Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said that illegal immigrants are responsible for a higher incidence of rape in Italy and that police presence in cities must be increased to make public spaces safer.
Speaking in a wide-ranging interview with an Italian women’s magazine Modern Donna Yesterday, International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Meloni acknowledged that she would be labeled a racist for conveying the message so directly.
The Italian Prime Minister said combating mass illegal immigration would help contribute to efforts to make public spaces safer for women.
“Now they will call me racist, but there is a greater incidence, unfortunately, in cases of sexual violence, by immigrants,” particularly by those “who arrived illegally,” Meloni said.
“It is clear that when you have nothing, a ‘degeneration’ occurs that can lead anywhere,” he added, before stating that the judicial system must seek to adequately punish those who commit gender violence.
‘We need to guarantee the presence of the police, guarantee that there are crimes, guarantee that when someone commits a crime they pay for that crime,’ he concluded.
But Riccardo Magi, leader of Italy’s More Europe party, has rebuked Meloni’s government for claiming the country is seeing a rise in sexual violence due to illegal immigration and declared that the Interior Ministry’s own figures suggested the The overwhelming majority of rapes and femicides are committed. by Italian citizens.
Meloni acknowledged that she would be called a racist for transmitting the message so directly
People take part in a demonstration ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in front of the Colosseum in Rome, Saturday, November 23, 2024.
People take part in a protest against patriarchal violence called by the feminist group Non Una Di Meno (Not one less) ahead of the “International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women” in Rome, Italy, on November 23, 2024 .
The dispute over gender violence is a hot topic in Italy today.
A foundation was launched last week in memory of Giulia Cecchetin, a 22-year-old Italian woman who was kidnapped and brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend last year.
At the inauguration of the memorial foundation, Italian Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara posted a video in which he made a statement similar to Meloni’s yesterday, which sparked a huge reaction.
“We must not overlook the fact that the increase in incidents of sexual violence is in some way related to forms of marginalization and perversion derived from illegal immigration,” said Valditara.
More Europa leader Magi quickly responded, sharing a social media post accusing Valditara of spreading “fake news.”
‘The statement (of the Minister of Education) is contradicted by all the statistics, the data published by the Ministry of the Interior says it clearly: more than 80% of femicides in Italy are committed by Italian citizens.
“Valditara should be ashamed: his is simply blatant racist exploitation,” he concluded.
According to a report by Euronews Citing figures from Italy’s national statistics agency (ISTAT), the country recorded 334 murders in 2023, 3.7% more than the previous year.
According to the agency, around 94% of Italian women murdered that year were victims of fellow Italians.
Although feminicide and rape are two different crimes, ISTAT figures also recognized that the majority of rape cases reported in Italy in 2023 were committed by people known to the victim.
The aggressor was their partner in 62.7% of the reported cases, and friends or family of the victim represented another 13%.
Meanwhile, only 4.4% of women who said they were raped by an Italian man filed a complaint about the incident, compared to 24.7% of those who said the perpetrator was a foreigner, ISTAT revealed.
Riccardo Magi, leader of Italy’s ‘More Europe’ party, has rebuked Meloni’s government for claiming the nation is experiencing a rise in sexual violence due to illegal immigration and declared that the Interior Ministry’s own figures suggested the overwhelming Most rapes and femicides are committed by Italian citizens
Women hold a banner as people from the Non Una di Meno (Not one less) movement and feminist groups participate in a protest ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in Rome, Italy, on November 23, 2024.
Women attend a demonstration to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in Milan, Italy, Monday, November 25, 2024.
The ‘Wall of Dolls’ installation, commemorating victims of gender violence, is displayed on the facade of the palace in the Liguria region on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women in Genoa, Italy, on November 25, 2024.
Last weekend we saw Tens of thousands of people march in Rome on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women to protest against gender violence, which in Italy So far this year it has claimed the lives of 99 women, according to a report last week by the Eures think tank.
Similar protests broke out in countries around the world, as well as in France, which is currently witnessing one of the most egregious rape and sexual abuse trials in its history.
Prosecutors said yesterday that Dominique Pelicot, 71, a confessed rapist who allowed dozens of men to rape his wife after drugging her for more than a decade, should spend the rest of his life in a cell.
In her intervention before the Vaucluse Criminal Court in Avignon, Prosecutor General Laure Chabaud stated: “The maximum penalty is 20 years of criminal imprisonment, which is too much and too little considering the seriousness of the repeated attacks.”
Chabaud said Dominque’s wife, Gisele Pelicot, a mother of three, had been reduced to an “object” by men who simply “used her for easy sex” for almost a decade.
Her ex-husband contacted them all online and then invited them to return to the family home in Mazan, near Avignon, where they raped his drugged wife.
Dominique Pelicot (top R) during his trial in which he is accused of drugging his wife Gisele Pelicot (bottom C) on November 25.
Gisele Pelicot arrives at the criminal court in Avignon, France, on November 25, 2024
Dominique Pelicot is accused of allowing several men to rape his wife while she was sedated
“Gisèle Pelicot’s condition, close to coma, should have raised the alarm,” said Ms. Chabaud.
“Rape is characterized by a lack of consent,” he added, stating that there was no possibility that the victim had voluntarily taken drugs to put her to sleep, as part of a “debauched game,” as the defense has suggested.
‘What pleasure can you honestly get from it, let alone the side effects the next day?’ said Mrs. Chabaud.
Pelicot suffered significant health problems, including several sexually transmitted diseases, as a result of the abuse.
Jean-François Mayet, the second attorney general in the case, said that “20,000 photos and videos” were found in a catalog of abuses on Pelicot devices.
Almost all showed an unconscious Mrs. Pelicot being subjected to horrific acts.
Both Pelicots gave closing statements in court, and the trial is expected to conclude next month.