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UNITED
NATIONS
Distr.
GENERAL
CEDAW/C/ITA/2
1 November 1996
ENGLISH
ORIGINAL: FRENCH
COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES UNDER
ARTICLE 18 OF THE CONVENTION ON THE ELIMINATION OF ALL
FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN
Second periodic reports of States Parties
ITALY*
* For the initial report submitted by the Government of Italy, see
CEDAW/C/5/Add.62; for its consideration by the Committee, see CEDAW/C/SR.172
and 178, and Official Records of the General Assembly, Forty-sixth Session,
supplement No. 38 (A/46/38), paras. 43-83.
CEDAW/C/ITA/2 English Page 3
CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 7
1. Political structure ................................................ 7
A. Legislative measures ...................................... 7
- International and European Community activity ........... 7
- National activity ....................................... 7
B. Political events .......................................... 8
2. Main ILO conventions ratified by Italy ......................... 13
3. Council of Europe .............................................. 26
4. Main instruments adopted or in the process of adoption at the
European Community level ........................................ 29
Article 1. THE CONCEPT OF DISCRIMINATION ............................ 31
Article 2. POLICY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION ............. 32
2.1 Constitutional principles of equality .................... 32
2.2 Legislation to implement the principle of equality ....... 32
2.3 Legal protection of the rights of women and judicial
protection ............................................... 33
2.4-2.5 Measures taken to prevent discrimination against women
and to ensure that public authorities and institutions
fulfil this obligation ................................... 34
2.6 Modification or abolition of discriminatory laws, customs
and practices ............................................ 35
2.7 Repeal of discriminatory penal provisions ................ 41
Article 3. DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL MEASURES AND PROTECTION OF MATERNITY . 51
Article 4. TEMPORARY SPECIAL MEASURES AND PROTECTION OF MATERNITY ... 51
4.1 Temporary measures ....................................... 51
4.2 Measures to protect maternity ............................ 52
Article 5. STATE ACTION TO OVERCOME DISCRIMINATORY CULTURAL PATTERNS
AFFECTING WOMEN .......................................... 54
Article 6. SUPPRESSION OF TRAFFIC IN WOMEN AND EXPLOITATION OF
PROSTITUTION OF WOMEN .................................... 55
Article 7. PARTICIPATION IN PUBLIC AND POLITICAL LIFE ............... 64
7.1 Right to vote and stand for election ..................... 64
7.2 Employment in the public administration .................. 65
7.3 Equal opportunity for men and women in the public
administration ............................................ 68
Article 8. PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN REPRESENTATION OF THE STATE AT
THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL .................................. 77
Article 9. QUESTIONS OF NATIONALITY ................................. 79
Article 10. EQUALITY IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION ....................... 80
Article 11. EQUALITY OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE FIELD OF EMPLOYMENT .... 140
11.1 Affirmative action ....................................... 143
11.2 Affirmative action for self-employed women ............... 146
11.3 Sexual harassment in the workplace ....................... 147
11.4 Protections against dismissal ............................ 149
11.5 Evolution of contracts ................................... 149
11.6 Evolution of the labour market ........................... 150
Article 12. PROTECTION OF WOMEN IN THE FIELD OF HEALTH .............. 174
Article 13. ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IN OTHER
AREAS OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL LIFE ....................... 179
13.1 The right to alimony ..................................... 179
13.2 Access to credit ......................................... 180
13.3 Sports activities ........................................ 181
Article 14. EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE ...................... 184
14.1 Manpower ................................................ 186
A. The changing situation .............................. 186
B. Labour intensity .................................... 187
14.2 Legal position of women in agriculture enterprises and
access to credit ........................................ 187
Article 15. EQUALITY OF MEN AND WOMEN BEFORE THE LAW ................ 189
Article 16. EQUALITY IN ALL MATTERS RELATING TO MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
RELATIONS ............................................... 191
16.1 Aspects of criminal court protection for women .......... 194
The National Commission for the Achievement of Equality between Men and
Women, in cooperation with the United Nations Bureau of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, has prepared the second report of the Italian Government on
the implementation of the 1979 United Nations Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
This report, compiled according to a format established by the United
Nations for all countries, provides an opportunity to examine the progress
made by Italian women in the period 1991-1992 across the spectrum of Italian
life, from institutions to the justice system, and over time in each sector.
It shows that considerable progress has been made in enacting legislation
designed to disseminate an equal opportunity culture, backed by legislative
measures which offer the tools and the means for extending that culture to the
social, employment and economic spheres.
The report also points to areas where progress has been stalled or where
there have been setbacks, such as the failure to secure approval of a law on
violence against women and on sexual harassment. However, attention has not
been focused solely on legislation. We have tried to present a picture of
Italian society as it really is, where old phenomena persist and new phenomena
are emerging which cannot be addressed simply by legislation, but require a
change in the de facto situation of women. From employment to services, women
are playing a more central role in society, but are not being afforded a
commensurate opportunity to fill positions of responsibility in institutions
and in the economic and financial spheres. The stumbling block remains the
unresolved issue of how to reconcile women's role in the workplace with their
role in the family.
At a time of institutional crisis, which is attributable in part to the
way in which political parties have managed power and the role that they have
played in society, the fact that women are under-represented in the centres of
power has prevented them from using their resources to lessen the impact of
political upheaval.
The report suggests directly and indirectly the kind of objectives that
we should be working to achieve.
The Fourth World Conference on Women will be held in Beijing in 1995.
Twenty years after the first meeting in Mexico, we will have to look at our
record and determine what objectives have been achieved and what problems we
have yet to address. We will also need to decide whether it is worth
continuing our efforts and, if so, what tools we should use. Italy is
currently preparing for this important meeting with the help, among other
things, of this report, which is offered, not only as an opportunity for
reflection and debate but also as a working tool, to all those in Italy who
are committed to women's issues.
TINA ANSELMI
President of the National Commission for the
Achievement of Equality between Men and Women
Contributors:
(1) For issues relating to employment, affirmative action, protection
under criminal law, family law and the judiciary, Daniela Carlà, official at
the Ministry of Labour, Division II of the General Department for Labour
Relations (international labour issues).
(2) For issues relating to the areas of competence of the Ministry of
the Interior (elections, protection of women, prostitution and other
offences), Vanna Palumbo, Sub-Prefect and Assistant Inspector at the Ministry
of the Interior.
(3) For issues relating to justice, the Constitutional Court, the Court
of Cassation, etc., Anna Passannanti, appeal judge in the Legislative Bureau
of the Ministry of Justice.
(4) For article 14 (situation of women in agriculture) Maria Pia Pacini,
Commissioner.
Coordination and collation by Maria Rita Saulle, Professor of
International Organizations at the Faculty of Political Science of "La
Sapienza" University of Rome.
We should like to thank the following for their contributions: Maria Pia
Garaviqlia, Deputy; the Association of Italian Women Magistrates (A.D.M.I.);
and Elena Penta, official at the Ministry of the University, Scientific
Research and Technology (M.U.R.S.T.).
Design by Giacomo F. Rech, Editor-in-Chief.
Translation by Roland Basseras, teacher at the French Cultural Centre.
INTRODUCTION
1. POLITICAL STRUCTURE
A. Legislative measures
No institutional changes of note were made during the period 1988 to
1992, in that the constitutional amendments mentioned in the previous report
failed to go beyond the proposal stage and all constitutional reform remained
at the planning and discussion stage. However, some legislative measures were
taken to move the issue of equality further up the agenda and to create some
particularly effective monitoring systems at the national level. We are
referring, in particular, to the enactment of a law creating an Equality
Commission in the Office of the Prime Minister.
The National Commission for the Achievement of Equality between Men and
Women, originally provided for by Prime Minister's Decree of 12 June 1984, was
expressly envisaged, in article 21, paragraph 2, of Act No. 400 of 23 August
1988 on the organization of the Office of the Prime Minister, as a support
structure for the Office on women's issues in general and the achievement of
equality in particular. Details of the Commissions composition and tasks can
be found in Act No. 164 of 22 June 1990, pursuant to which the present
Commission was set up by Prime Minister's Decree of 7 March 1991 and consists
of 29 members who can be said to represent the de facto situation of women in
Italian politics, associations, trade unions and cultural life.
Tina Anselmi, a member of the Chamber of Deputies, has presided over the
Commission since February 1989. The following is a brief overview of its most
important initiatives between 1989 and 1992.
International and European Community activity
The National Commission has worked closely with its counterparts at the
international and European Community level.
At the United Nations, the recommendation for the establishment of
institutions to promote equality was made on the occasion of International
Women's Year (1975) and reiterated at the World Conference which marked the
end of the United Nations Decade for Women (1985). It was during that Decade
that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (1979) was adopted. In 1989, the Commission produced an extensive report
to the United Nations on the implementation of the Convention in Italy,
updating it periodically over the following years.
The tenth anniversary of the Convention was also celebrated in 1989, in
the presence of the highest authorities of the State, in the Auletta of the
Parliament building (18 December).
Tina Anselmi, an active participant in the work of the United Nations
Commission on the Status of Women, has followed the implementation of the
Convention at the international level.
In the European Community, the National Commission represents Italy on
the Advisoxy Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men and has been
involved in the development of Community programmes and initiatives in this
area.
The Commission was particularly active during Italy's Presidency of the
European Community (July-December 1990), when the Equal Opportunities for
Women and Men - Third Medium-Term Community Action Programme 1991-1995 was
drawn up.
Italy further contributed by organizing the conference "1993:
Opportunities and Risks for European Women" (Rome, November 1990), at which
many ministers and representatives of the equality commissions of the 12
member countries made statements.
The Commission is also directly responsible for implementing programmes
of the IRIS network, which seeks to promote appropriate, innovative vocational
training initiatives for women at the community level, and particularly for
the National Organization for Women (NOW) programme, which became operational
after the adoption of the Third Action Programme mentioned above.
In the context of these vocational training activities, a seminar was
organized, by agreement with the Commission of the European Community, on the
theme: "Women's training needs: new intervention strategies and European
integration" (Rome, September 1989).
At the national level, training programmes for women were the subject of
two seminars held in Verona in February 1991 and in Rome in June 1991.
Lastly, there have been various meetings with foreign personalities and
women's groups working on problems of equality in their own countries. One
such meeting was that between the President of the Commission and delegations
of women trade unionists from Latin America (April 1989).
National activity
At the national level, there has been some important legislative
activity aimed at the formal adoption of Community guidelines and directives.
