Italy's education minister orders probe into 'lista stupri' case which has shocked Italy and reignited a debate over femicide and sex education in schools.There is outrage in Italy over a 'rape list', scrawled on the walls of a boys' bathroom in a well-known high school in Rome, featuring the full names of nine female students.The graffiti appeared in the Giulio Cesare school in Rome's Trieste district, many of whose students hail from wealthy, middle- to upper-class families. The shocking list, written in red marker, came to light on Thursday, two days after the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The incident was first reported on social media by Zero_alibi, a student collective based at the school, which urged people to share and report the case. The 'lista stupri' at Giulio Cesare high school. Photo RomaToday. "The wall can be erased, but the culture underlying the message cannot; it must be fought: this act, besides being incredibly serious, demonstrates the patriarchal society in which we all still live today", the collective wrote on Instagram. "Using violence as a weapon, threat, or ridicule means fuelling and actively participating in the same culture that kills, harms, oppresses, humiliates and silences women every day," the post said. Reaction The school's principal, Paola Senesi, condemned the incident in a statement sent out to the school community, writing: "We strongly reiterate our condemnation of any gender stereotype and violence, whether physical, verbal, psychological or digital". "The school will never forget to point out how much still needs to be done to achieve, de jure and de facto, equal dignity between women and men," Senesi wrote, expressing her "full support for the educational activities that teachers and students wish to implement." Italy's education minister Giuseppe Valditara and family minister Eugenia Roccella, backed by premier Giorgia Meloni, have called for "exemplary punishments" and "harsh sanctions" against the perpetrators. Valditara ordered an investigation into the incident while also saying he would verify that the school is fully implementing the new mandatory "courses on respect for women and relationship education", adding: "Respect is an essential value. There is no room for violence and discrimination in Italian schools." One of the girls whose name appeared on the list told reporters: "I felt humiliated, exposed, and I wanted to disappear. Then I realised: it's not me who should be ashamed, but them." Sex education The case has reignited a debate about the lack of sex education in Italian schools, as noted in the Instagram post by Zero_alibi: "We will continue to demand sexual-emotional education, to demand that in our schools, as in Italy, a programme be implemented that addresses the root of the problem." Italy is one of the few EU countries without compulsory sex education, and last month a parliamentary committee approved an amendment to Valditara’s “informed consent” bill, extending the current ban on sex education from kindergartens and primary schools to middle schools, which teach students aged 11 to 14. The measure would prohibit any lessons or project relating to sexuality until high school, where it would only be permitted with explicit parental consent, Euractiv reports. Meloni's right-wing government views sex education as a tool for "gender propaganda" that threatens to undermine the traditional family unit, claiming that it wants to protect minors from “ideological activism”. Opposition centre-left politicians have slammed the move as “mediaeval” and “dangerous”, arguing that it undermines efforts to prevent gender-based violence and promote consent education among teenagers. The bill on parental informed consent is set to be debated in parliament next week, with the opposition already on the attack. Irene Manzi and Cecilia D'Elia, of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD), said: "Institutions must take responsibility for introducing serious programmes of sexual-emotional education at all levels of school", while Elisabetta Piccolotti of the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) asked: "Are Valditara and other government officials still convinced that this should be the exclusive domain of families?" Circeo Massacre In addition to an outcry on social media, the case has sparked a wave of grafitti outside the school, including "Machismo out of schools" and "The friend of the sexist is complicit". One of the most powerful messages read: "This is how the monsters of Circeo are born", a reference to the Circeo Massacre, a horrendous crime that still haunts Italy after 50 years and has a direct link to the high-school. Grafitti outside Giulio Cesare. Photo Rai News. On the night of 29 September 1975, two young women from Rome were lured to the seaside resort of Circeo where they were brutally tortured, raped and beaten by three young men, one of whom - Andrea Ghira - had attended the Giulio Cesare school. One of the women - 19-year-old Rosaria Lopez - was murdered, while 17-year-old Donatella Colasanti survived the nightmare ordeal in Ghira's villa only because her torturers believed that she was dead. A night watchman heard her screams from the boot of a car, parked a few blocks away from the Giulio Cesare school, as the three young men dined in a nearby restaurant. Femicide The 'lista stupri' case follows a string of high-profile femicides in Italy. On Tuesday, Italy’s lower house voted unanimously to approve a law that introduces the crime of femicide to be punished with life in prison. In a symbolic move, the bill was passed on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Another landmark bill relating to sexual violence was supposed to have been passed definitively by the senate on the same day but faced an unexpected setback at the last minute. The proposed law, which was approved unanimously by the lower house on 19 November, introduces the concept of consent into the definition of sexual assault, defining sex without consent as rape. The bill - the result of a rare bipartisan agreement between Meloni and her main centre-left opponent, PD leader Elly Schlein - was stalled by the deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing Lega party, who argued that the law was too open to interpretation and could be used as a form of revenge. Photo credit: Cineberg / Shutterstock.com.

