Tuesday’s funeral for an Italian university student who was killed by her ex-boyfriend last month drew thousands of people, sparking calls for more protection for women across the country.

The murder of Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old student from a small village close to Venice, stunned the country and sparked a national conversation about male chauvinism, which is still pervasive in Italy.

Cecchettin’s ex-boyfriend, Filippo Turetta, was arrested as a suspect in Germany and extradited to Italy, where he confessed to the killing, his lawyer Giovanni Caruso told reporters.

Her body was found dumped near a lake with multiple stab wounds, after she had been missing for a week. She was last seen with Turetta, with whom she had gone shopping for a dress for her graduation ceremony.

On Tuesday, more than 10,000 people gathered in and outside Padova cathedral, where the service was being held, to pay tribute to Cecchettin, according to the city’s diocese.

“In this moment of pain and sadness, we must find the strength to react, to turn this tragedy into a push for change,” Giulia’s father Gino Cecchettin said during the service, shown live on Italian state television.

“Giulia’s life … was taken from us in a cruel way, but her death can, or rather must, be the turning point to put an end to the terrible scourge of violence against women,” he said.