«Est modus in rebus». I limiti dell’intervento penale sulle “relazioni ferite” dalla violenza di genere in ambito familiare

Drawing on recent remarks by prominent philosophers and legal thinkers (Habermas, Böckenförde), the article reaffirms the interest also for a secularized State to consider religious statements ( like the recent Relatio Synodi on family) as a reference for its regulative choices. Thus it puts under scrutiny an Italian law aimed at combating and preventing gender violence in the family, but actually deemed as more prone to the punishment of the offender than to providing measures apt to actually alleviate the family conflicts and especially defuse the initial violence arising therein. The approach deemed best conducive to a stable and effective protection of victims of these crimes should not be limited to rash punishment or detachment of the wrongdoer from the family. Instead the overall ‘wounded’ relationship should be addressed with a gamut of social and psychological interventions. Every attempt should be made to save the ability of the prospective serious offender to verbalize his emotional discomforts, thus gradually removing him from the idea that the recourse to violence be a viable way to recover the lost balance between family roles or to reassert his dominance on the female partner.