VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN | ADVOCACY & POLICY | EUROPE | LGBTQ+| ECONOMY
Something is Rotten in the State of Europe: Femicide in the EU
WORDS BY KALY DE OLIVEIRA CERQUEIRA | KALY@THEIWI.ORG | 31 MAY 2024
The story of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old Italian student murdered on the 11th of November 2023, sparked international outrage. For Italians, the story was a tragic repetition of familiar narratives - another woman murdered by a possessive and vindictive ex-boyfriend.
This time, however, the reaction was different. Countries around the world reported on the masses of women who marched in cities across Italy, demanding action under the banners: ‘Per Giulia, per tutte’ (For Giulia, for all).
Giulia was one of 104 women killed at the hands of a partner or family member in 2023, according to statistics released by the Italian government. Their latest data only records the death toll for women in January, with numbers averaging out to one woman killed every four days in the first month of 2024.
For my mother, who comes from the North-Eastern region of Veneto like Giulia, one of the most shocking parts of the story was the young age of Giulia and her aggressor. Thirty years on from when my mother was a young woman, the same misogynistic standards which enable femicide are still upheld.
Despite the rate of general homicides dropping in Italy, femicide numbers have remained at a steady rate over the last ten years. Giulia’s sister, Elena, told a procession honouring her sister, that her sister’s murderer was ‘not a monster’. ‘A monster is an exception’, she said. Their actions are abnormal and uncommon. Femicide, sadly, is not.
In the aftermath of international shock, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has acknowledged Elena’s searing societal criticism through the promise of new educational campaigns on the issue. Yet, Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia, are deeply conservative on social issues, undermining LGBTQ+ rights and stigmatising abortion. It is hard to believe that such a traditionalist party will usher in the change needed to uproot the fundamental causes of femicide. In fact, in the last three years, funding for projects which aim to prevent violence against women has dropped by 70%.
In a recent report labelled ‘Il Punto - Il pregiudizio e la violenza contro le donne’ (The Point - Prejudice and violence against women), the Italian government contextualised femicide as a violent expression of misogyny. This echoes the common acknowledgement amongst international organisations, including UN Women, that femicide is a fatal consequence of gendered discrimination. Despite this understanding actions to enact systematic change, beyond superficial promises of educational reform, have not been taken.
The same document explains that the crime of femicide is not codified within Italy’s legal system. In fact, out of the 27 EU members, only Cyprus and Malta have legally enshrined femicide as a crime, recognising the unique fear of misogynistic violence many women face every day.
The Istanbul Convention, adopted by the EU in 2011, was the first legally binding response to gender violence, setting out preventative goals for states to adopt. Now, over 10 years later, the EU Council is still fighting for full ratification amongst its members, despite a lack of consensus.
A more expansive and detailed proposal for a directive ‘combating violence against women and domestic violence’ aims to fill the gaps of the Istanbul Convention, stating in its introduction that ‘relevant EU standards are fragmented’ and ‘have not led to effective monitoring and enforcement’. This directive emphasises sensitivity and empathy, calling for effective victim counselling and protection during trials, constant access to helplines and well-funded domestic violence shelters.
This too has stalled in wilful bureaucracy. Last month, many countries refused to base the definition of rape upon consent, once again halting progress on the directive. Germany resents the EU’s attempt to exercise its legal power, and France prefers to maintain its definition, which bases rape upon violence and force. Whether this reluctance stems from EU scepticism or an unjust misunderstanding of victims’ experiences, the status quo continues in the face of a persistent death toll.
One goal which many EU member states have begun to work towards is the directive’s call for accurate data collection to understand the scale of the problem. Right now, the Gender Equality Index, which measures the progression of gender equality in the EU, does not include violence against women as one of its factors, due to a lack of coherent EU-wide data. Already, it is widely acknowledged that gathered data will not reflect the scale of the issue, as many women are too scared to come forward to report domestic violence. Yet the lack of a meaningful attempt to seek out data on this problem, which has been recognised as critical for years across nations, is a tragic oversight. This complacency upholds and plays into patriarchal systems which scare women into silence, forcing them to appear either as sensationalist headlines or disappear into vague homicide figures.
The Mediterranean Institute for Investigative Reporting, along with 18 European media outlets, aimed to remedy this in 2023. The team poured over police records across the continent, filling the gaps with information found from media coverage. Their methods were not always exact in the face of incomplete data, but the conclusions were enlightening. In 2021, Greece had the highest increase of femicides, 187.5% higher compared to the previous year. Italy, amongst other countries, also saw a significant increase.
It is easy to imagine how the positions of these countries might shift on the Gender Equality Index if gender violence was taken into consideration. The European Institute for Gender Equality, which runs the Index, is due to release results this year from an EU-wide survey on violence against women. This will hopefully drive member states to acknowledge the extent of the issue and emphasise the need for international cooperation on a matter which does not discriminate across borders.
Giulia’s case acted as a catalyst which reanimated demands for the threat of gendered violence to be taken seriously. At the root of all this, however, a family has lost a daughter; a young woman, her life. The gaps in data will inevitably be filled as governments wake up to the problem. But the question of whether the voices of victims and women more generally will be listened to, remains worryingly unanswered.
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