Electronic bracelet, Nordio plays the “institutional buck-passing”: “The victim must find a safe haven”

An “ unacceptable institutional buck-passing ”. The Minister of Justice Carlo Nordio returns to the center of political controversy for his statements on the use and functioning of the electronic bracelet , an essential tool for preventing crimes against women.

An operation that the Keeper of the Seals, questioned during question time in the Senate , defines as “often incompatible with the means of transport of people ”. Nordio explains in the Chamber that “at the moment of the alarm against a person, very often the victim is at a distance that is not compatible with the intervention of the police”.

The solution for the minister? "We must combine these two elements by giving an alert to the victim, so that he is able, when he senses this moment of danger, to find forms of self-defense, perhaps taking refuge in a church or a pharmacy , in a more or less protected place", the incredible statements to the Senate.

For Nordio, "if you think that ten kilometers are enough to keep the potential victim at a distance from the potential aggressor, very often the communication works but, in those minutes in which the warning works, the potential aggressor's means of transport have already managed to reach the victim".

Words that for Elisa Ercoli , president of Differenza Donna , are "an unacceptable institutional buck-passing". "The electronic bracelet, if actually available, functioning and correctly monitored, is a useful tool - underlines Ercoli - to monitor compliance with precautionary measures. The problem is not the device itself, but the lack of a structured and efficient system for its management. It is necessary that the police are equipped not only with technological tools, but also with personnel dedicated to monitoring, trained with specific skills in risk assessment, recidivism and victim protection".

The heads of the association's legal office, lawyers Teresa Manente and Ilaria Boiano , hit the nail on the head, which is not to "guarantee shelter, whatever it may be and moreover temporary, for the woman", but rather to "guarantee compliance with precautionary measures aiming for maximum protection for the psychophysical safety of women who have suffered gender-based violence". In short, the obligation of the State , President Ercoli adds, " is not to indicate to women a pharmacy or a church where they can take refuge, but to provide the country with a widespread network of Anti-Violence Centers and Shelters , entrusted to specialized and competent subjects, able to protect, accompany and build paths out of violence. The protection of women cannot depend on individual initiative, moreover on the assumption that in Italy we would be at year zero of feminist practices and knowledge of prevention of gender violence against women, but must be guaranteed by public resources, clear political choices and stable investments in prevention, protection and justice".

To date in Italy, as reported in Nordio's report in the Senate, there are approximately 13 thousand active electronic bracelets , of which over 5,800 for stalking and seven thousand for monitoring. For the minister, "the tangible effect of this measure is the greater effectiveness of preventive protection": between January 1 and September 22, 2024, compared to the same period of the previous year, the number of homicidal events decreased from 260 to 215, with a decrease in the number of female victims, from 91 to 76, while crimes committed in the family and emotional sphere went from 116 to 103.