Italy’s Education Minister Sparks Controversy with Inflammatory Comments on Sexual Violence and Immigration

In a video message at the launch of the Giulia Cecchetin Foundation, Italy’s Education Minister, Giuseppe Valditara was conspicuous in speaking about the increase in sexual crimes and blamed it on the immigrants legally or illegally. Speaking one week before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, his comments were quickly denounced by politicians, activists, and the victim’s relatives pointing out that the majority of violent offenders are Italians.

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Contrary to what Valditara claims, the official figures tell a story in stark contrast. According to Istat, the Italian National Institute of Statistics, in regard to the case of the female murder index in 2023, no less than 94.3 percent of them were killed by their fellow Italians, and most predominantly perpetrators – either partners or former intimate boyfriends – of reported sexual and physical violence. The statistics of the Interior Ministry present rather conservative tendencies of gender-based violence indicators: these numbers have slightly changed during the past several years, concerning harassment and sexual violence.