Femicide near Florence: Father of Lorena Isceri urges politicians to act
A 45-year-old woman was thrown from a motorway bridge near Florence by her ex-partner. Her father is appealing to Italy's political class to act together against violence against women.
Father's appeal shakes Italy's politics
According to reports, Lorena Isceri was killed on Thursday on the A1 motorway near Barberino del Mugello close to Florence by her 36-year-old ex-partner Federico Vella. Vella threw the 45-year-old from a motorway bridge and subsequently took his own life.
Her father Franco Isceri addressed Italian politics directly in a video. "Take unanimous action so that tragedies like this no longer happen," he said through tears. "Lorena had so many dreams and plans, but now she no longer has them." With his daughter, the "joy in life of a shattered family" had also been buried. Franco Isceri directed his appeal explicitly at President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the entire political class.
Meloni and opposition respond
Prime Minister Meloni responded to the appeal: in light of such a tragedy, no one could claim that measures taken so far were sufficient. "Every woman killed by a person who promised to love her, defend her and protect her is a failure for all of us," Meloni wrote. "We must continue to search for solutions together."
The chairman of the opposition Partito Democratico, Elly Schlein, also supported the father's demands and thanked him for making concrete proposals despite his personal suffering. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani declared that he would personally work to ensure that the appeal would not go unheard "beyond any ideological boundary". Family Minister Eugenia Roccella described Isceri's words as a strong impetus to act more decisively.
Lorena lived in Florence, was afraid of ex-partner
The Isceri family comes from Squinzano in the southern Italian province of Lecce in Apulia. Lorena had most recently lived in Florence, where she had met Vella around two years ago in a fitness studio. Due to her fear of her former partner, she had recently moved back to her home region, as her mother reported.
Number of female victims down, but cases remain high
According to the Italian interior ministry, 34 women fell victim to fatal crimes in Italy in the first half of 2026 — including 26 cases of intentional manslaughter and eight cases classified specifically as femicide. Compared to the first half of 2025, the number of female victims thus fell by 37 per cent.
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Support services in Austria: The Women's Helpline against Violence is available around the clock, free of charge and anonymously: 0800/222-555 (www.frauenhelpline.at). Other contact points: Violence Protection Centre Vienna 01/585-32-88, 24-hour women's emergency line of the City of Vienna 01-71719, Vienna Women's Shelter Emergency Line 057722, Austrian Violence Protection Centres 0800/700-217. Online counselling "Stop the Violence": https://haltdergewalt.at (daily 6 pm–10 pm, Fri. 9 am–11 pm). For suicide risk: www.suizid-praevention.gv.at
Source: Kleine Zeitung