Welschcakes Limoncello portrays a vivid account of Sicilian life on her blog, including this recent judgement from Italy’s Supreme Court of Appeal which
has decided that no time limit can be put on a betrayed spouse’s hurt and anger.
It is the case of a man who in 1999 discovered while reading his wife’s diary that she was having an affair with her brother-in-law and planned a prolonged campaign to “shame her”, threatening her and sending letters to her teaching colleagues.
He received an eight month sentence for his behaviour, later reduced on appeal to defamation only. The latest hearing in the Supreme Court of Appeal concluded that if your wife cheats on you, you have the right to “shame” her.
Surely the time comes when enough is enough, is the court’s decision condoning his behaviour and allowing it to continue indefinitely? And would it have reached the same decision if a woman had been the wronged partner?
Aha — the masculine joys of a machismo country. I don’t know if this is still true, but it was for many years in the state of Texas that if a man were to catch his wife in bed with another man, he could shoot and kill her, with no charges being laid. If, however, a woman were to catch her husband in the same position and shoot him, she would be charged with murder.
Hopefully that has changed.
Ian
The joys of Judeo-Christian morality…….according to the Old Testament only a woman could commit adultry and she would be stoned. Only a man could divorce and he could do so by merely declaring is intent a proscribed number of times. But the core issue was that men were legal entities with rights and legal recourse and women were property to be possessed and exchanged. Mush of the ideation lingers on in statutes and attitudes.
I just wish people would act with more dignity and forgo the spite when they separate and divorce. Revenge really isn’t sweet and I think one hurts one’s self more for acting that way. It’s best to put everything behind…and move on with your life. Life is far too short to waste good energy on spite, hate, bitterness etc. That’s my humble opinion, anyway. I’ve been divorced twice…and both times there was none of that. The full-stop had come to the end of the sentence…and I could see no point in all the stupid carrying-on that so many people put themselves through.
I’m friends with both my ex’s…and that’s the way it should be. They have their lives and I have mine. I enjoy my freedom and aloneness. It’s always a two-way street.
Nonsense when a wife strays the stocks would be appropriate or possibly hard Labour .A man can`t help it , its quite a different thing and women should be more understanding.
Nanette, Have you ever heard of a man being stoned for adultery?
Newmania, you are deliberately being provocative. Maybe the Italian lifestyle would suit you.
Oh am I and why are you so keen to let adulterers of the hook hmmm?I have noticed you havebeen in the gym recently as well….I`d be worried
I would love to live in Italy though I`ve had a great time there. Been all over the place
If a woman has been wronged by her partner in the UK, she can look forward to maintenance payments for the rest of her life…
“Surely the time comes when enough is enough”…
I like Newmania. He’s a naughty boy.
I like newmania too! Thanks for the link, Ellee. I just want to say that there’d now be uproar here if the law were not applied in the same way if a woman was the injured party: the Italian women MPs and feminists would not be slow in making their feelings known!
I think we are all fond of Newmania, he is truly unique, I imagine he is like a whirlwind to live with.
I always ask permission before I link to other blogs. If it’s o.k. by you, I would like to .link to your blog, I enjoy your writing.