Franca Viola (born 9 January 1948) is a Sicilian woman who became famous in the 1960s in Italy for refusing a "rehabilitating marriage" (Italian: matrimonio riparatore) to her rapist after being kidnapped, held hostage for over one week, and raped frequently.
[4][1][7] Mariano was released a few hours later, but Franca was held for eight days in the home of Melodia's sister and her husband, a farmhouse on the outskirts of the town,[4] where she was repeatedly raped.
[citation needed] On 31 December, Melodia contacted Viola's father Bernardo for the paciata (Sicilian for 'appeasement', i.e., striking a deal between the families of the man and woman who "eloped").
[5] Bernardo pretended to negotiate with the kidnappers, saying he agreed and consented to the marriage, while collaborating with the Carabinieri police in preparing a successful dragnet operation.
According to traditional social norms, this choice would make her a donna svergognata, or 'woman without honour' (literally: a 'shameless woman'), as she had lost her virginity but remained unwed.
[4] These concepts were not exclusive to Sicily or rural areas; to some extent, they were also implicit in the Italian Penal Code of the time, namely Article 544, which equated rape to a crime against "public morality" rather than a personal offence, and formalized the idea of a "rehabilitating marriage" (matrimonio riparatore), stating that a rapist who married his victim would have his crime automatically expunged.
[citation needed] Both the Italian President Giuseppe Saragat and Pope Paul VI publicly expressed their appreciation of Franca Viola's courage and their solidarity with the couple.
[18] The 2022 film The Girl From Tomorrow (La ragazza del futuro) directed by Marta Savina tells the story of Viola though the names and some details have been changed.