Trial begins in Italian student murder that opened eyes to femicide

A major femicide trial begins in Italy on Monday. The brutal murder of a university student by her ex-boyfriend sparked outrage and led to a nationwide debate about the roots of male violence against women.

The grisly knife attack on 22-year-old Giulia Cecchettin, a biomedical engineering student at the University of Padua, in November cast a grim spotlight on femicide cases in Italy, where the vast majority of victims are killed at the hands of their current or former partner.

The defendant, 22-year-old Filippo Turetta, confessed to Cecchettin's murder in court.

Turetta, who faces a life sentence, is not expected to appear in court in Venice on Monday.

According to official statistics, a woman is killed every three days in Italy, a predominantly Catholic country where traditional gender roles still prevail and sexist behavior by men is often downplayed.

Cecchettin, who was set to graduate just days after her death, was reported missing on November 11 after accompanying Turetta to a mall and never returning home.

After video cameras near Cecchettin's house showed images of Turetta brutally attacking her and fleeing with her in his car, police launched a week-long manhunt.

Her body was found on November 18 in a ravine near Lake Barcis, about 120 kilometers north of Venice. Her head and neck were riddled with over 70 stab wounds, media reports said, citing the autopsy.

A day later, Turetta was arrested on the side of the road near Leipzig because his car had run out of gas.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets in various Italian cities on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, demanding what activists hoped would be a cultural change. This marked a turning point.

Cecchettin’s sister Elena has denounced the “patriarchy” and “rape culture” that prevail in Italian society.

“Rape culture legitimizes any behavior that damages the figure of women, starting with things that are sometimes not even given importance, such as control, possessiveness and underhanded remarks,” Elena Cecchettin wrote in the daily newspaper Il Corriere della Sera after her sister's death.

At Cecchettin's funeral in Padua, her father Gino said his daughter's death represented a “turning point to end the terrible scourge of violence against women.” He implored men to “oppose the culture that tends to trivialize violence committed by seemingly normal men.”

– “I am guilty” –

The trial is expected to be relatively short because Turetta waived his right to a preliminary hearing after his confession.

Turetta is accused of manslaughter with intent and kidnapping, among other things. He is also said to have stalked Cecchettin and hidden his body.

Extracts from Turetta's testimony before a judge on December 1 were broadcast last week on Channel 4's “Quarto Grado,” in which he can be seen confessing: “I am responsible, I am guilty. I am responsible for these acts, yes.”

In a quiet voice, Turetta explains how Cecchettin rejected his offer to give her a stuffed animal, saying that she wanted to end the relationship, which led to an argument in the car and her flight.

Turetta describes how he grabbed a knife and stabbed her in the arm before dragging her back into the car, from which she later fled.

“I hit her, I don't know, about 10, 12, 13, I don't know, several times with the knife,” Turetta says in the video.

According to the Interior Ministry, 120 women were murdered in Italy last year, 97 of them by family members or current or former partners.

Comparisons with other European countries are difficult due to inconsistent data, but the issue has recently come to the fore in several European countries, particularly France.

After Cecchettin's death, the Italian parliament passed a package of laws to strengthen existing laws protecting women. But activists say much more is needed to bring about cultural change, starting with mandatory education on the issue in schools.

A July 2021 report by the Ministry for Gender Equality states that “in some regions of Italy, up to 50 percent of men consider violence in relationships acceptable.”

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