Italian Women Fight Against Unauthorized Online Image Sharing

Rome, Aug 28 (AP) Italian women across various strata—from everyday workers and housewives to leading politicians—are taking a stand against the surge of websites displaying their images without consent, often paired with derogatory comments.

Recently, these efforts received national attention when activists successfully urged the takedown of a Facebook page titled “Mia Moglie” (My Wife). The page allowed men to post unauthorized photos of their spouses, leading to its eventual removal.

However, a more aggressive platform has surfaced, targeting high-profile women like Premier Giorgia Meloni and other female politicians with lewd and explicit commentary. Disturbingly, some posts even glorify violence against women.

This site, named after slang referencing female genitalia, has existed for at least two decades, but was spotlighted recently when Alessandra Moretti, a left-wing member of the European Parliament, lodged a formal police complaint after finding her image posted without permission.

“Over the years, they have pilfered photos and clips from TV shows I've appeared in, modifying and disseminating them to thousands,” Moretti lamented. She further criticized the site's continued operation without consequence, despite prior complaints. “Sites like these, which promote rape and violence, must be eradicated and prohibited,” she asserted.

The website hosts unauthorized photos and videos of numerous prominent individuals, including unsuspecting actresses, influencers, and ordinary women. These images, often sourced from television or social media, are unauthorized and posted without consent.

With approximately 200,000 users, the platform categorizes images by names or specific themes, featuring influencers, TV journalists, and both national and local politicians, like Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party.

The previously mentioned forum “Mia Moglie,” had amassed around 32,000 members before Meta, Facebook’s parent company, shut it down recently, citing “adult sexual exploitation policy” violations as the reason.

Feminist author and activist Carolina Capria was among those condemning the group, sharing screenshots of obscene, sometimes violent discussions detailing hypothetical actions toward the women depicted. While some men claimed their wives consented to the posting of their images, no female voices were present in the forum.

“Women have always been the stage for men to display and evaluate their masculinity,” Capria noted. “It’s a tradition where women are merely prized possessions that augment the status of the man owning them.”

Italy has been grappling with strategies to prevent and address gender-based violence, as femicides—murders of women due to their gender—have become a deeply ingrained issue in Italy's patriarchal society. A series of violent incidents has rekindled national discourse around these crimes.

In response, the Meloni government, in March, sanctioned a draft law that, for the first time, introduces a legal definition of femicide in the country's penal code, penalizing it with life imprisonment. However, the bill awaits final approval in the lower house to become law.

While the centre-left opposition has embraced this legislative advancement, it emphasized that the new law only addresses the criminal aspect of the issue, leaving the economic, educational, and cultural foundations of misogyny unchallenged. (AP) SCY SCY

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