In 1965, in rural Sicily, a young woman, not yet 18, was kidnapped and raped by the man she had refused to marry. When she was found and freed by the police, he was confident she would follow what custom and Italian law expected: marry him, thereby restoring her so-called “honour” and exonerating him of the crime. But she refused. Her courageous story became a nationwide cause célèbre that would trigger a change both in society’s perception of violence against women and the law.
First broadcast on DW Radio’s Inside Europe on 5th March 2026.