3 soldiers convicted of catcalling a 19-year-old girl: one month in prison

Soldiers sentenced for catcalling

In March 2021, three young soldiers serving in Milan allegedly targeted a 19-year-old girl with comments and insults, for which they were accused in one of the first trials in Italy for the crime of catcalling, or verbal harassment on the street or in a public place. This was decided by the single judge from Milan Luigi Fuda who found the three men guilty and sentenced them to one month in prison, to pay compensation of 3,000 euros each to the young victim and to bear the costs of the proceedings.

Violence is also verbal

The victim’s lawyer recalled that even today the young woman “is visibly upset” by that affair, which continues to cause her “a state of anxiety and fear”; at the time of the events, the 19-year-old was “tested by the violence of the words and the petulance of the three soldiers”. According to the honorary deputy prosecutor Marisa Marchini, the three defendants “did not ask for an apology” and at the time of the events they did not consider the young age of the victim: for this reason a sentence of two months in prison was requested without the granting of extenuating circumstances generic. “They should have protected public tranquility”, she declared, “and instead they created disturbance (…) by supporting and backing each other up”.

Suspended sentence: the defense will appeal

The three soldiers were sentenced to one month in prison, with a suspended sentence and no mention, while the defense has already expressed its willingness to appeal. According to the defense attorney, the three soldiers “simply asked the girl” and her friend who was with her “if they wanted to drink with them”. Furthermore, “none of the witnesses present confirmed what the victim said. They are soldiers with their careers and their jobs, two months of arrest would be a disaster”, asking for acquittal “with the broadest formula” for lack of evidence .