Il malinteso della donna come vittima vulnerabile: il diritto penale di fronte ai gender-based crimes

The essay, starting from a criticism of the idea of an “intrinsic” vulnerability of women victims of gender-based crimes, proposes a possible reform that, in the Italian criminal system, would give spe-cific relevance to gender-based crimes. It proposes, first of all, the overcoming of the concept of gen-der-based violence, in favour of a more general category of gender-based crimes, in order to valorize the cause of the behaviour more than the concrete modalities of its realisation. The purpose of enhanc-ing gender crimes, as a different and additional category from domestic violence, could be pursued, inter alia, through the introduction of a common aggravating circumstance, based, precisely, on the commission of the crime for “motives” (objectively understood) linked to gender. A reform such as this should be inspired, rather than by the need for the increase in penalties, by the purpose of sys-tematically realigning the criminal legislation to the instances of protection deriving from non-national sources.