Gender and culturally motivated crimes: the Italian perspective

Issues related to multiculturalist claims are particularly complex in the criminal law field. “Cultural differences” can arise, in some cases, through behaviours enacted by subjects expressing ethic, religious, political or more broadly cultural values that are different from or even conflict with those in which the local “cultural majority” identifies and expresses itself in criminal law. Therefore, in the criminal law field, the rise of multiculturalist claims in Italian society questions whether and how cultural factors are to be taken into account, especially when a “culturally different” subject brings about behaviours upon infringing the host State’s set of rules, which may be tolerated, authorized or even imposed by the native cultural environment. Criminal justice can treat culturally driven judicial cases with indifference/intolerance or by taking into appropriate consideration the effects that cultural influences can produce on the different structural levels of crime, or outside of it. Therefore, the objective of this work is twofold: on the one hand, it aims to examine the criminal and political tendencies characterizing the choices made by Italian criminal law to date in the field of multiculturalism, and on the other hand it attempts to identify potential reform perspectives which, with respect to constitutional principles, ensure fair recognition for the cultural factor, with reference to mitigating or even excluding punishment in the case of culturally driven crimes. The analysis is carried on taking into particular consideration questions and cases involving migrant women, in order to assess how the Italian attitude towards “cultural defence issues” impinge on their rights and expectations.