VIOLENCE and discrimination against women in Italy is a “prevailing and urgent concern,” a European expert on human rights said on Thursday in a scathing new report.

This comes amid a national outcry over a gruesome murder of a young woman allegedly by her ex-boyfriend.

Dunja Mijatovic, commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, faulted Italy across multiple areas, and complained that Italian courts and police sometimes “revictimise” the victims of gender-based violence and that access to abortion is increasingly restricted. 

She also noted Italy’s last place in the European Union ranking for gender equality in the workplace.

The report catalogues the massive rise in gender-based violence and the latest case that has grabbed headlines for the last month.

Giulia Cecchettin, a student who was about to graduate with a bioengineering degree, was found dead in a ditch in a remote area of the Alpine foothills on November 18. 

Filippo Turetta was later arrested in Germany, and is being held in an Italian jail pending an investigation to bring charges. 

Ms Cecchettin was among 102 women murdered through mid-November this year in Italy, more than half by current or former intimate partners, according to the Interior Ministry.

The report said: “There is an urgent need to combat sexism and prejudice against women among law enforcement, prosecution and judicial authorities, which contribute toward the low prosecution and conviction rates in cases of violence against women and impunity for perpetrators.”

It called for better training of personnel to improve treatment of victims and prevent them from being “revictimised.”

In its official response, the far-right Italian government said the report was incomplete and in some cases incorrect, stressing that new prevention initiatives and funding are under way. It also noted provisions of its five-year strategic plan to address gender equality.