In recent years, domestic violence in Italy has received increased attention as official statistics have revealed a widespread phenomenon. Yet, in most cases women do not press charges against violence perpetrators.

In the field of domestic violence, Italy is an exemplary case study because victims’ testimony plays a pivotal role in hearings, since in most cases the woman is paradoxically the sole figure who speaks, both for herself and her aggressor.

Through an ethnographic approach, I have recently proposed that the reasons why women victim of domestic violence seldom access the Italian justice system lie in its peculiar character, which reveals impervious to the demands of women, by focusing on the credibility of the victim’s testimony.

Women in courts have to fulfill a series of requirements revolving around their credibility, from their narrative’s content (coherent, detailed, quantitative) to their intentions (detached from any specific contingency) and the way they expresses themselves (a truthful tone appropriate to a victim-subject). This entanglement of factors makes it impossible for women’s testimony to hold legal significance, thus rendering it inadequate, lacking, and inconsistent.

With this project I wish to develop further my argument by investigating the process of construction of the subject-victim, in particular by focusing on how women try to escape it. I contextualise my analysis through taking into account discourses on violence and gender in national narratives and political debates on women’s representation and role in Italy.

My study will grant visibility to women’s active role in making their testimony relevant and become a “reliable” subject, and will contribute to understand the complex relationship between women victims and the law, beyond the boundaries of the Italian case.