Italy votes to makes femicide a crime

ROME

A makeshift altar with photos of femicide victims is seen during a march on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Mexico City on November 25, 2025.

Italy's parliament on Nov. 25 approved a law that introduces femicide into the country’s criminal law and punishes it with life in prison.

The vote coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, a day designated by the U.N. General Assembly.

The law won bipartisan support from the center-right majority and the center-left opposition in the final vote in the Lower Chamber, passing with 237 votes in favor.

The law, backed by the conservative government of Premier Giorgia Meloni, comes in response to a series of killings and other violence targeting women in Italy. It includes stronger measures against gender-based crimes including stalking and revenge porn.

“We have doubled funding for anti-violence centers and shelters, promoted an emergency hotline and implemented innovative education and awareness-raising activities,” Meloni said on Nov. 25.

“These are concrete steps forward, but we won’t stop here. We must continue to do much more, every day.”

While the center-left opposition supported the law in parliament, it stressed that the government approach only tackles the criminal aspect of the problem while leaving economic and cultural divides unaddressed.

Italy’s statistics agency Istat recorded 106 femicides in 2024, 62 of them committed by partners or former partners.