The Global Story: The murders that moved a nation: Italy’s new femicide law
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 8.3K Ratings
🗓️ 14 December 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
**This episode contains descriptions of abuse and violence**
In November, the Italian parliament voted unanimously to introduce the term “femicide” into the country’s legal code. The murder of a woman – on account of her gender – is now a distinct crime, punishable with a life sentence.
The United Nations reported that last year nearly 50,000 women and girls were killed by intimate partners or family members.
Italy is the latest country to adopt a specific law in an effort to curb violence against women following a string of brutal murders of young women.
One of the most publicized was Giulia Tramontano, who was repeatedly stabbed by her partner while seven months pregnant. Her murder - along with another case – sparked fierce outrage across Italy, culminating in the new law being passed.
In this episode, we hear from Giulia’s sister, Chiara Tramontano and the BBC Southern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford.
The Global Story brings clarity to politics, business and foreign policy in a time of connection and disruption. For more episodes, just search 'The Global Story' wherever you get your BBC Podcasts.
Producer: Valerio Esposito Executive Producer: James Shield Mix: Travis Evans Senior News Editor: China Collins Photo: A photo of Giulia Tramontano. Alessandro Memoli/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.7 | Hey there, I'm Asma Khalid. |
| 0:07.9 | And I'm Tristan Redmond, and we're here with a bonus episode for you from the Global Story podcast. |
| 0:13.1 | The world order is shifting. Old alliances are fraying and new ones are emerging. Some of this |
| 0:19.7 | turbulence can be traced to decisions made in the United States. |
| 0:23.4 | But the U.S. isn't just a cause of the upheaval. |
| 0:26.7 | Its politics are also a symptom of it. |
| 0:29.8 | Every day we focus on one story, looking at how America and the world shape each other. |
| 0:35.0 | So we hope you enjoy this episode. |
| 0:37.1 | And to find more of our show, just search for the global story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:44.6 | Every day, 137 women and girls around the world are killed by an intimate partner or family member. |
| 0:52.5 | That's according to the most recent data from the United Nations. |
| 0:55.9 | In an effort to curb violence against women, |
| 0:58.8 | Italy has now become the latest country |
| 1:01.2 | to adopt a specific law around the murder of a woman |
| 1:04.5 | on account of her gender. |
| 1:06.9 | Last month, the Italian parliament voted unanimously |
| 1:09.7 | to introduce this term |
| 1:11.1 | femicide into the country's legal code. |
| 1:14.8 | Now, there's ample debate about whether this new law will actually change the reality for women, |
| 1:20.6 | or whether it's purely symbolic. |
| 1:23.5 | But the law has strong support across political and ideological lines. |
... |
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