PRESS RELEASE

What kind of Justice can women aspire to if there are sentences like the one condemning Salvatore Montefusco?

D.i.Re – Donne in Rete contro la violenza finds many reasons for dissatisfaction and concern in the reasons for the sentence for the 30-year conviction of Salvatore Montefusco.

It is important to point out that the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights) has condemned Italy for the resistance of stereotypes and sexist prejudices and for a language that has not recognized women's rights and has represented the relationships between men and women according to patterns that should be overcome. These are precisely the aspects that we find in the reasons for the Modena ruling and can be verified in various passages:

• The sentence completely adopts the point of view of the femicide, understands it, supports it, while it lacks the reading of the asymmetry of power, placing the lives of women and the economic interests of the perpetrator of violence on the same level: Gabriella Trafandir and Renata Trafandir were economically dependent on the man who killed them, who used that dependence in a retaliatory and blackmailing logic.
• It is striking that the same words used by the defendant are used in the reasons for the sentence. Not only are Gabriella Trafandir and Renata Trafandir defined as “women” and their names disappear, but they are also referred to as “kept women”. For example, the economic value of the care work performed by Gabriella Trafandir disappears, while the fact that the man had worked hard to build the family home is repeated several times.
• Even the fear of the two women is denied and trivialized: the sentence speaks of vague threats without considering that the "good man" possessed numerous weapons.
• It is worrying that, in one passage, the court notes that Gabriella Trafandir was so free that she could go out at night without giving explanations to the point that Montefusco had to put a GPS tracker to know where she went. We ask ourselves what concept is there of women's freedom in Italian courts and what concept is there of male control?

"The list we report is not enough to represent the unheard of violence of this sentence in light of reading the reasons. It represents the patriarchal culture that we know well even in the courtrooms. There is still a deliberate confusion between conflict and violence, making the path to the elimination of male violence against women go backwards. declares Antonella Veltri, president D.i.Re – Women in Network against violence continues Veltri. “We repeat it for the umpteenth time: anyone who works at any level with women who are victims of violence and abuse must be specifically trained, otherwise we will continue to read unacceptable news.” concludes the president.