Franca Viola (born 9 January 1948) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

woman who became famous in the 1960s in Italy for refusing a "rehabilitating marriage" ( it, matrimonio riparatore) to her rapist after being kidnapped, held hostage for over one week, and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

d frequently. She is considered to be the first Italian woman who had been raped to publicly refuse marriage. She and her family successfully prosecuted the rapist. The trial had a wide resonance in Italy, as Viola's behavior clashed with traditional social conventions in Southern Italy, whereby a woman would lose her

honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

if she didn't marry the man to whom she had lost her

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

. Franca Viola became a symbol of the cultural progress and emancipation of women in post-war

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

.Rifiuto il matrimonio dopo lo stupro
in Italian)

Kidnapping and rape

Franca Viola was born in the rural town of

Alcamo Alcamo (; scn, Àrcamu, italic=no) is the fourth-largest town and communes of Italy, commune of the Province of Trapani, Sicily, with a population of 44.925 inhabitants. It is on the borderline with the Metropolitan City of Palermo at a distan ...

, Sicily, the oldest daughter of Bernardo Viola, a farmer, and his wife, Vita Ferra. In 1963, at the age of 15, she became engaged to Filippo Melodia, then aged 23, a nephew of mafia member Vincenzo Rimi. Melodia was subsequently arrested for

theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for som ...

, 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 boyfriend. 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, where she was repeatedly

raped Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or agai ...

. 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 marriage 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"). Bernardo pretended to negotiate with the kidnappers, saying he agreed and consented to the marriage, while collaborating with the

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

police in preparing a successful dragnet operation. Viola was freed and her kidnappers arrested on 2 January 1966, seven days before her eighteenth birthday. She said her father asked her if she really wanted to marry Melodia and, when she said she did not, he told her he would do everything possible to help her.

Refusal of a rehabilitating marriage

Melodia offered Viola a rehabilitating marriage, but she refused, thus acting against what was the common practice in Sicilian society at the time. According to traditional social norms, this choice would make her a ''donna svergognata'', or 'woman without honour' (literally: a 'shameless woman'), as she had lost her virginity but remained unwed. 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.

Trial

After Viola's refusal to marry her rapist, her family members were reportedly menaced, ostracised, and persecuted by most townspeople. Their

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

and

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Alle ...

were torched. These events, and the eventual trial, resonated powerfully with the Italian media and public. The

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

itself was directly involved, as it became obvious that part of the existing legal code was at odds with public opinion. Melodia's lawyers claimed Viola had consented to a so-called ''

fuitina The Sicilian term (literally: "sudden escape"; plural ''fuitini'', Italian plural ''fuitine'') refers to a practice that used to be common in Sicily and other areas of Southern Italy, whereby a young couple would elope in order to get married aga ...

'' ('

elopement Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...

'), fleeing voluntarily to get married secretly rather than being kidnapped, but the trial (which happened in 1966) found Melodia guilty. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison, later reduced to 10 years, with a two-year period of compulsory residence in Modena. Five of his friends were acquitted, and the others received relatively mild sentences. Melodia was released from prison in 1976, and was killed on 13 April 1978 in a mafia-style execution before he could return to Sicily. The article of law whereby a rapist could vacate his crime by marrying his victim was not abolished until 1981.legislature.camera.it
(law no. 442 5 August 1981) Sexual violence became a crime against the person (instead of against "public morality") only in 1996.

Marriage of choice

Franca Viola married Giuseppe Ruisi in December 1968, when she was almost 21 years old. They had liked each other since childhood. Ruisi, an accountant, insisted he would have married the girl he had long loved despite threats and rumours, but had to request a firearms licence after obtaining the marriage licence, to protect himself and his bride-to-be. Both the Italian President Giuseppe Saragat and

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

publicly expressed their appreciation of Franca Viola's courage and their solidarity with the couple.1965, lo "strappo" di Franca Viola
(in Italian) President Saragat sent the couple a wedding gift and the pope received them in a private audience soon after the wedding. Viola and Ruisi would go on to have three children, two sons and one daughter. The family still lives in Alcamo.

Legacy

In 1970, director

Damiano Damiani Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an Italian screenwriter, film director, actor and writer. Poet and director Pier Paolo Pasolini referred to him as "a bitter moralist hungry for old purity", while film critic Paolo Mereg ...

made the film '' The Most Beautiful Wife'', starring

Ornella Muti Ornella Muti (born Francesca Romana Rivelli; 9 March 1955) is an Italian actress. She made her film debut as Francesca Cimarosa in the 1970 film ''La moglie più bella.'' Early life Muti was born in Rome to a Neapolitan journalist father and ...

, based on Viola's case. In 2012 the Sicilian writer

Beatrice Monroy Beatrice Monroy (born 1953) is an Italian writer and dramatist. Biography Beatrice Monroy was born and lives in Palermo, having spent many years in various Italian cities and abroad in France and the United States. She is the daughter of Anna ...

published Viola's story under the title ''Niente ci fu'' ('There was nothing'). 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.

References