On Oct. 6, 2015, 20-year-old Giordana Di Stefano was murdered in her hometown of Nicolosi, Sicily, by her ex-boyfriend. She left behind a young daughter, Asia. The period immediately after Di Stefano’s death was excruciating. Di Stefano’s mother, Vera Squatrito, struggled to explain to Asia that she would not be coming home. At first, Asia’s grandmother told her that her mother was an angel or a star in the sky.
Asia, now nine years old, is one of Italy’s orfani speciali, or special orphans—children and adults whose mothers were killed by their husbands, partners, ex-partners, or stalkers. Researchers estimate that between 2000 and 2015, around 1,600 children and adults were orphaned by domestic violence in Italy.
