The European Court of Human Rights has ordered Italy to compensate a domestic abuse victim after a local prosecutor used sexist stereotypes to dismiss her allegations of repeated rape.
The international court determined that the judicial remarks downplayed gender-based violence and inflicted further victimization on the plaintiff, Audrey Ubeda.
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The ruling stated that Italy failed to provide the prompt and effective investigation required in domestic abuse cases.
Case Background
The legal case originated in April 2021 when Ubeda, a French citizen living in southern Italy, filed a police complaint against her partner.
She accused him of physical and mental abuse toward her and their children, which included multiple sexual assaults and an incident where he held a knife to her throat in front of witnesses.
The handling of the case drew sharp criticism after the initial prosecutor sought its dismissal, labeling the knife threat a bad joke and characterizing physical violence against the children as normal parental discipline.
The investigator further questioned the lack of consent by claiming men normally face resistance when women are tired.
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The request for dismissal was ultimately rejected, and a subsequent trial led to the original perpetrator receiving a prison sentence of four and a half years, which he is currently appealing.
The European Court of Human Rights ordered Italy to pay approximately €60,000 to Ubeda and her two children, citing a violation of the prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment.
Ubeda expressed her reaction to the international court ruling during recent discussions with the Italian media.
"When my lawyer explained that a magistrate had exonerated my ex by invoking the image of a man who must overcome a woman’s resistance to have sex, I felt wounded all over again.
I was shocked to then learn that those words had come from a female prosecutor," said Audrey Ubeda, the plaintiff.
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The compensation order also accounted for the local authorities' failure to provide adequate protection, such as allowing the family to relocate to France, which forced Ubeda and her children to spend three years living in a shelter.
