The murders that moved a nation: Italy’s new femicide law

震撼全国之惨案:意大利新反女性谋杀法

The Global Story

2025-12-12

26 分钟
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**This episode contains descriptions of abuse and violence** In November, the Italian parliament voted unanimously to introduce the term “femicide” into the country’s legal code. The murder of a woman – on account of her gender – is now a distinct crime, punishable with a life sentence. The United Nations reported that last year nearly 50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members. Italy is the latest country to adopt a specific law in an effort to curb violence against women following a string of brutal murders of young women. One of the most publicised was Giulia Tramontano, who was repeatedly stabbed by her partner while seven-months pregnant. Her murder - along with another case – sparked fierce outrage across Italy, culminating in the new law being passed. In this episode, we hear from Giulia’s sister, Chiara Tramontano, and the BBC Southern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford. Producer: Valerio Esposito Executive Producer: James Shield Mix: Travis Evans Senior News Editor: China Collins Photo: A framed photo of Giulia Tramontano at her funeral. Credit: Alessandro Memoli/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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  • Every day, 137 women and girls around the world are killed by an intimate partner or family member.

  • That's according to the most recent data from the United Nations.

  • In an effort to curb violence against women,

  • Italy has now become the latest country to adopt a specific law around the murder of a woman on account of her gender.

  • Last month, the Italian Parliament voted unanimously to introduce this term,

  • Femmicide, into the country's legal code.

  • Now, there's ample debate about whether this new law will actually change the reality for women,

  • or whether it's purely symbolic.

  • But the law has strong support across political and ideological lines,

  • and a major reason is that Italy has been galvanized by a string of recent brutal murders of young women.

  • One of those women was Giulia Tramantano, and coming up, we'll hear from her sister.

  • This was the first time I decided to tell a non-italian channel about Julia.

  • Maybe after this interview people will know more about her.

  • From the BBC, I'm Asma Khaled in Washington, D.C.

  • And today on The Global Story,

  • what does it mean for a country to officially recognize femicide as a distinct crime?

  • As you might imagine, today's episode contains discussions of violence that could be upsetting.

  • But in order to understand why there has been such a moment of reckoning in Italy,

  • we wanted to hear about one of the stories that sparked this public outcry that eventually led to this new law being passed.

  • As I mentioned, one of the most highly publicized cases was Giulia Tramantano.