Venice femicide inquiry weighs on Italy's summer of violence

Italy is weighing an inquiry into a femicide in Venice as the country confronts a spate of killings that have marked its first summer since the crime was formally recognised under law, according to The Local Italy.

Six women have been killed since the Ferragosto holiday on August 15th, a cluster that has renewed attention on the persistent threat of gender-based violence in the country. The case in Venice, the region's capital and a city already under strain from tourism and demographic decline, has become a focal point for the debate.

The killings come just months after the Italian government moved to make femicide a specific criminal offence, a legal change that activists had long sought. The first summer under the new law has now become a test of whether the legal recognition translates into prevention.