A court in Rome has ordered a man convicted of paying an underage girl for sex to buy a list of feminist books and films.

In addition to a two-year jail sentence, the 35-year-old man, who is unnamed, will be required to give his 15-year-old victim novels written by Virginia Woolf, the poems of Emily Dickinson and Anne Frank’s Diary, as well as two feminist films.

Judge Paola Di Nicola’s ruling follows a three-year investigation into a paedophile ring in the city, of which two girls aged 14 and 15 were victims.

The leader of the paedophile ring was taken to court in 2014 and jailed for nine years.

The judge reportedly said she hoped the books would help the 15-year-old girl to understand the damage that had been done to her as a woman, instilling feminist values.

However, one author whose book was among those on the prescribed list told Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra that it would have been better if the criminal had been ordered to read the literature instead.