Italy: RAI’s Flavia Lorenzoni Assaulted While Reporting On Murder Investigation
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the hostility toward the journalist and calls on the police to act
Location: Italy, Tivoli
Date: June 25, 2023
Flavia Lorenzoni was grabbed by a hostile group while reporting on a murder investigation. The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the assault on the journalist and her team and urges police to investigate and charge those responsible.
On June 25, journalist Flavia Lorenzoni and her team from public broadcaster RAI were physically assaulted while reporting on the murder of a man in Tivoli, Lazio.
Upon arriving in the town, the crew were confronted by a group of individuals, believed to be either family members or acquaintances of the deceased. An individual forcibly grabbed and yanked Lorenzoni. Feeling unsafe, the reporting crew decided to leave the scene. No one was injured during the incident.
The union representing RAI employees expressed their solidarity with Lorenzoni and condemned the attack. They characterized the incident as an "unmotivated and unacceptable aggression" that underscores the escalating risks faced by journalists when documenting news events.
Lorenzoni and the RAI crew were reporting the death of a man who died after a street fight on June 18, 2023. Alessandro Castellaccio was brutally beaten by a group of men after allegedly asking them to turn down their music outside a local bar in Tivoli. Castellaccio sustained fatal injuries from the beating and later died in hospital. Two men have been arrested in connection with the murder.
In April 2023, CFWIJ documented a similar case in Italy where two women journalists, Barbara Di Palma, and Tatiana Bellizzi, were verbally and physically assaulted while covering a murder investigation. The journalists were reporting on the death of a woman when they were accosted by a man who screamed threats, hit Bellizzi, spat at Di Palma, and attempted to run over one of the reporters with his car.
These acts of aggression against reporters doing their job are unacceptable. The Coalition For Women In Journalism urges police to take these incidents seriously. Attacks on journalists not only harm those directly assaulted but also create a climate of fear and unsafety, discouraging others from reporting. We call on police to swiftly identify and charge those involved in the attack on Flavia Lorenzoni and her team.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.