"Gender violence" in Light of the Istanbul Convention. The Italian Legislation

The essay deals with the theme of “gender violence” from an historical point of view and try to reconstruct the dogmatic framework of the theme in light of the recently approved Istanbul Convention. Special attention is given to the data on the phenomenon in Italy and to the criminological profiles since the category of gender violence comes from the South-American criminological and feminist experience. The last part of the essay is dedicated to a critical evaluation of the legal instruments which the Italian legislator has passed in order to combat the phenomenon of gender violence. The conclusion is that the Italian legislator, with the recent legislative reforms, has lost the occasion to operate (or at least initiate) a transition towards a criminal law more equal because he has not tried to adequate juridical concepts to the changed scientific framework, declared by criminological science and legislative international science, of which the Istanbul Convention represents the higher expression.