ROME (AP) – From ordinary workers and housewives to top politicians, Italian women are fighting the spread of websites that display photos without their consent.
Their efforts became prominent to the public when activists denounced a Facebook page called “Mia Mogley” (my wife) earlier this summer, where men successfully post fraudulent photos of their spouses and abolished them.
There is now another more prolific site that exposes prominent women, including Prime Minister Giorgia and other female politicians, to indecent and explicit comments. Some posts idealize violence against women.
Taking names from slang for female genitals, this site has been around for at least 20 years. However, it attracted the attention of the public after Alessandra Moretti, a member of the European Parliament’s left wing, formally filed a complaint with the police after discovering that her photos were displayed without permission.
“They’re stealing photos and clips from TV shows I’ve appeared in for years and modifying them to give them to thousands of users,” Moretti said.
Moretti said the site and others will operate “with immunity” despite previous complaints being filed against them.
“This type of site that incites rape and violence must be closed and banned,” she said.
The forum will display fraudulent photos and videos of hundreds of public figures, along with unsuspecting actresses, influencers and ordinary women. Unauthorized images are often lifted from your TV or social media profile.
It currently counts 200,000 users and shows photos identified by a name or a specific theme. It includes pages dedicated to influencers and television journalists, as well as national and local politicians, including the leader of the Ellee Shrine, the Central Left Democrat.
The previous forum, “Mia Moglie,” had around 32,000 members before it was closed last week by Facebook-owned Meta. Meta said he acted against the site “due to violating adult sexual exploitation policies.”
Feminist author and activist Carolina Capria, among those who denounced the group, shared several screenshots of often indecent and violent exchanges of views about what users would do to women they portray. Some men said their wife agreed that her image was posted, but no comments from the women were visible on the site.
“Women have always been an arena where men challenge each other and measure masculinity,” writes Capria. “It’s a game that is just a product that women add value to the men they own.”
Italy has struggled with how to prevent and deal with gender-based violence. This is because the murder of women by gender – emerges as a systematic issue deeply rooted in Italian patriarchy. A series of violent incidents rekindled national debates about how to tackle these crimes.
The Meloni government approved the bill in March, and for the first time, it will introduce a legal definition of murder into the country’s criminal law, punishing it with life sentence. The bill still requires final approval in the House to become law.
The centre’s left opposition welcomed the move, but emphasized that the new law only addresses the criminal aspect of the issue, while embracing the economic, educational and cultural sources of misogyny.
