2019 Was A Bad Year For Women’s Rights in Italy
2019 was an awful year as regards women’s rights in Italy. Along with Belgium, it still holds the record as one of the worst of developed countries. It came in at 28th place for equal rights, safety, and gender inequality according to the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security.
The UN Human Rights site shows that Italy was guilty of not allowing a woman to change her mind as regards UVF . That amounted to a forced pregnancy. Italy was requested to ensure women’s rights to withdraw their consent at whatever stage of the procedure.
Men’s emotional turmoil can be a mitigating factor!
Recent court cases have ruled that rapists and sexual violence offenders may have their sentences reduced if there are extenuating circumstances such as emotional turmoil. This can cover anything from
- Delusion
- Temper tantrums
- Anger
- Frustration
There have been protests up and down the country as women see their rights being trampled on by the judicial system.
#1. Bologna. March 4, 2019. In October 2017 Michele Castaldo strangled his partner, Olga Matei, to death. He was sentenced in the first trial to 30 years imprisonment. On March 4, the appeals court reduced his sentence by half to just 16 years because of Castaldo’s inner turmoil and disturbed emotional state at the time! The only hope now is that the Supreme Court of Cassation will determine if the law has been correctly applied. Michele Castaldo, in the meantime, has attempted to kill himself and is now in hospital.
#2. Ancona, March 11, 2019. In October 2015, two young men were convicted of sexual assault of a Peruvian woman. They were sentenced to five years and three years of imprisonment. But the appeals court has now acquitted them simply because the girl had a somewhat masculine appearance and was not at all desirable or sexually attractive. The three judges, in this case, were all women! The Supreme Court of Cassation has ordered that there must be a retrial.
#3. Genova March 13, 2019. Today, the Genova court has ruled that the sentence of 30 years for the murder of Jenny Angela Coello Reyes should be reduced to just 16 years. The motivation for this reduction in the sentence is that the victim lied to her partner when she betrayed her promise to end an affair with another man. The murderer had to cope with resentment, anger, and desperation!
Women are angry that Italy seems to be returning to the past when “honor killings” were a way of life. How can a man’s inability to cope with emotions be justification for murder, revenge porn (now a crime), violence and sexual abuse?
It wasn’t all bad news
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (Nov 25) . there were calls from the highest people in the land, such as President Sergio Mattarella. The worst enemy is silence because it is often a family affair. Mum’s the word! But there is no escaping the fact that there is one femicide every two days.
The new law called Code Red was passed by the Parliament in July 2019. It puts victims of domestic and sexual abuse on the fast track for protection. It also seeks to remove the possibility of mitigating circumstances which I mentioned above.
“Every woman must feel that the institutions support her.” — President Mattarella
Let’s hope that 2020 will be the year when these crimes against women will start to decrease.
