By Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN
Rome (CNN) — Italy has been rocked by the alleged gang rape of a 13-year-old woman in front of her boyfriend in a public park in the Sicilian city of Catania, the latest in a series of shocking sexual assaults in the country. . .
This case is reminiscent of two alleged gang rapes last summer. An organization made up of seven men and teenagers between the ages of 15 and 18 is recently on trial for the alleged rape of a 19-year-old woman in Palermo in August.
A few weeks later, nine young men were arrested and charged with raping two cousins, aged 10 and 12, near Naples and livestreaming the attack on social media. They, too, face trial.
Last month’s alleged gang rape in Catania is not only a symbol of violence against women in the country, but also a cause célèbre for Italy’s far-right government. The seven alleged perpetrators were all Egyptian immigrants, 3 of whom were under the age of 18, Catania police told CNN.
CNN has reached out to the suspect’s attorneys for comment. Lawyers for 3 of them said their clients denied any involvement in the assault, while the others declined to comment because their clients are minors.
The case was temporarily considered as evidence that immigrants should be prevented from entering the country.
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, came to power in September 2022 on an anti-immigration platform, but her efforts to curb irregular migration into the country have so far been unsuccessful.
The men charged in the most recent Sicilian case entered Italy via boat in 2021 and 2022 as unaccompanied minors, according to Catania police. Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, one of the country’s most prominent far-right figures, said on X that they have not been allowed to stay.
Meanwhile, during a stopover in Catania, Meloni expressed solidarity with the alleged rape victim and her family.
“The state will be there and will see that justice is done,” he said.
The handling of cases involving Italian and Egyptian suspects is already under scrutiny.
The men accused of raping the 19-year-old woman in Palermo have received a speedy trial, their lawyers told CNN, meaning they will be held behind closed doors and under seal.
The Egyptian suspects have been appointed lawyers who have not yet entered a plea, but the prosecutor in the case has already filed additional charges tied to illegal immigration, Alessandro Fidone, the court appointed lawyer representing two of the suspects told CNN.
Those who are now over the age of 18 and not classified as unaccompanied minors no longer have the right to stay in the country because Egyptians do not have the right to asylum in Italy.
Italy’s Interior Ministry has called for a thorough review of all centers housing unaccompanied minors to see if there are any cases.
Italy has been fighting gender-based violence for a long time.
In November, both houses of parliament unanimously approved a new measure that strengthens the consequences for perpetrators of gender-based violence and expands protection for those who care about their lives.
The law is encouraged by the case of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old woman murdered through an ex-boyfriend. It was one of 118 femicides committed in Italy last year. In 2022, women suffered 91% of homicides committed through members of the family circle, partners or former partners, according to the European Data Journalism Network.
“Violence against women is a phenomenon that occurs more or less in all countries, for structural reasons such as gender disparities, stereotypes and prejudices,” said Elena Biaggioni, vice president of D. i. Re, a national body that coordinates the fight against women. to violence. Women’s centers and shelters, she said last June.
Speaking at a protest after a pregnant woman was allegedly stabbed to death by her partner, she added: “But of course in countries where there’s a macho culture and sexism is stronger, like Italy, this violence is justified in a different way.”
However, in the most recent case, the government has turned its attention to the backgrounds of the alleged perpetrators.
The judge investigating the most recent case, Carlo Umberto Cannella, said the suspects were likely to reoffend because they were not “accustomed to civilization.”
He ordered that they all remain in prison while the investigation is carried out.
“It appears clear that there is a danger of repetition of the crime also in light of the fact that the horror only ended thanks to the girl’s attempt to free herself,” Cannella said Wednesday as he ruled that the suspects should not be released on bail, according to a court spokesperson.
In a scathing op-ed published in the right-wing newspaper Il Giornale, founded by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s circle of relatives, the editors also blamed immigration for the alleged rape in Sicily.
“Why are these people, without any foreign protection status, still in Italy and have not been deported?” the editors wrote.
“Because when they arrived in our country they declared themselves minors and the law prevents them from rejecting abnormal immigrants who have not yet reached the age of majority. Now they will be tried for rape, but in the meantime this little woman will bring with her the pain and trauma of the rape, suffered when she was only thirteen years old. This is not the first case of non-European minors being taken in by Italian establishments and then involved in criminal activities. “
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