In the Chamber of Deputies, Tina Anselmi introduced the government bill
and parliamentary proposals that ultimately became Act No. 125 of 1991, on
affirmative action for the achievement of equality between men and women in
the field of employment. The Act not only provides for affirmative action and
for the requisite funding in the areas of employment and vocational training,
but also introduces new instruments for ensuring equality for women workers.
Among other things, the Act adopts the principle of shifting the burden
of proof in specific circumstances. This principle is the subject of a
directive that has still to be adopted by the European Commission. Tina
Anselmi also introduced the bill on affirmative action for women entrepreneurs
and the bill on parental leave, two issues included in the European Community
Action Programme which is currently being developed. With regard to the latter
bill, a unified text has been drafted which will be used as a starting point
for the debate in the current legislature.
In terms of action against discrimination, the National Commission has
intervened in numerous cases on behalf of individual women or groups of women
who considered themselves to be the victims of discrimination and turned to
the Commission for help. In most cases, either the discrimination ceased or an
appropriate reason was given for the disparity of treatment. The Commission
also acted to eliminate some of the instances of centuries-old discrimination
to be found in the district statutes of Comelico; this action also involved
the Minister for Regional Affairs and local administrators.
The National Commission gave its opinion, as required by law, on the
conditions for admission to the public competitive examinations for
occupations which have only recently been opened up to women (forest rangers).
The most important work done by the Commission at the national level
involves promotional activities for the achievement of genuine equality,
focusing particularly on getting more women into institutional positions;
establishing and coordinating the work of equal Opportunity bodies in the
public administration and local authorities; and shaping public opinion.
With regard to the first objective, a number of initiatives were
undertaken on the occasion of the various election campaigns, including:
- In May 1989, on the eve of the European elections, a discussion meeting
entitled "Without women, Europe functions at half capacity";
- In February 1990, a meeting with political party leaders to secure
greater guarantees for the administrative elections;
- On 26 January 1992, in the context of the first national conference on
"Objectives and tools of equal opportunity policies", a round-table discussion
involving women officials from all parties on the theme ~Women and political
parties: what reforms are needed for a new relationship between society and
institutions?".
On the basis of the collective agreements currently in force in the
public sector, as stipulated by trade unions and formalized in documents
having the force of law, provision was made for the establishment of equal
opportunity bodies, operating on behalf of the corresponding personnel, in all
branches of the public administration. Most of these bodies have now been
established.
The equality bodies set up within the Ministry of Labour (which was
established in 1980 and is currently governed by Act No. 125 of 1990) and the
Ministry of Education are particularly important, because of their overall
jurisdiction in the areas of labour and school education respectively.
At the local level, according to a survey carried out by C.E.N.S.I.S. on
behalf of the National Commission, one district in five has set up an equality
commission or council.
The National Commission pays constant attention to its relationship
w.ith equal opportunity bodies, as part of the coordinating function which it
is legally mandated to perform. Officials from these bodies are invited to
participate in study initiatives, such as the seminar to review the current
status of women, held in February 1990, and follow-up work.
There are also equal opportunity bodies in operation in 43 provinces and
all regions of Italy except Trentino-Alto Adige where, by virtue of the
Special Regional Statute of 1972 granting administrative and legislative
autonomy to certain provinces, two bodies have been set up at the provincial
level.
In June 1991, the President of the Commission, through the Minister of
the Interior (who, in turn, called for action by Prefects), addressed a
recommendation to local authorities calling on districts and provinces to
incorporate the principle of equality into their statutes and to adopt
specific tools to help achieve that goal. Mention should be made, in this
connection, of the first national conference on "Objectives and tools of equal
opportunity policies", held in Rome from 24 to 26 January 1992, referred to
earlier.
The conference's concluding document emphasized the importance of
ongoing communication between equal opportunity bodies and the National
Commission for achieving their goals.
The tiny number of women working at the senior management level in the
public sector of the economy (estimated at 0.ó per cent, according to an
I.S.F.O.L. survey) was also discussed in a special paper approved by the
Commission on 12 December 1991 and sent by Tina Anselmi to the Prime Minister.
Among other things, the paper requested that, each time the Government or
Parliament had a say in the appointment of chairmen, vice-chairmen, general
managers or board members of public institutions, banks and insurance
companies, it should ensure that one third of nominees were women.
Activities in the area of information and the shaping of public opinion
involved both the usual methods of communicating with the mass media (press
releases, interviews) and a number of interesting and important initiatives,
including:
- The celebration of International Women's Day on the Italian television
channel RAI 1, on 8 March 1990, with an early evening programme focusing on
how far equality had been achieved in Italy and featuring prominent Italian
women;
- The "Images of Women" information service, which compiles information on
news items, stereotypes and prejudices that convey negative messages about
women. An initial report on such information was presented at a special press
conference in October 1990.
The Commission not only produced public information leaflets about
itself and about national and Community equal opportunity programmes, but also
published the highly accessible Guide to Women's Rights ("Pink Pages"), which
systematically details women's rights and ways of ensuring that they are
recognized.
This publication, to wnich various members of the Commission
contributed, was formally presented by the Prime Minister on International
Women's Day, 1991.
Another important publication was the new, updated edition of Women and
the Law (October 1990), which was first published in February 1985, and has
been particularly successful among legal experts and practitioners.
Lastly, in the context of the 5 and 6 April 1992 general election, the
Commission sponsored a series of advertisements promoting women candidates and
captioned "More votes for women, more value to politics". The campaign
involved 6 magazines, 22 daily newspapers, RAI television, 85 local television
channels, RAI radio and 87 local radio stations. The RAI broadcasts were
provided free of charge, given the importance of the message for society and
for the achievement of progress.
The publication Women in the Media, shedding light on the ways, both
positive and negative, in which women are depicted in the Italian media, also
came out in 1992.
Annex I
22 to 24 November 1990 - E.C. seminar on "Opportunities and risks for
European women".
8 March 1991 - Guide to Women's Riqhts.
26 June 1991 - Recommendations to mayors, provincial and regional
presidents and councillors on including the establishment of equal opportunity
bodies in their statutes.
June 1991 - information service publication of Imaqes of Women, a
collection of letters of complaint from Italian citizens. Letter to the Prime
Minister.
24 to 26 January 1992 - First national conference on: "Objectives and
tools of equal opportunity policies". Presentation of C.E.N.S.I.S. survey.
29 January 1992 - Meeting with party leaders, the Chairman of RAI, the
Director-General of RAI and the Chairman of the Parliamentary RAI Oversight
Commission.
February 1992 - Presentation of an advertising campaign in support of
women candidates.
June 1992 - Publication of Women in the Media.
Another important law on the status of women, or more precisely working
women, was Act No. 125 of 10 April 1991 on affirmative action, sponsored by
the National Committee for the implementation of the principles of equal
treatment and equality of opportunity between male and female workers, which
will be discussed below.
Still within the legislative area, two particularly important laws
should be mentioned, even though they are not directly and exclusively
concerned with women: Act No. 142 of 8 June 1990 on local self-government and
Presidential Decree No. 200 of 3 July 1991 providing for the repeal, following
a referendum, of certain provisions of the single text of the laws governing
elections to the Chamber of Deputies approved by Presidential Decree No. 361
of 30 March 1957. Following this repeal, a system of election to the Chamber
by single preference was introduced.
The Act on local self-government opens up new opportunities for the
relationship with citizens, through new levels of transparency, accountability
and certainty and by allowing more room for the affirmation of citizens'
rights.
The drafting of local authority statutes has given women an opportunity
to propose rules and concepts which take into account the need for gender
mainstreaming and for women to be brought into the dialogue with institutions.
The statutory autonomy accorded to districts and provinces is
fundamentally important to the new local authorities, which are required to
include among the programme goals governing administrative actions the
principles of equality and equal opportunity already formally embodied in
national legislation and European Community directives.
Women representatives of political parties have asked that these
principles be affirmed both in the general part of the statutes and in
specific provisions; they are also requesting that particular attention be
paid to certain provisions of Act No. 142/90, from which certain obligations
imposed by the statutes derive.
Consequently, they have stressed certain points which are essential to
an effective policy of equality and equal opportunity, namely:
1. The establishment of local commissions of equality and equal
opportunity advisers, supplemented by outside experts (art. 1, para. 4). The
Commission's rules of procedure will define more specifically their functions
and powers and the criteria for selecting outside experts.
2. A commitment by mayors to: (a) coordinate the hours of businesses and
public utilities and the hours during which the branch offices of government
agencies are open to the public, in order to bring the provision of services
into line with the overall needs of users; and (b) to take into account
requests from organized women's groups (art. 36, para. 3).
3. The promotion of affirmative action in order to achieve equality for
women employed by district councils.
4. In application of the principle of equal opportunity, that when
filling high-level posts in agencies or offices that perform managerial
functions or offer other specialized services (art. 51, para. 5) and
appointing administrators of local authority enterprises and institutions
(art. 23), equal consideration must be given to women.
5. In order to ensure gender balance on district councils and in
accordance with article 33, paragraph 3, encouragement of the election of
women to the post of deputy mayor.
6. Maintenance of the district women's assemblies and provision for the
incorporation of assembly members into all council committees whose work
touches on the status of women.
Still in the legislative area, Act No. 49 of 26 February 1987 on the new
regime for cooperation between Italy and the developing countries stipulates,
in its article 1, paragraph 2, that development cooperation should also aim to
improve the status of women and children and to support the advancement of
women.
A Women and Development office has also been established within the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, operating in the cooperation sector (Twelfth
Cooperation Office).
B. Political events
During the period under review, i.e. between 1988 and 1992, several
important political events occurred, namely, the European Parliament elections
on 18 June 1989, the administrative elections on 6 May 1990 and the general
election on 5 and 6 April 1992.
The results of these elections were as follows:
1. In the 1989 elections to the European Parliament, 9 women were
elected out of a total of 81 Italian members elected, as compared with 8 in
the previous elections (see annex II).
2. In the administrative elections, the percentage of women elected (8.5
per cent) can be termed modest (see annex III).
3. In the general elections, the introduction of the system of election
to the Chamber of Deputies by single preference penalized women, the
percentage of women members elected falling from 12.8 per cent to 8.2 per
cent. Women's representation in the Senate increased somewhat: from ó.ó per
cent to 9.8 per cent (see annex IV).
The decline in the number of women in the Chamber of Deputies can be
explained by the fact that the traditional parties lost votes and seats and
fewer of their women candidates were therefore elected.
Some parties, such as the Greens, failed to get any of their women
candidates elected to the Chamber.
The increase in the Senate shows that the parties sought to create more
opportunities for women candidates. Since the 1992 general election, two
Senate Committee have been headed by women (Health and Defence); moreover, in
the Government formed in June 1992, there were two women Ministers with
Portfolio out of 23, as well as two Under-Secretaries of State out of 35.