There is outrage in Italy over a 'rape list', scrawled on the walls of a boys' bathroom in a well-known high school in Rome, featuring the full names of nine female students. The graffiti appeared in the  school in Rome's Trieste district, many of whose students hail from wealthy, middle- to upper-class families. The shocking list, written in red marker, came to light on Thursday, two days after the . The incident was first reported on social media by Zero_alibi, a student collective based at the school, which urged people to share and report the case.
The 'lista stupri' at Giulio Cesare high school. Photo RomaToday. "The wall can be erased, but the culture underlying the message cannot; it must be fought: this act, besides being incredibly serious, demonstrates the patriarchal society in which we all still live today", the collective wrote on Instagram. "Using violence as a weapon, threat, or ridicule means fuelling and actively participating in the same culture that kills, harms, oppresses, humiliates and silences women every day," the post said. Reaction The school's principal, Paola Senesi, condemned the incident in a statement sent out to the school community, writing: "We strongly reiterate our condemnation of any gender stereotype and violence, whether physical, verbal, psychological or digital". "The school will never forget to point out how much still needs to be done to achieve, de jure and de facto, equal dignity between women and men," Senesi wrote, expressing her "full support for the educational activities that teachers and students wish to implement." Italy's education minister Giuseppe Valditara and family minister , backed by premier Giorgia Meloni, have called for "exemplary punishments" and "harsh sanctions" against the perpetrators. Valditara ordered an investigation into the incident while also saying he would verify that the school is fully implementing the new mandatory "courses on respect for women and relationship education", adding: "Respect is an essential value. There is no room for violence and discrimination in Italian schools." One of the girls whose name appeared on the list told reporters: "I felt humiliated, exposed, and I wanted to disappear. Then I realised: it's not me who should be ashamed, but them." Sex education The case has reignited a debate about the lack of sex education in Italian schools, as noted in the Instagram post by Zero_alibi: "We will continue to demand sexual-emotional education, to demand that in our schools, as in Italy, a programme be implemented that addresses the root of the problem." Italy is one of the few EU countries without compulsory sex education, and last month a parliamentary committee approved an amendment to Valditara’s “informed consent” bill, extending the current ban on sex education from kindergartens and primary schools to middle schools, which teach students aged 11 to 14. The measure would prohibit any lessons or project relating to sexuality until high school, where it would only be permitted with explicit parental consent, . Meloni's right-wing government views sex education as a tool for "gender propaganda" that threatens to undermine the traditional family unit, claiming that it wants to protect minors from “ideological activism”. Opposition centre-left politicians have slammed the move as “mediaeval” and “dangerous”, arguing that it undermines efforts to prevent gender-based violence and promote consent education among teenagers. The bill on parental informed consent is set to be debated in parliament next week, with the opposition already on the attack. Irene Manzi and Cecilia D'Elia, of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD), said: "Institutions must take responsibility for introducing serious programmes of sexual-emotional education at all levels of school", while Elisabetta Piccolotti of the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) asked: "Are Valditara and other government officials still convinced that this should be the exclusive domain of families?" Circeo Massacre In addition to an outcry on social media, the case has sparked a wave of grafitti outside the school, including "Machismo out of schools" and "The friend of the sexist is complicit". One of the most powerful messages read: "This is how the monsters of Circeo are born", a reference to , a horrendous crime that still haunts Italy after 50 years and has a direct link to the high-school.
Grafitti outside Giulio Cesare. Photo Rai News. On the night of 29 September 1975, two young women from Rome were lured to the seaside resort of Circeo where they were brutally tortured, raped and beaten by three young men, one of whom - Andrea Ghira - had attended the Giulio Cesare school. One of the women - 19-year-old Rosaria Lopez - was murdered, while 17-year-old Donatella Colasanti survived the nightmare ordeal in Ghira's villa only because her torturers believed that she was dead. A night watchman heard her screams from the boot of a car, parked a few blocks away from the Giulio Cesare school, as the three young men dined in a nearby restaurant. Femicide The 'lista stupri' case follows a  in Italy. On Tuesday, Italy’s lower house voted unanimously to approve a law that introduces the . In a symbolic move, the bill was passed on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Another landmark bill relating to sexual violence was supposed to have been passed definitively by the senate on the same day but faced an unexpected setback at the last minute. The proposed law, which was approved unanimously by the lower house on 19 November, introduces the concept of consent into the definition of sexual assault, . The bill - the result of a rare bipartisan agreement between Meloni and her main centre-left opponent, PD leader Elly Schlein - was stalled by the deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, leader of the right-wing Lega party, who argued that the law was too open to interpretation and could be used as a form of revenge. Photo credit: Cineberg / Shutterstock.com.