbed on March 31 in Messina by a former colleague of university who had obsessed it for two years. The body of the same age Ilaria Sula, a student of the Faculty of Statistics at the Sapienza of Rome, was instead found on April 2 in a suitcase thrown into a cliff in the Furio Camillo area (Rome), killed at the hands of the former partner. Two brutal stories, which have rekindled attention to that huge social problem that is the annihilation of women as women. The data on feminicides are down in the first quarter of 2025 compared to previous years, but the problem exists and it is serious regardless of the numbersalso because it is minimized at an institutional level.
Femicide therefore remains a big problem in Italy, to be addressed on many levels. But what is meant for this crime, and what do numbers say about this phenomenon in Italy and Europe?
What is femicide and what are its causes
The murder of a woman accomplished as extreme act of misogynist violence It is called “femicide”. Precise definitions may vary, but we tend to believe that not all murders who have a woman as a victim are feminicides: The motive of the murder must be specifically linked to the fact that the victim is a woman.
This crime, often made by ex -boyfriends, former husbands, family members, acquaintances or the same companions as the victims, often comes anticipated by violence physical, psychological, sexual and economic with the aim of exercise control, power and domain on the woman in question.
Behind the femicide there are many complex cultural and psychological components, but one is perhaps more noteworthy than others because often fleeing attention when reading news of this kind. There is a very complex psychological mechanism in the assassin’s mind for which The woman is no longer seen as a human being, but as an object. The victim in fact comes dehumanized From the killer: it is without value, autonomy, independence, life and its own desires, and is perceived only and only as a (ex) property. When depriving a person of his humanity, in fact, it is easier to justify acts of violence towards him, because you no longer see the reason to bring them respect. Just this vision of possession of the other person feeds in the murderer pathological jealousy and violence, to the point of leading to the murder.
But however ostracized (also because it is little understood by many and because it is needed for deep attention), the main reason and matrix of hatred towards women remains the patriarchal system Or at least his retailed. For centuries, in the world, women have been seen as entities subordinate to man: They had to get married, to have children, take care of the house, follow certain conduct of humility and death. They did not have to know how to read, nor write or develop the ability to analyze the world because this was how it was possible to keep them under control. Make one half of the world An illiterate from a functional point of view And emotional was what for centuries made it possible not to ask questions about what his wishes and rights were. After all, theinfantization Of an entire category it meant that hardly its victims could find the tools to escape their chancellers or executioners.
The data on feminicides in Italy: down in the first quarter of 2025
According to the statistics published by Ministry of the Interior In which the period 2019-2024 is considered, the feminicides increased between 2020 and 2023, and then dropped by 6% between 2023 and 2024. Only last year the women killed were 113of which 61 killed by his partner or ex (criminal analysis service data).
Family and emotional feminicides have undergone a progressive decrease starting from 2021 to 2023, but increased by 3% during the last year. In the context of family murders and female victims constitute 65% of the total victims both in 2023 and in 2024.
In the past year, moreover, feminicides in which The assassination is a former partner of the victim: in these cases, the predominance of female victims is clear, with an incidence equal to 86% (91% in 2023).
The age of the victims is between 18 and 50 years old, with a predominance in the age group between 30 and 50 years (married or cohabiting women), just like their attackers.
The reports of the Ministry of the Interior concerning this crime starting from this year will come out quarterly on their site. In fact, the first data have already been disclosed (January-March 2025). Compared to the feminicides committed at the same time of the previous year, it emerges that the number of events is currently decreasing.
Feminicides in the world and a focus on our European neighbors
The last report of the United Nations released in 2024 highlighted that only in 2023 at least 51,100 women and girls were killed by men with whom they had had a relationship or from close family members, and the data is increasing compared to the estimate of 2022, which counted 48,800 victims. This means that, In the world, every 10 minutes a woman is killed.
In 2023, according to the reports of the report, the highest number of victims was recorded in Africawith 21,700 victims. To follow there is theAsia with 18,500, the Americas with 8,300, theEurope with 2,300 el ‘Oceaniawith 300 victims. The estimates, however, are not even finals, given the persistent limitations in terms of data availability. This means that real numbers could also be much higher.
At European level, in particular, it is not better in other countries, if we look at our neighbors.
In 2024 in France There have been 93 femicides, as the collective “Féminicides Par Compagnons Ou ex” also testifies, which collects the stories of the victims and undertakes to raise public awareness.
There Spainon the other hand, feminicides decreased by 30% in twenty years, as reported by the Ministry of equality. In 2024 he recorded 57 feminicidesmaking it the year with the lowest number since 2003.
In Germanyonly in 2023, according to the most recent report of the federal criminal police office, 360 femicides occur. Practically A woman every day. In 2021, there were 337 recorded feminicides, positioning themselves among the countries with the highest number of feminicides in Europe. Regarding the terrible data coming from Germany, the journalist Fatma Aydemir wrote on the Guardian:
Cases of domestic violence in Germany have increased drastically during the pandemic, as elsewhere, but instead of returning to the rates preceding the Lockdown, continue to increase, even if women are no longer, at least in theory, confined in their violent houses. In practice, many German communities have no space in refuges for women or resources to help women who depend economically. The constant increase in rents, the still prevalent gender salary gap, the unequal division of the care work: all these factors mean that many women simply cannot afford to leave their attackers. Where should they go?
No less worrying are the data that come from the United Kingdom: according to the project Counting Dead Womenin the period from 2009 to 2024 they were recorded Over 2000 women killed by menwhich correspond to about a woman every three days.
Awareness and role of civil society
In Italy, following the Giulia Cecchettin case Some legislative measures have been undertaken, such as the strengthening of the protection measures (for example, the use of the electronic bracelet has been foreseen to monitor the attackers and guarantee the safety of the victims, but has not always shown to work) or the “Bill for the protection of women in danger“In which the arrest is expected in the flagrance deferred up to 20 days. This means that although not finding the attacker at the place of the crime at the time the violence took place, the authorities can arrest him later (within a certain term) if there is a solid evidence that demonstrate the crime denounced by the victim or family members.
In addition, the Council of Ministers approved one on 7 March bill aimed at recognizing femicide as an autonomous case of crime, sanctioned with the penalty of thelife imprisonment. However, the legislative and judicial measures, so far, have not always proven useful in preventing feminicides, although there had been numerous complaints before the act. The laws, therefore, often are not enough: they must be accompanied by awareness campaigns, emotional education taught in schools, and change of languages in the media, which contribute to sensitizing public opinion and change the culture of violence.
