Abstract

This article deals with the construct of «femicide» and utilizes Nils Christie's concept of the «ideal victim» to examine the ways in which the programme «Quarto Grado» contributes to the construction of social narratives of victims of femicide. The data comprise 12 episodes of «Quarto Grado» and 15 interviews with spectators of the programme, which are analysed from the perspective of cultural criminology. These narratives represents female victims of violence as «pure», «vulnerable» and «family oriented» and transmits to the audience empathy, sadness, «uncanny» sensations and rage. In connection with contemporary social movements against femicide, cultural and political implications of this kind of gender representation, especially of female's perceived need of protection, are discussed.