On Sunday, the mayor of Reggio Emilia, a northern Italian city, called for stiffer laws to protect women. This a day after the death of a woman at the hands of her ex-boyfriend. The ex had recently been given a plea deal for repeatedly stalking her after their breakup.
Mayor Luca Vecchi of Reggio Emilia rallied fellow citizens for a silent sit-in in a city park. It was there the body of Juana Cecilia Hazana Loayza, 34, a native of Lima, Peru, was found a day earlier with her throat slashed.
“Italy can no longer ignore this grave problem” of femicide, the killing of women by current or past spouses or boyfriends or male relatives, said the mayor.
“We need stronger laws and more stringent controls.”
Mayor Vecchi said the sit-in aimed to remember Hazana Loayza, who had lived for several years in Reggio Emilia, but also “to seek justice” for her.
Man from Parma arrested
Police arrested a 24-year-old Italian man, from the nearby city of Parma, hours after the discovery of Ms Hazana Loayza’s body, Italian media reported. Her body showed signs of strangulation and stabbing.
This month, a court opted to suspend the man’s two-year sentence for stalking her. This despite two court orders to keep his distance, news reports said.
Newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that, with the plea deal, a previous order forbidding him to come near the woman was no longer enforceable.
Carabinieri paramilitary officers arrested Mirko Genco. A prosecutor questioned him and upheld the arrest. Sky TG24 TV reported that in 2015, the suspect’s mother died in 2015, killed by her ex-companion.
Ms Hazana Loayza lived with her mother and a young son from a different relationship. Apparently, she only briefly dated Genco.
Read: Spate of femicides in Emilia-Romagna
Deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes in Italy
An Italian supermarket chain is printing the number of a nationwide telephone hotline at the bottom of its receipts. The chain’s cashiers are also now sporting a big red metal button featuring the hotline’s number. It is one move to help protect women, and help them call for help if needed.
Women have struggled for years to eradicate deeply rooted patriarchal attitudes in Italian society. Until a few decades ago, Italian courts meted out mild sentences to men who carried out “honour killings” or who slew their partners out of jealousy.