NEW YORK, JULY 8 – A strong statistic system is an integral part of the Italian strategy to prevent serious crimes, the Italian Permanent Representative to the UN Mariangela Zappia said today at the launch in New York of the new UNODC report on homicides. “At the national level, we have invested significant resources in the collection of relevant data in order to support the efforts of judicial offices. The database managed by the National Antimafia and Antiterrorism Directorate is a very effective instrument available for both investigators and prosecutors. We have been proactively engaged in the work of the EU and UN statistics commissions, and we work to implement policies and programs that are based on the analysis of disaggregated data. In this context, UNODC’s “international classification on crime” framework is a very useful tool”, said Zappia.
Italy – the Italian Ambassador underlined – has a long-standing tradition in supporting criminal justice system as a tool to address and prevent serious crimes, including those perpetrated by organized criminal groups. “Our commitment is clearly reflected in the data, which shows that the rate of homicides in Italy has steadily decreased in the last 30 years and is today 5 times lower than it was at the end of the 1980s, from 3.4 to 0.6 in 2016 per 100.000 people”.
Zappia stressed that a data-based approach can also be fruitful in responding to violent crimes and homicides with a racial, cultural and religious background. She made specific references to the passages of the report on the issue of killings of women and gender-related homicides. “There is solid evidence that killings of women are closely connected to crimes like sexual violence, slavery in all its forms, trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
Women and girls are particularly vulnerable in violent environments in which, more often than not, men are the perpetrators of such crimes. In addition to these instances of gender-related violence, statistics also show that killings of women are often the result of increasing violence within the private sphere and in the family environment. The report shows that aggressive behavior and “stalking” in the context of intimate relationships are important early signals of a deteriorating situation that may lead to physical aggression and even homicide”, she said. In Italy, after the ratification of the Istanbul Convention on the prevention of violence against women, the Italian Parliament adopted a series of measures aimed at fighting violence by preventing crimes, ensuring accountability of the perpetrators and protecting the victims and their children: “Our criminal code was modified accordingly, an extraordinary Plan of Action against gender-based violence was adopted, and special funds were allocated, within the national budget, to assist and support the victims”.
To read Ambassador Zappia’s speech in full, click here. (@OnuItalia)
