Italy has recorded over 90 femicides in 2024, with five occurring just in the past week, the interior ministry reported on Friday.
The announcement coincided with Filippo Turetta’s court appearance. Turetta confessed to murdering his ex-girlfriend, Giulia Cecchettin, last year. The case has underscored Italy’s ongoing crisis of femicide and gender-based violence, which remains near-record levels despite a slight decrease.
The ministry highlighted the disturbing trend of femicides involving women over 70, often murdered by long-term partners. From January 1 to October 20, 2024, Italy reported 89 femicides. Of these, 77 victims died within family or emotional relationships, and 48 were killed by their current or former partners. The ministry’s data show a slight annual decrease, down from 100 to 89 femicides (an 11% drop). Domestic and emotional murders also decreased, from 82 to 77 (a 6% reduction), with partner-perpetrated femicides falling from 53 to 48 (a 9% drop).
One in five femicide victims this year was over 70, often killed by husbands after decades of marriage. Notable cases include Serenella Mugnai, 72, and Elisa Scavone, 65, both murdered by their spouses. Similar tragedies struck Rosa D’Ascenzo, 71, and Lucia Felici, 75. They died from a blow to the temple with a frying pan and a shot by her husband respectively.
Five femicides this week
This past week saw five additional femicides. On Thursday, Marina Cavalieri, 62, was found shot dead in her home. Her husband was arrested for shooting her. Flavia Mello Agonigi, 54, was stabbed and left in a cellar near Pisa. In Desio, 63-year-old Giovanna Chinnici was fatally stabbed by her brother-in-law. Also on October 18, Celeste Palmieri, 56, was shot by her estranged husband while leaving a supermarket. Despite him wearing an electronic bracelet, Palmieri’s receiver malfunctioned. That same day, Lucian Tuduran used his bracelet’s broken signal to evade monitoring, killing his ex-partner, Carmela Ion, in Civitavecchia.
Despite the slight decrease in femicides comapred to the same period last year, the issue persists, affecting women of all ages across the country.
