The recent killings of two female students, Sara Campanella and Ilaria Sula, shocked Italy, reopening desperate debates over femicide and the safety of women. Campanella, 22 and a biomedical student, was stabbed to death at a bus stop in Messina, Sicily. Sula, also 22, a statistics student at Rome’s Sapienza University, was discovered dead in a suitcase after going missing for more than a week.
These events bring the total number of femicides in Italy for 2025 to 11, and they have caused widespread outrage and demands for systemic reform. Protests have broken out all over the country, with students and citizens alike calling for the government to do more to end gender-based violence. In Rome, a march by Sapienza University students included signs with the words “Another world is possible,” showing the collective aspiration for change in society.
As a reaction to the mounting crisis, the Italian government has sanctioned a draft law adding the legal term of “femicidio” (femicide) to the penal code, punishable by up to life imprisonment. The legislative action seeks to combat the alarming statistics of violence against women and reinforce protection measures. Critics, however, say that while the law addresses criminal dimensions, it can miss the underlying cultural and systemic roots of gender-based violence.
The victims’ families, like Giulia Cecchettin’s, whose killing in November 2023 triggered nationwide protests, still push for a cultural revolution to bring an end to violence against women. Her sister, Elena, stresses the importance of education and societal responsibility to reach zero femicides and make the world a safer place for women.
