Overview
- Women’s groups and unions rallied on February 15 in cities from Trieste and Milan to Naples, Bari and Monza to celebrate the 1996 reform and oppose the so-called Ddl Bongiorno.
- The 1996 law reclassified rape as a crime against the person, unified sexual violence offenses and introduced measures such as prosecution safeguards, a group-rape offense, tougher penalties for abuse of children under ten and privacy protections for victims.
- Activists contend the Senate, via a proposal tied to Senator Giulia Bongiorno, altered the Chamber-approved consent standard by pivoting toward dissent-focused wording that they say could shift the burden onto victims.
- Livia Turco of the Nilde Iotti Foundation accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of backing the consent norm initially before abandoning it, calling the move a serious step back for women’s rights.
- Italy’s national psychologists’ council urged Parliament to restore an explicit consent criterion consistent with the Istanbul Convention, warning that centering on whether a victim said no risks refocusing scrutiny on survivors.