Femicide in a central Italy district (Southern Latium) in the period 1998-2018

BACKGROUND: Violence against women is a major issue worldwide. This category of crime includes many subtypes such as verbal harassment and other forms of emotional abuse, physical or sexual abuse up to femicide. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines femicide as "murder of women because they are women," even though broader definitions include any killings of women or girls. The aim of this study is to examine this widespread phenomenon. METHODS: The authors examined the murders of women analyzed by the Section of Forensic Medicine of the Tor Vergata University, Rome, from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2018. RESULTS: The sample involved in this study included 36 cases and 40 deaths. The victim was in most of the cases Italian and in 27% between 30 and 39 years old and in the 30% of the cases there was no underlying relationship with the murderer. The death was caused mostly by stab/slash wounds. CONCLUSIONS: This paper, based on the study of past cases at the Forensic Medicine Institute of the Tor Vergata University, concentrates on the one hand on the whole phenomenon of murdered women and on the other hand studies the profiles of the perpetrators of these crimes and their victims, so as to provide a better understanding of the context of the crime, how it was committed and also to supply supportive data for the investigation of the murderer's identity.