A woman is said to have been raped multiple times by her partner. The public prosecutor classifies this as “normal” (symbolic image).Image: imago
Domestic violence
July 7, 2026, 2:59 p.mJuly 7, 2026, 2:59 p.m
The European Court of Human Rights has ordered the Italian judiciary to pay compensation to a woman. Her allegations of repeated intimate partner rape were dismissed by an Italian prosecutor as “normal” for men struggling to overcome resistance from “tired” women. That’s what he reports Guardian.
The ECHR ruled that the statements would cement sexist stereotypes and trivialize gender-based violence. The prosecutor and therefore the Italian justice system did not carry out an immediate, thorough and effective investigation, even though this is required in the case of domestic violence.
In April 2021, the French woman Audrey Ubeda, who lived with her then-partner and their children in Avellino, southern Italy, filed a police report. In addition to multiple rapes, she accused him of holding a knife to her throat in front of witnesses. He is said to have suggested that, like other femicides, it would end up in the newspaper. He is said to have mentally and physically abused the children.
In the same year, the public prosecutor in charge requested that the proceedings be discontinued. The public prosecutor argued that the physical violence against their children was merely a disciplinary measure in the area of parental education. The incident with the knife was just a bad joke, writes the Guardian.
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg obliges the Italian state to pay compensation.Image: keystone
The rape allegation is difficult to verify because the man was probably not aware of her non-consent. It is “normal that men have to overcome a minimum level of resistance, which every woman tends to show when she is tired of everyday life and a man makes sexual advances.”
The prosecutor’s request for dismissal was rejected and the case was assigned to another person. The accused man was initially sentenced to four and a half years in prison. He has appealed the verdict and is currently at large.
The ECHR has ordered the Italian state to pay compensation of around 60,000 euros (55,290 francs) to Audrey Ubeda and her children, who had lived in a women’s shelter for three years.
Ubeda told the Italian press that the verdict was a “satisfaction” and “a victory for all women”.
(Nile)