Security
Italy: Anti-rape device for women sparks debate
Rome, 22 April(AKI) - A controversial proposal by Rome mayoral candidate Francesco Rutelli for a device to protect women from rape has received a mixed reaction from his political rivals and women's groups.
Rutelli suggested women should wear a satellite-tracking device or bracelet to alert police in high-risk areas in the Italian capital.
Rutelli, mayor of Rome between 1993 and 2001, is now running as the centre-left Democractic Party candidate and will face the voters in a run-off ballot this weekend.
His suggestion follows the violent rape of a student from the southern African country of Lesotho on the outskirts of Rome last Thursday allegedly by a Romanian immigrant.
A prominent women's group said it welcomed any move to improve security but it should be considered in the context of a political campaign.
"Rutelli's good-natured comments, go in the wider context of the frenetic moments ahead of an electoral campaign," Luigi Scardaone, spokesperson for the Rome-based Our Rights Association, told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"All suggestions that can prevent security problems, whether its for women or for any other citizens that frequent high-risk areas, I think is a positive thing," he said.
Isabella Clough-Marinaro, sociologist from the American University of Rome told AKI that the problem was being tackled wrongly.
She said money should instead be spent on creating night buses and improving lighting and surveillance in dark areas.
"Women should be free to move around safely in the city, rather than having to wear some kind of panic button which provides no guarantee that the police would intervene promptly enough," said Clough-Marinaro.
In the weekend ballot, Rutelli is running against centre-right candidate Gianni Alemanno, who belongs to the People of Freedom coalition of prime minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi.
Alemanno attacked Rutelli's proposal calling it "humiliating" for women and labelling it a failure by the authorities to safeguard the security of its citizens.
Rutelli went on the offensive after Alemanno's attack and reminded the mayor-hopeful that he had approved the settlement of 141,000 Romanian citizens to Rome.
In 2004 Britain introduced a bracelet tracking system under which convicted sex offenders are followed via satellite. They are restricted by curfews and are forbidden from entering certain areas of the city, such as schools.
Spain also used the tracking device last year, when a convicted rapist was freed in the village of Iznalloz in southern Spain.
Rutelli suggested women should wear a satellite-tracking device or bracelet to alert police in high-risk areas in the Italian capital.
Rutelli, mayor of Rome between 1993 and 2001, is now running as the centre-left Democractic Party candidate and will face the voters in a run-off ballot this weekend.
His suggestion follows the violent rape of a student from the southern African country of Lesotho on the outskirts of Rome last Thursday allegedly by a Romanian immigrant.
A prominent women's group said it welcomed any move to improve security but it should be considered in the context of a political campaign.
"Rutelli's good-natured comments, go in the wider context of the frenetic moments ahead of an electoral campaign," Luigi Scardaone, spokesperson for the Rome-based Our Rights Association, told Adnkronos International (AKI).
"All suggestions that can prevent security problems, whether its for women or for any other citizens that frequent high-risk areas, I think is a positive thing," he said.
Isabella Clough-Marinaro, sociologist from the American University of Rome told AKI that the problem was being tackled wrongly.
She said money should instead be spent on creating night buses and improving lighting and surveillance in dark areas.
"Women should be free to move around safely in the city, rather than having to wear some kind of panic button which provides no guarantee that the police would intervene promptly enough," said Clough-Marinaro.
In the weekend ballot, Rutelli is running against centre-right candidate Gianni Alemanno, who belongs to the People of Freedom coalition of prime minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi.
Alemanno attacked Rutelli's proposal calling it "humiliating" for women and labelling it a failure by the authorities to safeguard the security of its citizens.
Rutelli went on the offensive after Alemanno's attack and reminded the mayor-hopeful that he had approved the settlement of 141,000 Romanian citizens to Rome.
In 2004 Britain introduced a bracelet tracking system under which convicted sex offenders are followed via satellite. They are restricted by curfews and are forbidden from entering certain areas of the city, such as schools.
Spain also used the tracking device last year, when a convicted rapist was freed in the village of Iznalloz in southern Spain.
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