Murders of two female students prompt calls for a ‘cultural rebellion' in Italy

The Guardian

03-04-2025

There have been calls in Italy for a 'cultural rebellion' amid outrage and protests over the murders of two female students within 48 hours of each other, bringing the number of femicides in the country since the start of the year to 11.
Sara Campanella, a 22-year-old biomedical student, was stabbed in broad daylight at a bus stop in the Sicilian city of Messina on Monday afternoon and died while being taken to hospital.
Stefano Argentino, a fellow student at the University of Messina, was later arrested in the town of Noto. His lawyer, Raffaele Leone, told the Italian press that Argentino, 27, had confessed to the murder.
Messina prosecutor, Antonio D'Amato, claimed Argentino had 'insistently and repeatedly' harassed Campanella since she started her university course two years ago.
In a separate killing, the body of 22-year-old Ilaria Sula, a statistics student at Rome's Sapienza university, was found in a suitcase in a forested area outside the Italian capital early on Wednesday morning. She had been missing since 23 March and was allegedly stabbed to death. Her former boyfriend, Mark Samson, 23, is being questioned by police on suspicion of her murder and hiding a body.
The murders sparked protests in Messina, Rome and other Italian cities, including Bologna, on Wednesday night. Further events are planned on Thursday.
Antonella Polimeni, rector of Sapienza university, said Sula's death was an 'atrocious and brutal femicide that leaves us speechless and heartbroken'. She added: 'We must no longer stand by and watch femicide incidents.'
A minute of silence was held for Campanella at the University of Messina. Giovanna Spatari, the university's rector, said students were 'dismayed by this umpteenth episode of femicide'.
The killings have also renewed political debate on violence against women in Italy, where there were 113 femicides in 2024, of which 99 were committed by relatives, partners or ex-partners.
Mara Carfagna, party secretary for the centre-right Noi Moderati, called for a 'cultural rebellion'. 'From a regulatory point of view, Italy is more advanced than other countries, but culturally we haven't managed to evolve at the same speed,' she told La Stampa newspaper. 'For this we need a rebellion shared by everyone.'
In March, Giorgia Meloni's government approved a draft law which for the first time introduced a legal definition of femicide in criminal law, punishing it with life in prison while increasing sentences for crimes including stalking, sexual violence and 'revenge porn'.
The law followed the strong public reaction to the killing of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old student who was murdered by her former boyfriend, Filippo Turetta, in November 2023. Turetta was sentenced to life in prison in December.
A group of MPs with the opposition Democratic party argued that an 'incisive action of prevention' is now needed to stop this 'continuous slaughter of women,' starting with education in schools.