Franca Viola

Franca Viola (born 9 January 1948) is a Sicilian woman who became famous in the 1960s in Italy for refusing a "rehabilitating marriage" to her rapist after being kidnapped, held hostage for over one week, and raped frequently. She is considered to be the first Italian woman who had been raped to publicly refuse marriage, as she and her family instead successfully prosecuted the rapist. The trial had a wide resonance in Italy, as Viola's choice clashed with traditional social conventions in Southern Italy, whereby a woman would lose her honour if she refused to marry the man to whom she had lost her virginity. Franca Viola became a symbol of the cultural progress and emancipation of women in post-war Italy.

Kidnapping and rape Franca Viola was born in the rural town of Alcamo, Sicily, the oldest daughter of Bernardo Viola (1918–1983 ), ). In 1963, at the age of 15, she became engaged to Filippo Melodia, then aged 23, a nephew of mafia member . Melodia was subsequently arrested for theft, and Viola's father insisted she break off the engagement, which she did. Melodia then moved to Germany. By 1965 Viola was engaged to another man, and Melodia had returned to Alcamo and was trying unsuccessfully to re-enter Viola's life, stalking her and threatening both her father and fiancé.

In the early hours of 26 December 1965, Melodia and a group of 12 armed companions broke into the Viola home and kidnapped Franca by dragging her into a car, in the process beating up Viola's mother and also taking Franca's eight-year-old brother Mariano, who refused to let go of his sister. Mariano was released a few hours later, but Franca was held for eight days in the home of Melodia's sister and her husband, a farmhouse on the outskirts of the town, Melodia told her that now she would be forced to marry him so as not to become a "dishonoured" woman, but Viola replied that she had no intention of marrying him and, moreover, that she would have him sued for kidnapping and rape. On 31 December, Melodia contacted Viola's father Bernardo for the paciata (Sicilian for 'appeasement', i.e., striking a deal between the families of the man and woman who "eloped"). These concepts were not exclusive to Sicily or rural areas; to some extent, they were also implicit in the Italian Penal Code of the time, namely Article 544, which equated rape to a crime against "public morality" rather than a personal offence, and formalized the idea of a "rehabilitating marriage" (matrimonio riparatore), stating that a rapist who married his victim would have his crime automatically expunged. ) found Melodia guilty. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, later reduced to 10 years, Melodia was released from prison in 1976, and was killed on 13 April 1978 Sexual violence became a crime against the person (instead of against "public morality") only in 1996.

Marriage and later life Franca Viola married Giuseppe Ruisi in December 1968, when she was almost 21 years old. They had liked each other since childhood. President Saragat sent the couple a wedding gift and the Pope received them in a private audience soon after the wedding. In 2017, a fifteen-minute film based on Viola's story, titled Viola, Franca, was included as a finalist in the Manhattan Short Film Festival.

The 2022 film The Girl from Tomorrow (La ragazza del futuro) directed by Marta Savina tells the story of Viola though the names and some details have been changed.