In addition, a woman was appointed General Secretary of the Office of
the Prime Minister, the highest administrative post among officials appointed
to the Prime Minister's Office.
Also, in 1992, a woman, Rosa Jervolino Russo, was unanimously elected
Chairman of the majority political party.
Annex II
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS - 1989
Women elected
France 19 out of 81 15.39
Belgium 5 out of 24 20.83
Denmark 6 out of 16 37.50
Germany 25 out of 81 30.86
Greece 1 out of 24 4.16
Spain 9 out of 60 11.11
Ireland 1 out of 15 6.66
Italy 9 out of 81 11.11
Luxembourg 2 out of 6 33.33
Netherlands 7 out of 25 28.00
Portugal 3 out of 24 12.50
United Kingdom 13 out of 81 16.05
TOTAL 100 out of 518 19.30
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS OF 18 JUNE 1989
Women candidates accepted
Party Total Women Percent of total
DC 81 13 16.0
PCI 81 23 28.4
PSI 81 11 13.6
MSI-DN 81 3 3.7
PLI-PRI-FED 81 10 12.3
PSDI 81 2 2.5
Fed. of Green Lists 81 28 34.6
Proletarian Democracy 81 21 25.9
Rainbow Greens 81 23 28.4
Anti-drug-control League 80 21 26.3
PPST 7 1 14.3
Federalism 81 4 4.9
Lombard League - A. North 81 9 11.1
Pensioners' Party 18 2 11.1
TOTAL CANDIDATES ACCEPTED 996
TOTAL WOMEN ACCEPTED 171 17.2
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS OF 18 JUNE 1989
Women candidates elected
Name Electoral district Party
Maria Adelaide AGLIETTA 02 Rainbow Greens
Rosaria detta Rosy BINDI 02 DC
Maria Luisa CASSANMAGNAGO CERRETTI 01 DC
Luciana CASTELLINA 03 PCI
Anna CATASTA MEMO 01 PCI
Adriana CECI 04 PCI
Maria MAGNANI NOYA 01 PSI
Cristina MUSCARDINI 01 MSI-DN
Pasqualina NAPOLETANO MANTOVANI 03 PCI
Dacia VALENT SGUAZZIN 03 PCI
Annex III
DISTRICT COUNCIL ADMINISTRATORS
M W Total %Women
Mayors 7 037 242 7 279 (3.3)
Deputy mayors 32 679 2 784 35 463 (7.8)
Councillors 90 483 9 222 99 705 (9.2)
Total Italy 130 199 12 248 142 447 (8.5)
Source: Ministry of the Interior, Civil Administration Department,
Central Electoral Services Division, Data-processing Service (p.125). Updated
to 29 April 1991.
DISTRICT COUNCIL ADMINISTRATORS
(by region)
Mayors
M W Total %Women
Piedmont 1 064 57 1 121 (5.0)
Valle d'Aosta 74 - 74 -
Lombardy 1 304 61 1 365 (4.4)
Trentino-Alto Adige 328 7 335 (2.0)
Veneto 441 17 458 (3.7)
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 216 3 219 (1.3)
Liguria 226 9 235 (3.8)
Emilia Romagna 298 26 324 (8.0)
Tuscany 254 14 268 (5.2)
Umbria 86 4 90 (4.4)
Marche 238 7 245 (2.8)
Latium 350 1 351 (0.2)
Abruzzi 258 5 263 (1.9)
Molise 124 1 125 (0.8)
Campania 497 4 501 (0.7)
Puglia 229 5 234 (2.1)
Basilicata 125 1 126 (0.7)
Calabria 294 6 300 (2.0)
Sicily 340 3 343 (0.8)
Sardinia 291 11 302 (3.6)
Total Italy 7 037 242 7 276 (3.3)
DISTRICT COUNCIL ADMINISTRATORS
(by region)
Deputy Mayors
M W Total %Women
Piedmont 4 341 431 4 772 (9.0)
Valle d'Aosta 280 28 308 (9.0)
Lombardy 5 914 652 6 566 (9.9)
Trentino-Alto Adige 1 348 92 1 440 (6.3)
Veneto 2 211 169 2 380 (7.1)
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 975 100 1 075 (10.2)
Liguria 1 008 92 1 100 (9.1)
Emilia Romagna 1 521 293 1 814 (16.1)
Tuscany 1 261 214 1 475 (14.5)
Umbria 414 44 458 (9.6)
Marche 1 082 107 1 189 (8.9)
Latium 1 624 79 1 703 (4.6)
Abruzzi 1 162 40 1 202 (3.3)
Molise 531 20 551 (3.6)
Campania 2 523 61 2 584 (2.3)
Puglia 1 315 52 1 367 (3.8)
Basilicata 590 39 629 (6.2)
Calabria 1 449 67 1 516 (4.4)
Sicily 1 829 75 1 904 (3.9)
Sardinia 1 301 129 1 430 (9.0)
Total Italy 32 679 2 784 35 463 (7.8)
DISTRICT COUNCIL ADMINISTRATORS
(by region)
Councillors
M W Total %Women
Piedmont 10 962 1 305 12 267 (10.6)
Valle d'Aosta 696 98 794 (12.3)
Lombardy 15 235 2 123 17 359 (12.2)
Trentino-Alto Adige 3 368 367 3 735 (9.8)
Veneto 6 917 749 7 667 (9.7)
Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2 396 345 2 742 (12.8)
Liguria 2 747 280 3 029 (9.2)
Emilia Romagna 4 078 783 4 861 (16.1)
Tuscany 3 856 625 4 481 (13.9)
Umbria 1 160 160 1 320 (12.1)
Marche 2 826 352 3 178 (11.0)
Latium 4 235 312 4 548 (6.9)
Abruzzi 3 123 186 3 309 (5.6)
Molise 1 402 73 1 475 (4.9)
Campania 7 554 199 7 760 (2.5)
Puglia 4 247 183 4 464 (4.0)
Basilicata 1 507 96 1 617 (5.9)
Calabria 4 721 286 5 010 (5.7)
Sicily 5 761 249 6 035 (4.1)
Sardinia 3 692 451 4 144 (10.8)
Total Italy 90 483 9 222 99 705 (9.2)
DISTRICT COUNCIL ADMINISTRATORS
(By political party)
Mayors
M W Total %Women
DC 3 811 123 3 934 (3.1)
PDS 1 261 54 1 315 (4.1)
PSI 1 028 19 1 047 (1.8)
MSI-DN 19 1 20 (5.0)
PRI 62 3 65 (4.6)
PSDI 112 2 114 (1.7)
PLI 46 4 50 (8.0)
South Tyrol People's Party 111 - 111 -
P. Sardo D'Az. 11 1 12 (8.3)
U. Vald. 36 - 36 -
Independents 501 33 534 (6.1)
P. Ra. 1 - 1 -
Green lists 3 2 5 (40.0)
Rainbow Greens 1 - 1 -
Greens 1 - 1 -
Lombard League 1 - 1 -
Other 32 - 32 -
Total Italy 7 037 242 7 279 (3.3)
Deputy mayors
M W Total %Women
DC 15 553 1 057 16 610 (6.3)
PDS 4 932 740 5 672 (13.0)
PSI 5 715 318 6 033 (5.2)
MSI-DN 122 4 126 (3.1)
PRI 712 39 751 (5.1)
PSDI 972 33 1 005 (3.2)
PLI 250 14 264 (5.3)
South Tyrol People's Party 436 27 463 (5.8)
P. Sardo D'Az. 137 8 145 (5.5)
U. Vald. 124 6 130 (4.8)
Independents 3 422 501 3 923 (12.7)
P. Ra. 7 1 8 (12.5)
Green lists 38 4 42 (9.5)
Rainbow Greens 11 3 14 (21.4)
Greens 46 13 59 (22.0)
Lombard League 6 - 6 -
Other 196 16 212 (7.6)
Total Italy 32 679 2 784 35 463 (7.8)
DISTRICT COUNCIL ADMINISTRATORS
(By political party)
Councillors
M W Total %Women
DC 39 609 3 251 42 860 (7.5)
PDS 15 964 2 541 18 505 (13.7)
PSI 14 715 929 15 644 (5.09)
MSI-DN 1 147 50 1 197 (4.1)
PRI 1 604 108 1 712 (6.3)
PSDI 2 222 102 2 324 (4.3)
PLI 724 50 774 (6.4)
South Tyrol People's Party 933 115 1 048 (10.9)
P. Sardo D'Az. 300 23 323 (7.1)
U. Vald. 242 29 271 (10.7)
Independents 10 256 1 659 11 915 (13.9)
P. Ra. 25 4 29 (13.7)
Green lists 68 16 84 (19.0)
Rainbow Greens 66 12 78 (15.3)
Greens 410 88 499 (17.6)
Lombard League 527 43 470 (9.1)
Other 1 671 202 1 873 (12.2)
Total Italy 90 483 9 222 99 705 (9.2)
WOMEN ADMINISTRATORS ELECTED
(by geographical area)
Mayors
No. %
North 154 57.1%
Central 52 21.4
South 22 9.0
Islands 14 6.0
Total 242 100.0
Deputy mayors
No. %
North 1 564 56.1%
Central 737 26.4
South 279 10.0
Islands 204 7.5
Total 2 784 100.0
Councillors
No. %
North 5 267 57.1%
Central 2 232 24.6
South 1 023 11.0
Islands 700 7.3
Total 9 222 100.0
ANNEX IV
CHAMBER SENATE
1987 1992 1987 1992
DC 11 10 4 3
PSI 5 4 2 4
PSDI - - 1 1
PLI _ - - -
PRI _ 1 1 -
PDS 45 22 10 16
Refounded Communists - 5 1 2
Lombard League - 5 - 1
MSI 1 2 1 1
Greens - - 1 3
SVP - 1 - -
Rete - 1 - -
Independent Left 8 - - -
Radical Party 4 - - -
Mixed Group - - 1 -
Pannella Reformers - 1 - -
Total 81 52 21 31
(21.8%) (8.2%) (6.6%) (9.8%)
SENATE
DC (3) Maria Paola COLOMBO SVEVO
Rosa RUSSO JERVOLINO
Daria MINUCCI
PSI (4) Margherita BONIVER
Agata Alma CAPPIELLO
Maria Rosaria MANIERI
Elena MARINUCCI
PDS (16) Aureliana ALBERICI
Luana ANGELONI
Silvia BARBIERI
Monica BETTONI
Anna Maria BUCCIARELLI
Maria Grazia DANIELE
Valeria FABJ
Maria Grazia PAGANO
Anna Maria PEDRAZZI
Ivana PELLEGATTI
Franca PRISCO
Giovanna SENESI
Maria TADDEI
Giglia TEDESCO
Graziella TOSSI BRUTTI
Grazia ZUFFA
Refounded Communists (2) Edda FAGNI
Ersilia SALVATO
Greens (3) Giuseppa MAISANO GRASSI
Anna Maria PROCACCI
Carla ROCCHI
MSI (1) Maria Luisa MOLTISANTI
PSDI (1) Vincenza BONO PARRINO
Lombard League (1) Angiola ZILLE
CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES
DC (3) Silvia COSTA
Lucia FRONZA CREPAZ
Ombretta FUMAGALLI
Maria Pia GARAVAGLIA
Daniela MAZZUCONI
Mariolina MOIOLI
Anna NENNA D'ANTONIO
Anna Maria NUCCI
Giovanna TEALDI
Gabriella ZANFERRARI
PDS (4) Carol BEEBE TARANTELLI
Anna Maria BIRICOTTI
Maura CAMOIRANO
Simona DALLA CHIESA
Elisabetta DI PRISCO
Anna FINOCCHIARO
Chiara INGRAO
Leonilde IOTTI
Maria Rita LORENZETTI
Claudia MANCINA
Nadia MASINI
Elena MONTECCHI
Barbara POLLASTRINI
Alfonsini RINALDI
Maria Luisa SANGIORGIO
Anna SANNA
M. Antonietta SARTORI
Anna Maria SERAFINI
Gianna SERRA
Lalla TRUPIA
Livia TURCO
Adriana VIGNERI
PSI (4) Rossella ARTIOLI
Roberta BREDA
Rosa FILIPPINI
Laura FINCATO
Refounded Communists (5) Marida BOLOGNESI
Emilia CALINI
Luciana CASTELLINA
Tiziana MAIOLO
Maria Grazia SESTERO
Lombard League (5) Elisabetta BERTOCCHI
Alda GRASSI
Mariella MAZZETTO
Irene PIVETTI
Maria Cristina ROSSI
PRI (1) Luciana SBARBATI
SVP (1) Helga THALER-AUSSERHOFER
RETE (1) Laura GIUNTELLA
Pannella Reformers (1) Emma BONINO
2. MAIN ILO CONVENTIONS RATIFIED BY ITALY
As stated in the Italian Government's initial report on the
implementation of the Convention, Italy is among the countries which have
ratified the largest number of ILO Conventions.
