War Rape, a day to remember the victims of the Second World War

The bill, presented by Senator Andrea De Priamo (Fratelli d'Italia), proposes the establishment of a national day in memory of the victims of the 1943-1944 war rapes, known as the 'marocchinate'. These acts of violence were perpetrated by French colonial troops, particularly the Goumiers, during the Second World War, following the breakthrough of the Gustav Line. However, for years, the memory of these events was neglected, and only recently has the seriousness of what happened begun to be officially recognised.

The establishment of a national day in memory of the victims of war rapes would be a significant step in the official recognition of these crimes and in the process of historical justice. The Bill provides an opportunity to address a painful and often ignored part of our history by promoting remembrance and respect for the victims of war rapes. The decree aims to establish a National Day on 18 May, in memory of the victims of the 1943-1944 war rapes. With the creation of a Fund to compensate the damages suffered by the victims of these tragic events.

This initiative aims to affirm the repudiation of war and the condemnation of any crime that offends the freedom of peoples. The funding of cultural and commemorative initiatives will be ensured by an annual allocation of 150,000 euros for three years.

Since 1946, the term 'Marocchinate' has generally been used to define all the episodes of mass sexual violence and physical violence against thousands of individuals of all ages carried out by the colonial troops framed in the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy (Corps expéditionnaire erançais en Italie-Cef) during the Italian campaign of the Second World War. This systematic violence began with the landing in Sicily in July 1943, and continued in 1944 in Campania, Lazio and Tuscany, reaching peaks of unprecedented ferocity in Ciociaria, and reducing in number in the summer of 1944 with the withdrawal of the Cef from the Italian war front. Women of all ages, but also men, suffered rape often carried out in groups and those who resisted were savagely beaten or killed. Countless episodes of violence took place throughout the country, and the most atrocious took place in Lazio.

More than 60,000 victims had the courage to denounce the atrocities they suffered. Only one third reported to the French and Italian military authorities, so it is assumed that two thirds of the incidents were hushed up. It is one of the darkest pages of the Second World War, also narrated by Vittorio De Sica's famous 1960 drama film, 'La Ciociara', a film based on the book of the same name by writer Alberto Moravia, which starred Oscar winner, Sophia Loren.