Georgia Meloni and Andrea Giambruno have a six-year-old daughter. Credit: ALAMY/Independent Photo Agency Srl
Georgia partner Meloni is embroiled in controversy after saying on TV that young Italian women who go out at night and get drunk make themselves vulnerable to rape.
< p>Andrea Giambruno, a TV presenter who has kept a low profile since Ms Meloni was elected prime minister last fall, has been accused of victim blaming, and the story hit the front pages of major Italian newspapers on Wednesday.
< p>Mr Giambruno, 42, who has a six-year-old daughter with the Prime Minister, commented on a series of shocking sexual assaults and gang rapes against women in Italy this summer.
“If you go dancing, you have every right to get drunk – there should be no misunderstandings or obstacles to this – but if you can avoid getting drunk and passing out, perhaps you will avoid getting into serious situations in which the Wolf will find you,” said he hosted the television program Diario del giorno on Monday evening.
These remarks drew the ire of female politicians across the political spectrum.
“It is unacceptable to blame the victim.”
Ellie Schlein, head of the centre-left opposition Democratic Party, said it was “unacceptable to blame the victim.”
Chiara Braga, another member of the Democratic Party, urged Meloni to distance herself. from remarks that “once again hint that sometimes the woman is to blame.”
Chiara Appendino, the former mayor of Turin and a member of the populist Five Star Movement, said: “We have the first female prime minister minister in the history of Italy, whose propaganda defines her as a woman, a mother and a Christian, so she should distance herself.” from her partner's very serious remarks, because otherwise her silence means that she is an accomplice.
Right-wing politicians also condemned these statements. Alessandra Mussolini, MEP and granddaughter of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, accused Giambruno of expressing a “medieval” attitude towards women.
“If I want, I should have the right to walk around with my ass fully exposed. There is nothing that can justify a person's turning to violence. Rape is rape, and if this is not understood, then it is all over for us women. We shouldn't hear things like this anymore in 2023. This mentality is really worrisome. This risks undermining the decades-old struggle for women's rights,” she said.
“Baffled by the contradictions”
Mr Giambruno said his comments were misinterpreted and that he was baffled by the contradictions he found “ surreal.”
He noted that he clearly described rape as “deplorable” and rapists as “beasts.”
“I certainly never said that men have the right to rape drunken women,” he told the Corriere della Sera newspaper. According to him, his remarks were used as a means to score political points against Ms. Meloni, who leads the far-right coalition.
A TV show hosted by Mr. Giambruno discussed a number of recent rapes and murders. , including the alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old woman by seven men in Palermo, Sicily, when he made controversial remarks.
In a crime-ridden city near Naples, a group of teenage boys aged between 11 and 19 are accused of gang rape of two girls aged 12 and 13. The repeated attacks on the girls, who are cousins, were filmed by attackers on their mobile phones.
Ms Meloni promised to visit the city to see firsthand the drug trade, poverty and crime that have made it infamous.
She accepted an invitation from the local priest, Maurizio Patricello, who said he expected her to visit on Thursday.
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