In a historic move, Italy's parliament has officially recognised femicide as a specific crime within its penal code, mandating a life prison sentence for offenders. The landmark legislation was passed on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, drawing cross-party support.
A Landmark Law and Bipartisan Support
The Italian Chamber of Deputies gave its final approval to the law on Tuesday, 25 November 2025, with an overwhelming 237 votes in favour. The bill, championed by the conservative government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, received backing from both the centre-right majority and the centre-left opposition, signalling a rare political consensus on a critical social issue.
The legislation was propelled by a disturbing series of killings and violent acts targeting women across the country. It introduces harsher penalties for a range of gender-based crimes, including stalking and the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, often called 'revenge porn'.
Public Outcry and Government Action
The national conversation around femicide was galvanised by high-profile cases, most notably the 2023 murder of university student Giulia Cecchettin. Her death sparked widespread public demonstrations and intense debate about Italy's patriarchal culture and its role in perpetuating violence against women.
In response, the Meloni government has taken concrete steps. 'We have doubled funding for anti-violence centres and shelters, promoted an emergency hotline and implemented innovative education and awareness-raising activities,' Prime Minister Meloni stated following the vote. She acknowledged these as significant steps but pledged that 'we won't stop here. We must continue to do much more, every day.'
The scale of the problem is stark. According to Italy's national statistics agency, Istat, there were 106 recorded femicides in 2024. Alarmingly, 62 of these women were killed by their current or former partners.
Prevention vs. Punishment: The Ongoing Debate
While the new law was broadly supported, it has also exposed a deep political divide on how to prevent gender-based violence. The centre-left opposition, while voting for the bill, criticised the government for focusing solely on criminal punishment while neglecting the underlying economic and cultural factors.
This conflict is most evident in the heated debate over education. A separate government proposal seeks to ban sexual and emotional education for elementary school pupils and would require explicit parental consent for such lessons in high schools. The ruling coalition defends this as protecting children from ideological activism, while opponents have labelled the bill 'medieval'.
Elly Schlein, head of the Democratic Party, emphasised the critical need for preventative measures, stating, 'Italy is one of only seven countries in Europe where sex and relationship education is not yet compulsory in schools, and we are calling for it to be compulsory in all school cycles. Repression is not enough without prevention, which can only start in schools.'
