Schoolgirl 'stabbed and burned alive by boyfriend' is buried on day Italy promises to tackle violence against women

Italy's new government vowed to make protecting women from violence a priority on the same day as the funeral of a 16-year-old girl allegedly killed by her boyfriend took place.
MPs in the country's chamber of deputies unanimously voted to pass the Council of Europe's convention on violence against women as Fabiana Luzzi, whose death caused national outrage, was mourned by residents of Corigliano Calbro in southern Italy.
The teenager was allegedly stabbed to death by her 17-year-old boyfriend last week then doused in petrol and set alight while she is thought to have still been alive.

Victim: Fabiana Luzzi was allegedly stabbed to death by her boyfriend in Italy last week. Her death added urgency to a parliamentary vote which saw Italian MPs prioritise action against gender-based violence

The schoolgirl's death gave the parliamentary vote an increased urgency and followed a lengthy MPs debate, according to The Guardian.
Equal opportunities minister Josefa Idem said that the convention is a positive step in trying to curb violence against women.

According to The Guardian, she said on a visit to Corigliano: 'Faced with Fabiana's death, I reaffirm the commitment of all the government and my ministry to make the fight against gender-based violence a key point of this legislature.
'I feel the need to ask forgiveness from her and all the women killed by the hand of those who abuse the word love.

Poignant: Mourners gathered to remember murdered Fabiana Luzzi in Italy on the same day that politicians debated violence against women

'The state must be more effective in this commitment (and) be even closer to the victims.'

Widespread problem: According to figures released in 2011, as many as one in three women in Italy are subjected to domestic violence

Women's campaign group Casa della Donne claims that at least 51 women have been murdered in Italy so far this year, but with no official statistics, they believe the figure could actually be three times that.
The group praised the Italian government for ratifying the convention - known as the Istanbul Convention - but added that it must ensure that its measures are thoroughly followed through.
According to statistics from Istat published in 2011, around one in three Italian women are victims of domestic violence.
The UN urged the country to tackle the problem after a visit from a special rapporteur last year.
As well as Fabiana's murder last week, a 50-year-old woman, Silvana Cassol, was shot by her husband, who then shot himself, in Padua, and a 35-year-old Romanian woman, Angelica Timis, was allegedly stabbed and killed by her former partner near Milan.
Although 25 countries, including Britain, have signed the Istanbul Convention, the convention needs the ratification of ten including eight Council of Europe member states.
But so far Italy is just the fifth to pass it through its parliament.

DAILYMAIL