It recently ratified ILO Convention No. 160 concerning Labour
Statistics, which could have a major impact on the way in which cognitive
instruments useful for the effective and correct management of active
employment policies, particularly for women and services in need of specific
promotional measures, are supplemented.
In the context of policies to eliminate all forms of discrimination
against women, in February 1992, Italy denounced ILO Convention No. 89
concerning Night Work of Women Employed in Industry. In fact, the strict
prohibition against such work, as set forth in the Convention, was already
regulated differently by Italian legislation adopted in 1977: article 5 of Act
No. 903/77 provided for the repeal, through collective bargaining at all
levels including the enterprise level, of the prohibition against night work
of women employed in industry. The ad hoc tripartite committee established
within the Ministry of Labour is currently conducting an in-depth review of
the entire question with a view to identifying protective measures that can be
applied to all workers, irrespective of gender or of the employment sector
concerned. With this in mind, detailed consideration is being given to the
goal of eventual ratification of the convention and recommendation concerning
the protection of all night workers, irrespective of gender or of the sector
concerned, adopted in Geneva in June 1990.
Special attention is being paid to the problem of night work by
pregnant
women. Research by university occupational health institutes points to adverse
consequences both for the woman (health problems, miscarriages, etc.) and for
the child (premature births and low birth weight).
3. COUNCIL OF EUROPE
In 1991, the European Committee for Equality between Women and Men
(CEEG), under the chairmanship of the Italian delegate, took steps to raise
its profile within the Directorate of Human Rights. It asked and was allowed
to participate in the revision of the European Convention on Human Rights by
taking part in the working group on genuine democracy.
In keeping with this approach, it also worked for recognition of CEEG
as
a steering committee, on the same footing as the other main committees of the
Council of Europe.
This recognition was forthcoming in late 1991 and became a reality in
1992, when the Committee's name was changed from European Committee for
Equality between Women and Men (CEEG) to Steering Committee for Equality
between Women and Men (CDEG).
In addition, the Committee sought to underscore its multidisciplinary
nature. To this end, it played an active role in a series of seminars
organized by other committees, including a seminar on "the marginalization of
poverty towards greater social justlce in Europe". It also participated in a
project on "policies for children" and in efforts to improve the Social
Charter, and launched the debate on "multiculturalism" and "bioethics§.
More particularly, it requested that, based on one of the arguments
accepted by Council of Europe structures, government delegations from
countries hosting a conference of European ministers should include at least
the local representative of CEEG. That request has been partially met.
The Committee's main activities centred on:
1. The preparation and holding of a seminar on "Combating traffic in
women and forced prostitution as a violation of human rights";
2. The preparation and organization of the Poznan conference on
"Equality between women and men in a changing Europe" (the conference was
later postponed to 1992);
3. Discussions in preparation for the European public awareness
campaign
on gender equality, which was to have been launched in 1993 to coincide with
the third European Ministerial Conference on Equality between Women and Men,
with the possibility of having some impact on the Fourth World Conference on
Women;
4. The preparation of the substance of the third European Ministerial
Conference on Equality between Women and Men, to be held in Italy on a topical
theme, such as the image of women in the media;
5. The discussion and launching of the activities of the working group
on "democracy and gender equality", as a follow-up to the seminar held in 1989
to mark the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the European Committee
for Equality between Women and Men.
As part of its activities for 1991, the European Committee for Equality
between Women and Men sought to place emphasis on the inalienable right to
equality between women and men (which in the forthcoming programme of the
Council of Europe is to be the subject of an additional protocol to the
European Convention on Human Rights) in all areas of social, political, civil
and professional life.
Because of their evident value both politically and for protecting the
dignity of the human person, the seminars on forced prostitution and on
equality between women and men in a changing Europe had a considerable impact.
Also in 1991, the European Committee for Equality between Women and Men
officially hosted representatives from the following Central European
countries: Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland.
Despite some difficulties, the debate which took place within CEEG
during 1991 confirmed the importance of adding to the concept of equality
between women and men, as embodied in law, a new concept of "democracy and
gender equality", meaning the management of democracy on the basis of gender
equality.
Notes - Brief notes on the EuroPean Committee for Equality between Women and
Men
Note No. 1
Since 1986, the National Commission for the Achievement of Equality
between Men and Women has had continuous representation on the European
Committee for Equality between women and Men.
As a result, between 1986 and the present, it has contributed actively
not only to changing the status of the above-mentioned Committee but also to
enriching its debates and means of intervention.
Note No. 2
In 1986, the Committee was still an ad hoc committee (CAHFM), known
mainly for its activities to promote the status of women by identifying
"disparities" between men and women.
The first European Ministerial Conference on Equality between Women and
Men, hosted by France in 1986, drew attention to these disparities, especially
in the area of the management of political power.
It was at that Conference that all the member countries of the Council
of Europe were called upon to establish national machinery. This was later to
become the theme of the second European Ministerial Conference on Equality
between Women and Men, held in Vienna in 1989.
At the Vienna Conference, Italy, through the President of the National
Commission for the Achievement of Equality between Men and Women who was
present at the event, offered to host the third Conference.
In the meantime, CAHFM ceased to be an ad hoc committee and became the
European Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CEEG), under the
auspices of the Steering Committee for Social Affairs but bringing a
multidisciplinary approach to its activities.
In 1989, the Committee celebrated its tenth anniversary and, in 1990,
it
was finally brought under the authority of the Directorate of Human Rights in
order to emphasize gender equality as an inalienable, fundamental right.
In 1992, the European Committee for Equality between Women and Men was
granted the status of Steering Committee and, accordingly, changed its name to
the Steering Committee for Equality between Women and Men (CDEG).
Note No. 3
The Italian representative on the European Committee for Equality
between Women and Men had, from the outset (1986), requested that
responsibilities and work should be allocated in a manner that took account of
regional realities within the Council of Europe.
In 1987-1988, the Italian representative served as a member of the
Bureau, with the specific task of handling relations with the Steering
Committee on the Mass Media and submitting proposals for achieving gender
equality in the media (see annex A).
In 1989-1990, she served as Vice-Chairperson of the Committee, while
assisting with the organization of the second European Ministerial Conference
on Equality between Women and Men, held in Vienna.
During this period, CEEG formally accepted Italy's offer to host the
third European Ministerial Conference on Equality between Women and Men, on
the theme of the relationship between women and the media.
Also in 1990, the Italian representative, in her capacity as
Vice-Chairperson of CEEG, presented to the conference organized to commemorate
the fortieth anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights an
official note requesting an additional protocol to the Convention recognizing
gender equality as a fundamental right (annex B).
Unanimously elected Chairperson of CEEG at the meeting held in November
1990, the Italian representative held that post until January 1992.
4. MAIN INSTRUMENTS ADOPTED OR IN THE PROCESS OF ADOPTION AT THE EUROPEAN
COMMUNITY LEVEL
Among the countries of the European Community, Italy has distinguished
itself by the importance which, within the framework of the unification of the
Community, it has attached to social policy, considered from a
non-instrumental standpoint in relation to economic integration processes.
During the revision of the European Community Treaties, this approach
took the form of active intervention by Italy aimed at expanding the
community's jurisdiction in the social field, both quantitatively and
qualitatively. This contributed, inter alia, to the adoption of the Protocol
on social policy (concluded among the member countries of the European
Community with the exception of the United Kingdom), which provides, inter
alia, for Community intervention to ensure "equality between men and women
with regard to labour market opportunities and treatment at work and "the
integration of persons excluded from the labour market".
Subsequent provisions, both substantive and procedural, concerning
extension of the practice of majority voting to areas in which a unanimous
vote had previously been required helped to ensure more effective action on
behalf of areas and population groups which had been discriminated against in
terms of living and working conditions.
In keeping with this approach, the Italian Government attaches
particular importance to the approval of all Community regulations provided
for in the Social Charter, particularly those instruments that have a direct
bearing on the status of women workers (directive on reversal of the burden of
proof, directive on parental leave) and those which, because of the specific
nature of their content, would prove particularly effective for women workers.
In this connection, the adoption of directives on non-typical
employment
would be particularly important for Italy, since women constitute the majority
of workers in Italy who are not employed full-time or for an unlimited
duration.
