Italy's far-right Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara faced accusations of racist propaganda on Tuesday after he falsely claimed that violence against women was predominantly caused by immigrants, despite official data refuting this assertion.
Valditara, a member of Matteo Salvini's far-right League party, stated in parliament on Monday: "Male domination no longer exists." He linked the rise in sexual violence to "a type of marginality and deviance related to illegal immigration." His comments during a parliamentary presentation for a charity named after Giulia Cecchettin, a woman murdered by her Italian boyfriend, drew significant backlash.
Giulia's sister, Elena, highlighted that the murderer was "a young white Italian." Riccardo Magi, leader of the centrist Europa party, criticized the minister's claims as "contradicted by all the statistics" and accused him of exploiting the event for racist purposes.
The murder of 22-year-old Cecchettin in 2023 deeply shocked Italy, prompting thousands to protest against violence towards women. Her killer, 22-year-old student Filippo Turetta, is scheduled for sentencing in December.
During his address to MPs, Valditara expressed frustration with those who "never try to solve problems but... think fighting male dominance is the way to address women's issues" when "legally, this no longer exists in Italy following the reform of family law in 1975."
Elena Cecchettin, present in parliament with other family members, retorted: "If people listened — instead of spouting propaganda during the presentation of a foundation named after a young woman killed by a young, white, seemingly perfect Italian — then there wouldn't be around 100 femicides in Italy every year." According to interior ministry data, there have been 83 femicides so far this year, following 96 in 2023 and 106 in 2022. National statistics office figures indicate that in 2022, 94% of these murders were committed by Italian men.
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