Killing in the name of love: violence against women in Italy

Laviosa, Flavia 2015. Killing in the name of love: violence against women in Italy. JOMEC Journal (8) , pp. 1-14. 10.18573/j.2015.10033

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Abstract

23 November 2006 was the international Day on Violence against Women. It was also the day that the Italian National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) published its Report on Violence and maltreatments against women in and outside the family. The report covered a five year period of research, and documented some alarming statistics,revealing that women in Italy are increasingly more vulnerable as targets of psychological and physical violence inflicted by their male partners and spouses. This widespread contemporary social phenomenon has been called ‘femicide’. In order to inform and educate the audience, since 2007, RAI 3 has broadcast Amore criminale/Criminal Love, a weekly series featuring cases of women killed or severely injured by their husbands or partners. Furthermore, in 2012 RAI 1 produced the mini-series Mai per amore/Never for Love. Four films: Troppo amore/Too Much Love directed by Liliana Cavani; Ragazze in web/Girls in Web and Helena & Glory by Marco Pontecorvo; and La fuga di Teresa/Theresa’s Escape by Margarethe von Trotta, were presented to raise awareness of the escalating incidence of the murder of women. The purpose of this article is first to elucidate the phenomenon of femicide in Italy; and second, to examine how RAI and Cavani’s, Pontecorvo’s and von Trotta’s visually dramatic narratives address the cultural and sociological factors related to these forms of violence against women in Italy.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GT Manners and customs G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Violence Femicide Italian legislation RAI
Additional Information:	JOMEC Journal no. 8 is a special issue, entitled "Italian Cultural Studies" and edited by Floriana Bernardi.
Publisher:	Cardiff University Press
ISSN:	2049-2340
Related URLs:	Publisher
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Date of Acceptance:	2015
Last Modified:	02 May 2023 20:26
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/83429

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