The Italian Government has distinguished itself by its vigorous
advocacy
of regulations that would effectively guarantee the protection of pregnant
women, and its Council of Ministers abstained on the question of the common
position already adopted in first reading, which it felt did not offer
sufficient protection with respect to periods of mandatory leave, a guaranteed
income for pregnant women and the list of harmful substances to which women
should not be exposed during pregnancy.
The Government is now in the process of formally accepting the
amendments proposed by the European Parliament and endorsed by the EC
Commission, which confirm the protective approach advocated by that
Government.
Article 1
THE CONCEPT OF DISCRIMINATION
Article 1
For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "discrimination
against women" shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made on
the basis of sex which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying
the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their marital
status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and
fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural, civil or
any other field.
Since the previous report, there have been no new developments.
Article 2
POLICY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION
Article 2
States parties condemn discrimination against women in all its forms,
agree to pursue by all appropriate means and without delay a policy of
eliminating discrimination against women and, to this end, undertake:
(a) To embody the principle of the equality of men and women in their
national constitutions or other appropriate legislation if not yet
incorporated therein and to ensure, through law and other appropriate means,
the practical realization of this principle,
(b) To adopt appropriate legislative and other measures, including
sanctions where appropriate, prohibiting all discrimination against women,
(c) To establish legal protection of the rights of women on an equal
basis with men and to ensure through competent national tribunals and other
public institutions the effective protection of women against any act of
discrimination,
(d) To refrain from engaging in any act or practice of discrimination
against women and to ensure that public authorities and institutions shall act
in conformity with this obligation,
(e) To take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination
against
women by any person, organization or enterprise,
(f) To take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify
or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute
discrimination against women,
(g) To repeal all national penal provisions which constitute
discrimination against women.
2.1 Constitutional principles of equality
Since the previous report, there have been no new developments.
2.2 Legislation to implement the principle of equality
Among the laws promulgated during the reporting period, attention
should
be paid to the two laws already mentioned which strengthen and implement the
principle of equality: these are Act No. 164 of 22 July 1990, containing
"provisions concerning the composition and tasks of the Commission referred to
in article 21, paragraph 2, of Act No. 400 of 23 August 1988", which, in the
context of the Commission's powers, envisages a number of activities designed
to eliminate various types of discrimination; and Act No. 125 of 10 April
1991, on affirmative action for the achievement of equality between men and
women in the field of employment. This Act is intended to eliminate, through
affirmative action, residual discrimination in the field of employment. It
provides for a complex system of monitoring which includes the establishment,
referred to earlier, of the National Committee for the implementation of the
principles of equal treatment and equality of opportunity between male and
female workers, in which the equality adviser from the Central Employment
Commission also participates.
The Act in question introduces the legal principle of reversal of the
burden of proof at the trial. At the end of a trial in which acts of
discrimination have been identified, the judge "shall order the employer to
draw up, after consultation with the local trade union representatives
belonging to the most representative trade union organizations at the national
level and with the regional equality adviser who has territorial jurisdiction,
a plan for the elimination of the discrimination found", establishing a
time-limit for drawing up the plan.
Also with regard to the objective of eliminating residual
discrimination, along with these two laws, which may be considered fundamental
in this area, mention should be made of another law with the same object, that
of eliminating residual discrimination in a particular sector. This is Act No.
215 of 25 February 1992 on affirmative action for women entrepreneurs. The Act
provides for a number of measures to "promote basic equality and equality of
opportunity for men and women in economic and business activity".
2.3 Legal protection of the rights of women and judicial protection
Significant provisions are contained in Act No. 125 of 1991 on
affirmative action in the employment field, which overhauled the procedural
mechanisms and system of penalties established for combating discrimination,
with specific reference to both direct and indirect discrimination. Act No.
125 also radically altered the general provisions regarding the burden of
proof by introducing a different assignment of that burden whereby (art. 4,
fifth paragraph), "when the plaintiff provides factual evidence drawn from
statistical data on hiring, pay scales, assignment of functions and grades,
transfers, career development and dismissals, which, in precise and consistent
terms, can substantiate the presumption of the existence of acts or conduct
which discriminate on grounds of sex, it is the defendant who must prove that
the discrimination does not exist".
This new assignment of the burden of proof modifies the earlier system
whereby, in application of the general principle in this area, it was the
plaintiff who had to prove the existence of both discrimination and
discriminatory intent.
Under the new system, the plaintiff has simply to provide precise and
consistent evidence which can substantiate the presumption of discrimination;
it is then for the defendant to present to the court evidence that would rule
out the existence of discrimination.
Another fundamental innovation is to give the equality adviser the
right
to bring legal action against collective discrimination, "even when it is not
possible to identify in an immediate and direct manner the workers harmed by
the discrimination".
In a judgement finding discrimination on the basis of action brought by
the equality adviser, the judge "shall order the employer to draw up, after
consultation with the trade union representatives of the company or, if that
is not possible, with the local trade union representatives belonging to the
most representative trade union organizations at the national level and with
the regional equality adviser who has territorial jurisdiction, a plan for the
elimination of the discrimination found".
This provision, by making it possible to eliminate disparities of
treatment, is an effective positive remedy provided by the legislature.
Lastly, mention should be made of the penalty provided for in article
4,
paragraph 9, which calls for the suspension or revocation of the concessions
granted to an employer who has committed acts of discrimination ('Wany finding
of discriminatory acts or conduct, within the meaning of the first and second
paragraphs, on the part of employers who have been granted concessions under
the State laws in force or who have been awarded contracts for public works,
services or supplies, shall be reported immediately by the Labour Inspectorate
to the ministers with whose departments the record of the award of the
concession or contract has been lodged. The latter shall take appropriate
action, including, where applicable, revocation of the concession, and, in the
most serious cases or in cases of repeated discrimination, may decide to bar
the guilty party for a period of up to two years from being awarded any other
financial or credit facilities or any other contract. This provision shall
also apply in the case of financial or credit facilities or contracts awarded
by public bodies, to which the Labour Inspectorate shall directly report the
discrimination found with a view to the adoption of the envisaged penalties").
2.4-2.5 Measures taken to prevent discrimination against women and to ensure
that public authorities and institutions fulfil this obligation
Some of these measures were referred to in the preceding sections, in
particular, in sections 2.2 and 2.3. Many legislative measures useful for the
prevention of discrimination were mentioned in the introduction on the
country's political structure. Mention will be made here of two decrees of the
Minister for the Civil Service, adopted by agreement with the Minister of the
Treasury: the first, of 25 July 1986, concerns the establishment of the
commission for monitoring expenditure flows, with the functions of a civil
service monitoring board, which includes women members and experts on problems
of the status of women in the public administration; the second, of 18 October
1988, concerns the establishment of the third section of the commission for
monitoring expenditure flows, with the role of civil service monitoring board,
attached to the Civil Service Department in the Office of the~Prime Minister.
This board has the following powers:
(a) Collection, and corresponding territorial breakdown, of
quantitative
and qualitative data on women's presence in the various sectors of public
employment, including data for the preparation of the report to Parliament
envisaged in article 16 of Act No. 93 of 29 March 1983;
(b) Review and analysis of equal opportunity in the public
administration, with particular reference to mechanisms for recruitment,
access, career development, promotion and occupational training, and to
problems associated with the organization of work, working conditions and
environmental conditions;
(c) Review and analysis of occupational phenomena in the south of
Italy,
with particular reference to women's professional employment in the expanded
public sector, with a view to making specific proposals for the
rationalization of posts and the creation of new job opportunities.
These powers expand on those granted to the civil service monitoring
board by ministerial decree of 1986. The working group set up for this purpose
"continued its work by pursuing the course previously charted, while according
special attention to the promulgation of proposals and formulas for
affirmative action with a view to enhanced management of human resources,
particularly female personnel, in the public administration", as called for in
article 4 of the ministerial decree of 1986 already cited (extract from the
"Report on the work of the commission for monitoring expenditure flows, with
the functions of a civil service monitoring board, 1988").
With regard to the adoption of affirmative action in public employment,
mention can also be made of the circular of 25 May 1981 in which the Civil
Service Department of the Prime Minister's Office, in the context of the
formulation of development and intervention strategies for affirmative action
projects in the public administration, requested the Office to establish
committees for equality of opportunity between men and women.
The circular calls for gender equality in occupational training
programmes and in access to any level, including the managerial level, and the
formulation of social service schemes to assist working women.
In addition, transitional provisions are to be formulated to encourage
the entry or re-entry, following retraining, of women who have passed the age
limits laid down in the regulations in force for participation in public
competitive examinations.
2.6 Modification or abolition of discriminatory laws, customs and practices
The strong pressure exerted by the National Commission for the
Achievement of Equality between Men and Women and the action of women
parliamentarians led Parliament to accept certain requests at the time of
drafting the so-called "Finance Law" which regulates the establishment of the
State's annual and multi-annual budget. Act No. 415 of 31 December 1991
(Finance Law, 1992) introduced substantial provision for expenditures in the
area of the protection of women and the promotion of gender equality,
referring specifically to legislative action to be taken in the following
sectors:
- Insurance for persons engaged in household activities who suffer
accidents while doing housework;
- Parental leave and maternity benefits;
- Female business sector;
- Sex education in schools;
- Establishment of centres to provide assistance in cases of abuse
related
violence and sexual violence.
In addition to these legislative innovations and those already
mentioned
above, there is the pioneering work of the Constitutional Court, which has
worked hard to repeal certain provisions which are considered discriminatory
while continuing to adapt legislation to the constitutional principles of
gender equality and protection of women in the family and in the workplace.
In the Italian system, the Constitutional Court determines the
constitutional compatibility of other laws of lower rank than the
constitution, which is the source of the fundamental principles and rules on
which the Republic is based.
Even in the area of the protection and advancement of women, the
Constitution marked the course to be followed, by providing precise guidelines
which the Constitutional Court has subsequently taken up and interpreted on
various occasions, when it has had to consider questions of the
constitutionality of legal provisions which may discriminate against women.
This process of adaptation has occurred gradually, stressing - in this
specific area in particular - the Court's role of permanent mediation between
the legal system and evolving social institutions.
In parallel with development in the legislative sphere, the referral of
legal provisions to the Constitutional Court and the corresponding response
have gradually given expression to the new cultural attitude and the new
mentality that now prevail. In the historic period since the promulgation of
the Constitution, women have slowly progressed from being the beneficiaries of
specific protections to being guaranteed the enjoyment of equal opportunities
with men, in a context of promoting their contribution both within the family
and in the workplace.
