Grief at Slain Student’s Funeral As Italy Grapples With Gender Violence

Giulia Cecchettin, the 22-year-old who was murdered by her former boyfriend on 11 November, has become a symbol of gender-based violence in Italy. 

A biochemical engineering student at the University of Padua, Giulia Cecchettin was abducted by her former boyfriend Filippo Turetta  on the evening of 11 November. A camera caught the attack as Turetta assaulted her and forced her into the car before driving away. Her body would be found on 18 November, bearing numerous stab wounds to her head and neck. Turetta was later arrested in Germany and extradited to Italy.

It later emerged that a man had heard screams coming from the parking lot Cecchettin was abducted from that evening, and had seen a woman being forced into a car that then sped away. He called for the intervention of Carabinieri – gendarmerie-like military corps with police duties in Italy. However, as the car drove away and the caller was unable to read its licence plate, Carabinieri did not intervene, nor did they survey the parking lot for any clues.

Questioned about this once the relevance of the incident became clear, they explained that they had “other urgencies” to attend.

Gender violence in Italy

The murder of Giulia Cecchettin brought the number of women murdered in Italy up to 102 in 2023 alone. Of these, 82 were carried out by someone the victim was close to. A total of 52 were carried out by the woman’s partner or former partner.

With Cecchettin’s body recovered exactly a week before the International Day Against Gender Violence, news of her fate was met with anger by Italian women, who feel not enough is being done to curb gender-based violence in the country. Thousands of women shared their stories not only about obsessive or abusive partners, but also about the dismissive attitude of law enforcement towards women who turn to them to report their experiences.

“After I left my boyfriend, he was quite literally stalking me, he was everywhere,” says Elisa, who asked for her last name to be withheld. “Wherever I went, there he was. He’d show up at my door, try to talk me into letting him in. He’d call me hundreds of times a day, he’d be outside when I left in the morning to go to work – I was terrified.

“He didn’t utter a single threat, but his presence alone was enough, and he knew it. I went to the police station to report him, and they simply shrugged me off. They kept telling me he wasn’t doing anything illegal; one of them even told me to come back when he actually hurt me. They made me feel like I was wasting their time, even though I knew that stalking is illegal and that I was within my rights to report him. The following day I went with my father, and they finally listened to him. Only to him, though. Never to me.”

‘How can this happen?’

Soon after Giulia’s death was confirmed Elena Cecchettin, her sister, told reporters, “Turetta is often described as a monster, but he’s not a monster. A monster is an exception, a person who is outside society, a person for whom society doesn’t need to take responsibility. But there’s a responsibility. Monsters aren’t sick, they’re healthy sons of the patriarchy and rape culture.”

She described feminicide as ‘State murder’ due to the lack of protection afforded to victims and called for more funding to anti-violence centres.

Giulia’s funeral was held on Tuesday at the Abbey of Santa Giustina in Padua. It was attended by an estimated 8,000 people, but two large screens set up to allow people outside to watch the ceremony as the church quickly filled up.

Speaking at the funeral Gino Cecchettin, Giulia’s father, said, “May Giulia’s memory inspire us to work together against violence, may her death be the impetus for change.”

He added, “Femicide is often the result of a culture that devalues the lives of women, who become victims of those who should have loved them; instead they are harassed, forced into long periods of abuse, until they have lost their freedom, before they also lose their lives.

“How can this happen? How could this have happened to Giulia? There are many responsibilities, but the educational one involves everyone. I turn to the men first of all: we must be the first to show that we are agents of change, against gender violence.”

As Giulia Cecchettin’s coffin was carried outside, mourners outside the church cried out her name and made as much noise as possible – following her family’s wishes, as they asked for “a minute of noise” rather than the customary minute of silence.