(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 18 - There has been a rise in sexual violence in Italy that is linked to illegal immigration, Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said Monday.
    "The scope of our Constitution, which does not allow discrimination based on sex, must be clear to every newcomer, to all those who want to live with us," he said n a video message broadcast during the presentation of the Giulia Cecchettin Foundation at the Chamber of Deputies.
    "We must not pretend not to see that the increase in sexual violence is also linked to forms of marginalization and deviance that in some way derive from illegal immigration".
    The murder a year ago of 22-year-old Cecchettin by her ex boyfriend shocked Italy and highlighted its problem with femicide and gender-based violence, leading to the setting up of the foundation in her name.
    Her ex, Filippo Turetta has admitted to stabbing Cecchettin to death at Fossò, near Venice, on November 11, 2023, days before she was due to graduate from Padua University in biomedical engineering.
    The case caused widespread dismay partly because of the brutality of the killing and also because of the young age of the perpetrator and victim.
    Prosecutors say Turetta, who was doing the same course as Cecchettin, stabbed her 75 times.
    At a recent court hearing Turetta admitted having planned the femicide. (ANSA).