The process is not complete, but the trend is clear, as can be seen
from
the following brief outline of the rulings of the Constitutional Court.
Equality in the workplace
- Judgement No. 1 of 19 January 1987, according to which the right to
leave of absence from work and the right to daily rest periods, accorded only
to working mothers, must be granted to working fathers as well, when the
mother is no longer able to take care of a minor because of death or serious
illness;
- Judgement No. 332 of 1 March 1988, in which the Court took up various
issues, all relating to the possible extension - including for the period
preceding the most recent special legislative initiatives - of some of the
measures of assistance envisaged in Act No. 1204/71 on the protection of
working mothers, in the case of situations other than biological motherhood.
On this occasion, it was decided (also in the overwhelming interest of the
child) that there should be equality of rights between working women who have
adopted or fostered children and working women who are biological mothers.
Such equality was provided for in Act No. 903/77 (which, as already noted, is
non-retroactive), but it had clearly been one of the goals of Act No. 1204/71
and, in particular, of the provisions subject to extension (exclusion from the
calculation of 60 days of optional leave before the beginning of the period of
mandatory leave of absence or the period of leave to care for a foster child;
the right to optional leave and the corresponding allowance; the right to
mandatory leave during the three months after the child joins the family; and
the right to a termination indemnity in the event of voluntary resignation
submitted during the period of prohibition of dismissal);
- Judgement No. 365 of 23 March 1988, whereby the entitlement to family
allowances (family supplementary benefits for dependent children) recognized
for a married female State employee in cases where the husband is
self-employed (an activity which does not give entitlement to these
allowances) was extended to the period preceding the entry into force of Act
No. 903 of 1977 on equality (which also repealed the provisions whereby the
allowances in question were in all cases paid to the husband, even if the wife
worked). Similarly, judgement No. 529 of 10 May 1988 also acknowledged
retroactively (i.e. for the period preceding the entry into force of Act No.
903/77) the disparity of treatment represented by the provision that the
payment of income supplement to a wife who has become incapacitated requires
that her husband's capacity to work shall have been reduced by at least a
third, instead of simply requiring that he be the wife's dependent (as occurs
when the person incapacitated is the husband);
- Judgement No. 972 of 19 October 1988, which is concerned with the case
of working mothers assigned to dangerous, tiring or unhealthy work who,
because they cannot be transferred to other duties, are forced to take leave
from work, on the advice of the competent Labour Inspectorate, during the
period between the end of the third month after childbirth and the end of the
seventh month after childbirth; the Court felt that women workers were
entitled during this period too to a daily allowance equal to 80 per cent of
the remuneration payable to them in other cases of mandatory leave;
- Judgement No. 1106 of 20 December 1988, in which, in connection with
discriminatory regulations introduced on the occasion of the special
restructuring of an enterprise (public floating of the Finmare Group), the
Court upheld the principle, already stated several times, that, in the event
of dismissal, no distinction may be made among the workers of an enterprise
purely on grounds of sex, and the principle of full equality of treatment with
regard to the age requirement for work;
- Judgement No. 225 of 8 May 1990, which declared unconstitutional the
provision (of the 1958 law on physical education) envisaged the establishment
of gender-differentiated posts in physical education and, consequently, their
filling by either male or female teachers. In the commentary on this
judgement, the Court refers not only to the requirement of ensuring equal
access to employment but also, expressly, to the profound changes which have
taken place in public attitudes and in gender roles and relations;
- Judgement No. 61 of 8 February 1991, which declared unconstitutional
the
part of article 2 of Act No. 1204/71 (on the protection of working mothers)
which provides that the dismissal of a working woman during pregnancy and the
post-partum period is temporarily invalid rather than null and void;
- Judgement No. 189 of 2 Mays 1991, in which the Court held that the
provision whereby the surviving spouse of a retired person (subsequently
deceased) who had married at over 72 years of age was not entitled to a
revertible pension if the marriage had lasted less than two years did not
accord with the principle of equality (all other things being equal) and
therefore proceeded to repeal it;
- Judgement No. 341 of 15 July 1991, as a result of which the right to
take leave from work during the first three months after fostering a child
must be granted to the male worker to whom the child has been entrusted,
instead of to the working wife, if she has renounced that right in agreement
with him. This judgement is the last, chronologically, of the actions taken by
the Constitutional Court in relation to Act No. 903 of 9 December 1977 (on
equal treatment for men and women in the field of employment, based on the
principle that once there is no requirement to protect the health of the
woman, there is no reason why the rights associated with caring for a child
should not be accorded to the husband, as an alternative solution.
All these Court judgements refer either to the principle of equality
between the spouses laid down in article 29, paragraph 2, of the Constitution,
to article 31, paragraph 2, establishing the protection of minors as a
fundamental duty of the judicial system, to article 37, guaranteeing equal
treatment of men and women in the employment field, or to article 3,
paragraphs 1 and 2, in that indirectly requiring only the woman to sacrifice
her career needs and interests to the care of a child who has been entrusted
to her places her personal development in the workplace lower down the scale
of importance than the man's.
- Judgement No. 503 of 30 December 1991, which declared unconstitutional
a
provision of the law on the rationalization of the iron and steel industry
which barred women workers in the iron and steel sector, in the event of early
retirement, from claiming the same amount of contributory service as men
workers.
Family and nationality
- Judgement No. 71 of 26 February 1987, which declared unconstitutional
the part of article 18 of the preliminary provisions of the Civil Code which
provided that, in the absence of a common nationality established during the
marriage, the personal relationship between the spouses (including, according
the predominant opinion, in the case of divorce or separation) was subject to
the national law of the husband at the time when the marriage took place. In
particular, the Court considered, first, whether the Constitution could be
invoked to contest a provision of private international law, thereby aligning
itself with the most recent case law of other European countries, and,
secondly, the contrast between the provision in question and the basic choices
made by the Constitution and the direction taken in recent years in the
legislative sphere (Act No. 151/75 concerning the reform of family law) and
even in the sphere of case law (and not just where family law is concerned),
both of which reflect the abandonment of the traditional concept of the
preeminence of the husband in the organization of the family;
- Judgement No. 477 of 25 October 1987, which declared unconstitutional
that part of article 20, paragraph 1, of the preliminary provisions of the
Civil Code which, in determining the law regulating the relationship between
the parents and the children in a situation where both parents are known and
there is no national law common to them, gives preference to the national law
of the father. Referring back to ruling No. 71/87, the Court confirmed that
the provision on conflict of norms makes a choice which is bound to conflict
with the basic choices made in the Constitution and that article 20
discriminates against women for reasons associated exclusively with gender;
- Judgement No. 404 of 24 March 1988; the new regulations on the rental
of
urban property (Act No. 392/78) did not provide, in the event of death or
departure of the tenant, for the cohabitant more uxorio to take over the
lease. In the ruling considered here, the Constitutional Court felt that the
regulations violated the principle of equality (from the standpoint of common
sense) by not including among the successors of the original lease holder
persons linked to the tenant by stable cohabitation more uxorio, and also by
not allowing the former cohabitant to take over the lease of a tenant who has
discontinued his cohabitation, in cases where there is a natural child. This
judgement, with others, is intended to affirm the right to housing and the
duty of solidarity as essential prerequisites for the social functioning of
the State. It is, in any case, significant in the area of interest to us here,
since it may be particularly important from the standpoint of protecting the
socially and economically weaker member of the cohabiting relationship, who
even today is still, in the majority of cases, the woman;
- Ordinance No. 490 of 20 April 1988; on the occasion of the
constitutional proceedings brought with regard to the provision of the law on
Italian nationality (Act No. 555/12) whereby a foreign woman who married an
Italian citizen acquired such nationality automatically while a man had to
acquire it by decree of the Head of State, the Constitutional Court, in
rejecting the application, confirmed, while referring to previous decisions to
that effect, that the principle of automatic nationality applicable to the
woman was based on the notion of women's inferiority to men (reflected even in
their reduced legal capacity), a notion which is at variance with the
Constitution, which accords equal social status to all citizens and regulates
marriage on the basis of the equality of the spouses. In upholding gender
equality as opposed to the principle of automatic nationality, Act No. 123/93
on the question of nationality, which established that nationality must be
acquired by decree for both women and men, based itself on the Constitution.
The Court of Cassation acts as the third level of jurisdiction in the
Italian legal system (first level - civil court/criminal court; second level
court of appeal). Its rulings are final and the only cases that can be
referred to it are those involving issues of constitutionality.
The Court has jurisdiction over the entire national territory and,
institutionally, has the task of ensuring that the law is interpreted
uniformly. For this reason, it has also, over the years, come to reflect the
new sensitivity to issues of particular social importance, such as the status
of women.
In this connection, judgement No. 1903 of 8 March 1986 is significant:
in seeking to define the crime of rape, the Court considered that, in order
for the act to be punishable, it was not necessary for the violence of its
perpetrator to have reached the point where it could no longer be resisted,
nor for the victim to have offered strong and sustained resistance to the
limits of her physical strength, which would inevitably be accompanied by
outward signs on her body and clothing.
In modifying the earlier definition which required the woman to have
resisted "heroically", the judges included in the concept of violence,
violence which, according to the circumstances, makes it impossible for the
victim to offer all the resistance that she would wish or even, in some cases,
to call for help.
In civil matters, and in family law in particular, we might mention the
evolution of the case law of the Court of Cassation in awarding use of the
marital home in the event of separation or divorce.
In the past, the dominant practice of the Supreme Court (see, inter
alia, judgement No. 2462 of 19 May 1978) had been that (in the absence of a
specific statutory provision) the judge who decreed the dissolution or
cessation of the civil effects of a marriage did not have the power (which did
exist, however, in the case of separation proceedings) to award use of the
marital home to a spouse other than the one lawfully entitled to it, on the
grounds that, in cases of divorce, this situation could arise only as a result
of an agreement between the parties (for the opposing view, see, inter alia,
judgement No. 578 of 30 January 1985).
Recently, the United Sections of the Court (a special college charged
with resolving case law conflicts), in its ruling No. 4098 of 28 April 1997,
upheld the principle whereby even during divorce proceedings, the judge can
award the marital home to the spouse (generally the mother) who has custody of
the minor children, even if he or she does not have exclusive rights to the
home.
In February 1992, the Italian Government denounced ILO Convention No.
89
concerning Night Work of Women Employed in Industry, which had been superseded
by Act No. 903/77.
Measures for the protection of all night workers, irrespective of
gender, are currently being considered.
The Government is also taking action, in the context of the
comprehensive reorganization of the pension system in the interests of equity
and efficiency, gradually to bring the retirement age for women into line with
that for men.
This issue is currently governed by article 4 of Act No. 903 of 1977.
In this connection, it should be noted that the Court of Cassat _ _
judgements of 6 March 1990 and 6 May 1991, had indicated that current
legislation already provided for women to continue working up to the same age
as men, with the guarantees of job security already existing for such
employment, and that this was not a matter of choice for women workers.
The Constitutional Court, in its judgement No. 498 of 1988, had already
ruled unconstitutional that part of article 4 of Act No. 903/77 that made
conditional on taking appropriate action the right of women workers fulfilling
the necessary conditions for an old-age pension to continue working up to the
same age as men.
2.7 Repeal of discriminatory penal provisions
There are currently no discriminatory provisions in Italian penal law.
However, women have sometimes perceived discrimination in certain
interpretations of the law handed down by the courts. Since, in the Italian
judicial system, the Court of Cassation is the final level of jurisdiction for
both civil and criminal proceedings, and since it does not rule on the
substance of a case, but intervenes only when the law has not been applied or
has been misapplied, it seems appropriate to make an analysis for the years
1990, 1991 and 1992 in the areas of both civil and criminal law. This analysis
will cover the following aspects:
- Sexual violence, domestic violence and non-compliance with the
obligation to support the family;
- Employment and maternity;
- Cohabitation;
- Alimony.
The research essentially covered the period from 1990 to 1992. On the
first issue (cf. data attached), there is confirmation of the trend to view
non-consensual sexual intercourse as including cases where intercourse
occurred simply because the victim gave in to the attacker in order to put an
end to a particularly harrowing situation.
As for domestic violence, particular attention should be drawn to
rulings which state expressly that domestic violence covers not only acts of
physical violence, but also treating the victim with contempt and humiliation
that cause genuine mental suffering, and that the term "family" must be
understood as referring to any group of persons bound by close ties and life
style (although the fact that spouses have ceased to live together does not
necessarily mean that domestic violence cannot be alleged.
In this connection, it should be recalled that article 571 of the Penal
Code provides for the crime of abuse of means of correction and discipline
against a person who has been subjected or entrusted to an authority for the
purpose of education, instruction, care, supervision and custody, or for the
exercise of a profession or art.
This highly controversial provision has not only lent itself to
conflicting interpretations as to the psychological element required for it to
be applied, but also testifies to the presence in our Penal Code of the
antiquated notion of jus corriqendi.
A criminal penalty is incurred when, exceeding the bounds of the
"normal" use of means of correction, such conduct creates a situation which
endangers the physical or mental health of the person punished or causes
bodily harm or death.
Particular problems have been raised with regard to the possibility of
defining domestic violence in the relationship between spouses. On this point,
case law for many years took a very retrograde position, recognizing the
husband's jus corriqendi over his wife. It then gradually caught up with the
times, particularly in the light of the second paragraph of article 29 of the
Constitution, according to which marriage is based on the moral and legal
equality of husband and wife, within the limits laid down by the law for
ensuring family unity.
It now seems clear that the principle of use/abuse of means of
correction, the essential element of the crime provided for in article 571 of
the Penal Code, cannot be applied between spouses, since their rights and
obligations are based on absolute reciprocity.
In the area of employment and the protection of working mothers,
mention
should be made of:
- The judgement of the labour section of the Court of Cassation of 27
March 1991, which upheld the principle whereby the fact that a given syndrome
(premenstrual syndrome, in this specific case) periodically renders a worker
temporarily unable to work, being linked to a recurrent physiological event,
does not preclude that syndrome from being considered a real illness (with the
guarantees deriving therefrom), rather than a partial inability to work, which
would entitle the other party to effect an equivalent reduction in the
corresponding remuneration;
- The labour section's judgement of 16 April 1991, which stated that
the
hiring of a woman worker who is pregnant is not invalidated by the fact that
she was hired to perform dangerous work (which is prohibited during
pregnancy), since, during the period of the contract, the work for which she
was hired (if prohibited by law) must be replaced by other work; in such
cases, the mandatory period of prohibition must be extended.
As for cohabitation, we see a confirmation of the trend (important for
the status of women, who are usually in the weaker position in such cases)
which began with the application of the ruling of the Constitutional Court on
the right of the cohabitee to take over the lease of a tenant who has ended
cohabitation, when there is a natural child. This right is considered to exist
even when cohabitation began during the rental period and without the
landlord's knowledge.
Lastly, it should be noted that article 91 of the new Code of Criminal
Procedure, which entered into force on 24 October 1989, provides for the
participation in legal proceedings, with the same rights as the injured party,
of associations whose institutional purposes include the protection of general
interests; women's groups can be considered to fall within this category.
Article 3
DEVELOPMENT AND ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN
Article 3
States Parties shall take in all fields, in particular in the
political,
social, economic and cultural fields, all appropriate measures, including
legislation, to ensure the full development and advancement of women, for the
purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and
fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men.
Since the previous report, there have been a number of innovations,
including the creation in the Office of the Prime Minister, through a law
adopted by Parliament on 22 June 1990, of the National Commission for the
Achievement of Equality between Men and Women, thereby implementing article
21, paragraph 2, of Act No. 400 of 31 August 1988.
While remaining a direct offshoot of the Office of the Prime Minister
as
a necessary support structure for activities to achieve gender equality and
ensure equality of opportunity for men and women, the Commission has existed
autonomously in the three years since its creation.
It is made up of 29 women representing women's groups, political
parties, trade unions, employers' organizations and women's cooperatives, as
well as four women chosen for their contributions to science, literature and
social issues.
The Commission is also able to draw on five experts, as well as its own
consultants.
The President of the Commission is appointed from among its members by
the Prime Minister.
The Commission has a considerable range of tasks; these are defined in
article 2 of the law, which stipulates the following:
1. The Commission shall provide the Prime Minister with the necessary
support for activities to achieve gender equality and ensure equality of
opportunity between men and women.
2. The Commission shall study and draft the amendments needed to bring
legislation into line with the objective of gender equality, suggest
initiatives needed to ensure equality of opportunity between men and women,
and assist the Prime Minister in coordinating the national and local
government bodies which have to implement national and local initiatives and
projects for the same purposes.
3. In pursuing its objectives and by reference to the activities of
bodies, including international bodies, concerned with problems of equality,
the Commission shall:
(a) Formulate proposals for the coordination of social, economic and
political policies, in order to achieve equality of rights and opportunities
between men and women;
(b) Formulate proposals for the coordination of equality initiatives
adopted by the State administration and public bodies, as well as the
coordination of initiatives taken by the region and district councils, while
respecting their autonomy;
(c) Conduct, or have conducted by others, surveys, studies and research
on the practical progress made towards equality between the sexes, by
comparison with constitutional norms, norms of ordinary law and European
Community and international norms;
(d) Bring to the attention of the Prime Minister any initiatives that
need to be taken, in the context of the implementation of the Government's
programme and institutional policy, to regulate matters of gender equality or
to bring legislation into line with this principle;
(e) Provide to the central office for the coordination of the
Government's legislative initiatives and regulatory activities, in the Office
of the Prime Minister, any information, documentation or technical data useful
for drafting legislation aimed at achieving gender equality in the context of
the implementation of the Government's programme and institutional policy;
(f) Draw attention, in periodic reports to the Prime Minister on the
various legislative areas, to any legislative inconsistencies in applying the
principle of gender equality, and suggest any changes that it considers
appropriate;
(g) Bring to the attention of the Prime Minister any initiatives needed
to make the organization of the public administration consistent with gender
equality and, in general, to achieve genuine equality in the public
administration, taking into account the content of paragraph 4 below;
(h) Describe, in periodic reports to the Prime Minister, the progress
made in achieving gender equality in the various sectors covered, indicating
for each sector any initiatives that it considers appropriate;
(i) Promote, carry out and request the implementation of initiatives to
encourage the active participation of women in public, social and economic
life;
(l) Gather and disseminate information on the progress achieved in the
area of gender equality and on any legislation of particular importance for
women, using such media as the press, radio and television and promoting
enhanced use of both public and private sources;
(m) When a representative of the Commission is called for, submit names
to the Prime Minister for the appointment of representatives to participate in
international, national and local organizations concerned with gender
equality.
4. The Commission's sphere of competence shall not extend to gender
equality in access to employment or in the workplace.
The establishment of the Equality Commission in accordance with the new
legislation was scheduled for October 1990.
Originally established by Prime Minister's Decree of 12 June 1984, the
National Commission for the Achievement of Equality between Men and Women was
expressly envisaged, in article 21, paragraph 2, of Act No. 400 of 23 August
1988 on the organization of the Office of the Prime Minister, as a support
structure for the Office with regard to women's issues in general and the
achievement of equality in particular. Details of the composition and tasks of
the Commission are to be found in Act No. 164 of 22 June 1990. Pursuant to
that Act, the present Commission was set up by Prime Minister's Decree of 7
March 1991 and consists of 29 members representing the de facto situation of
women in Italian politics, associations, trade unions and cultural life.
Since February 1989, the Commission has been presided over by Tina
Anselmi, a member of the Chamber of Deputies. The following is a brief
overview of its most important initiatives during this period:
The Commission has worked closely with its counterparts at the
international and European Community levels.
At the United Nations, the recommendation for the establishment of
institutions to promote equality was made on the occasion of International
Women's Year (1975) and reiterated at the world conference which marked the
end of the United Nations Decade for Women (1985). It was during that Decade
that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (1979) was adopted. In 1989, the Commission produced an extensive report
to the United Nations on the implementation of the Convention in Italy,
updating it periodically over the following years.
The tenth anniversary of the Convention was also celebrated in 1989, in
the presence of the highest authorities of the State, in the Auletta of the
Parliament building (18 December).
Tina Anselmi, an active participant in the work of the United Nations
Commission on the Status of Women, has followed the implementation of the
Convention at the international level.
In the European Community, the National Commission represents Italy on
the Advisory Committee on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, and has been
involved in the development of community programmes and initiatives in this
area.
The Commission was particularly active during Italy's Presidency of the
European Community (July-December 1990), when the Equal Opportunities for
Women and Men: Third Medium-Term Community Action Programme was drawn up.
Italy further contributed by organizing the conference "1993:
Opportunities and Risks for European Women" (Rome, November 1990), at which
many ministers and representatives of the equality commissions of the 12
member countries made statements.
The Commission is also directly responsible for implementing the
programmes of the IRIS network, which seeks to promote appropriate, innovative
vocational training initiatives for women at the community level, and
particularly for the National Organization for Women (NOW) programme, which
became operational after the adoption of the Third Action Programme mentioned
above.
In the context of these vocational training activities, a seminar was
organized, by agreement with the Commission of the European Community, on the
theme: "Women's training needs: new intervention strategies and European
integration" (Rome, September 1989).
At the national level, training programmes for women were the subject
of
two seminars held in Verona in February 1991 and in Rome in June 1991.
There have also been various meetings with foreign personalities and
women's groups working on problems of equality in their own countries. One
such meeting was that between the President of the Commission and delegations
of women trade unionists from Latin America (April 1989).
On the occasion of the administrative elections in May 1990, two
meetings were held with the leaders of all political parties to request
greater representation of women on party lists and assess the results. The
following should also be noted:
- A meeting with party leaders, the Chairman and Director-General of RAI
and the Chairman of the Parliamentary RAI Oversight Commission, to promote
women candidates for the April 1992 elections and request greater coverage of
women's issues in radio and television news programmes during the election
campaign (29 January 1992);
- The "Vote for Women" advertising campaign for the April 1992
parliamentary elections;
- The document adopted in plenary meeting on 30 April 1992 and publicized
in the press, calling for adequate representation of women in the bureaux of
parliamentary commissions, councils and committees and in all senior
institutions;
- The document, sent to the Prime Minister, requesting guarantees of
adequate representation of women in economic public sector management posts
(plenary meeting of 20 December 1991);
- The recommendation to local authorities to incorporate equal
opportunity
policy into provincial and district council statutes;
- The "Images of Women" initiative (beginning in October 1990).
In addition to the establishment of the Commission, another measure to
ensure the development and advancement of women was the creation of the
National Committee for the implementation of the principles of equal treatment
and equality of opportunity between male and female workers. The Committee's
purpose is to promote the eradication of discrimination based on sex and of
any other obstacle which has the practical effect of limiting women's equality
in access to employment and in the workplace.
The composition of the Committee is described in article 5 (2) of the
law of 10 April l991, which mentions the members who have the right to vote.
They are: the Minister of Labour and Social Security and, as delegated by him,
an under-secretary of State who acts as Chairman. The other members are as
follows: five persons designated by the most representative trade union
confederations; five others designated by the employers' confederations most
representative of the various economic sectors at the national level; one
person designated, by mutual agreement, by the associations for the
representation, assistance and protection of the cooperative movement which
are most representative at the national level; 11 members designated by the
associations and movements for equality and equal opportunity in employment
which are most representative at the national level, and the equality adviser
from the Central Employment Commission.
The initiatives of both the National Commission and the Committee,
whose
creation is envisaged in the Act on affirmative action, may involve activities
which come under the heading of affirmative action.
Progress is a global phenomenon of which legislative changes are only
one aspect. At the time of the fall of the Fascist regime, Italy was an
essentially rural country: 49 per cent of the population worked in
agriculture. Nowadays, 12 per cent still work in the agricultural sector,
while the majority of people in employment work in industry and services.
During the 1950s in Italy, considerable numbers of men migrated to the
cities to work. This resulted in the feminization of agriculture as women
stayed in the villages to run agricultural enterprises. In recent years, there
has at long last been an expansion of cooperatives. Women's participation in
cooperatives is unlimited and even includes leadership positions.
Italian legislation has prohibited dismissal on grounds of marriage or
maternity, while expanding access to all occupations (the fact that women have
recently begun to occupy top civil service and diplomatic posts is due solely
to career development mechanisms). Act No. 903 on equality in employment was
promulgated in 1977. The Chamber of Deputies is currently discussing bills for
the advancement of women entrepreneurs and the enhancement of their
professional skills. The Government made the necessary financial provision for
this in its latest budget. Funding has also been set aside for bills to
introduce compensation for housewives who suffer accidents in the home and
also to give them entitlement to a pension.
Regarding the employment situation for women:
Workers currently in employment in the Mezzogiorno
(south) of Italy
(Yearly averages, ISTAT data)
Women Total
1988 7 113 21 103
1989 7 153 21 004
Unemployed workers in the Mezzogiorno
(Yearly averages, ISTAT data)
Women Total
1988 871 1 644
1989 898 1 634
Unemployed workers nationwide
(Yearly averages, ISTAT data)
Women Total
1988 1 645 2 885
1989 1 648 2 860
Jobs for women
The increasing supply of jobs for women has been a constant trend in
recent years. The number of women entering the labour market is also
increasing.
During the 1980s, the number of women in employment or seeking
employment increased by about 1.5 million (out of a total of 8,815,000). In
1990, women made up 37 per cent of the labour force (ISTAT data).
In January 1990:
Women in employment: 7,238,000
Women seeking employment: 1,577,000 (as compared with 1,158,000 men)
(ISTAT data).
Young people seeking employment for the first time:
Women: 665,000
Men: 629,000
Adults without professional qualifications seeking employment:
Women: 665,000
Men: 231,000.
Women account for 34.3 per cent of all persons in employment; the
average for Europe is 35 per cent.
Employment of women by sector, as a percentage of all women in employment:
- tertiary sector: 67.9 per cent (men: 54.1 per cent); 1980 figure: 55.7
per cent;
- industry: 23.3 per cent (men: 37.ó per cent); 1980 figure: 28 per cent;
- agriculture: 8.8 per cent (men: 8.3 per cent); 1980 figure: 16.3 per
cent.
Many questions have been raised about the status of women in the south
of the country. The situation must be looked at in the broader context of the
overall problem of the Mezzogiorno. That people speak of "two Italys" shows
the seriousness of the problem.
There are laws, such as those on training and other contracts, which
provide for preferential action to be taken for women in the south, who
currently account for the majority of unemployed women in Italy. Young women
also need to receive guidance on their choice of training.
There is a high rate of unemployment among women who have a diploma or
university degree, and there is a national shortfall of 100,000 health
workers. There are contradictions that need to be overcome, but there is also
cultural resistance.
ILO Convention No. 156 of 1981 has yet to be ratified by Italy, the
priority being to harmonize legislation among the 12 countries of the European
Community.
Article 4
TEMPORARY SPECIAL MEASURES AND PROTECTION OF MATERNITY
Article 4
1. Adoption by States Parties of temporary special measures aimed at
accelerating de facto equality between men and women shall not be considered
discrimination as defined in the present Convention, but shall in no way
entail as a consequence the maintenance of unequal or separate standards,
these measures shall be discontinued when the objectives of equality of
opportunity and treatment have been achieved.
2. Adoption by States Parties of special measures, including those
measures contained in the present Convention, aimed at protecting maternity
shall not be considered discriminatory.
4.1 Temporary measures1/
The National Commission for the Achievement of Equality between Men and
Women has taken a number of positive steps that fall within the category of
"temporary special measures" referred to in this article, for example:
- The "Vote for Women" advertising campaign for the June 1989 elections
to
the European Parliament.
- Two meetings with the leaders of all political parties during the May
1990 administrative elections, to request greater representation of women on
lists of candidates and to assess the results.
- Meetings with party leaders, the Chairman and Director-General of RAI
and the Chairman of the Parliamentary RAI Oversight Commission, to promote
women candidates for the April 1992 elections and request greater coverage of
women's issues in radio and television news programmes during the election
campaign (29 January 1992).
- The "Vote for Women" advertising campaign for the April 1992
parliamentary elections.
- The document adopted in plenary meeting on 30 April 1992 and publicized
in the press, calling for adequate representation of women in the bureaux of
parliamentary commissions, councils and committees and in senior institutions.
- The request to the Prime Minister for guarantees of adequate
representation of women in economic and public sector management posts
(plenary meeting of 20 December 1991).
1/ In this connection, see also the commentary on article 11.
- The recommendation to local authorities to incorporate equal
opportunity
policy into provincial and district council statutes.
- The "Images of Women" initiative (beginning in October 1990).
During the 1992 election campaign in which the National Commission used
the slogan "more votes for women, more value to politics", an application by
one candidate to have the campaign discontinued, because it violated the
principle of equality among citizens, stipulated in article 3 of the
Constitution, was rejected on 29 March 1992 by the Ancona justice of the
peace, to whom the application had been addressed, on the grounds that there
was "a very specific public interest in promoting any initiative designed not
only to encourage women's participation in electoral contests but also to
eliminate all de facto obstacles, including the difficulty of raising the
awareness of the electorate, and to encourage the effective presence of women
at all institutional levels, starting with Parliament, the highest expression
of the people's will ...".
Also on this issue, two important laws on affirmative action in the
field of employment should be noted: Act No. 125 of 10 April 1991, mentioned
above, and Act No. 215 of 25 February 1992, which envisages affirmative action
for women entrepreneurs.
4.2 Measures to protect maternity
Two pieces of legislation should be mentioned in connection with the
protection of maternity, namely, Act No. 546 of 29 December 1987 concerning
the maternity allowance for self-employed women, and Act No. 379 of 11
December 1990 concerning the maternity allowance for women in professional and
skilled occupations, which stipulates the payment of an allowance calculated
at 80 per cent of five twelfths of the earned income declared to tax
authorities by a woman engaged in a professional occupation during the second
year preceding that in which the application is made (articles 1 and 2). The
allowance is paid even in cases of adoption or foster placement, or in the
event of a miscarriage or therapeutic abortion occurring after the third month
of pregnancy.
In the latter case, the allowance is equal to 80 per cent of the
monthly
income or remuneration.
Framework Law No. 104 of 5 February 1992 concerns the social
integration
and rights of disabled persons and assistance to such persons and contains a
number of provisions benefiting the working mother or working father of a
disabled person. These include extension of the period of optional leave from
work to up to three years, on condition that the child is not hospitalized on
a full-time basis in a specialized institution; alternatively, the parent may
take two hours' paid leave per day until the child's third birthday. Other
benefits envisaged by the law include three days' leave per month for either
parent and the parent's right to choose, whenever possible, the workplace
closest to his or her place of residence and the right not to be transferred
to another workplace without his or her consent.
Also in connection with the protection of maternity, Trentino-Alto
Adige
Regional Law No. 4 of 1992, adopted by the region on 15 April 1992 and
approved by the Council of Ministers on 19 May 1992, makes provision for
integrated welfare measures, including:
(a) Payment of a one-time allowance on the birth of a child to mothers
who are not entitled to the social security payments provided for the same
purpose;
(b) Payment to a parent of a child allowance from the age of four
months
until the child's first birthday when the parent is caring for the child and
is `not in full-time employment or self-employment;
(c) Payment of a family allowance to supplement the household allowance
pursuant to Act No. 153 of 13 May 1988;
(d) Payment of an allowance to self-employed workers, domestic helps
and
housewives for any illness-related stay in hospital;
(e) Various types of insurance against household accidents.