Italy – CEDAW Committee Review Concluding Observations + List of Italy Women’s Platform Shadow Report Critical Issues
Author: WUNRN
Date: August 8, 2017
FULL 17-PAGE UN CEDAW COMMITTEE REVIEW OF ITALY REPORT, CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS: CEDAW Comm ITALY Review Concluding Observations
CEDAW Committee Website: http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cedaw/pages/cedawindex.aspx
CEDAW PRE-SESSION
October 2016
Pag.1 Institutional Mechanism Pag. 2 Stereotype Pag. 3 Work and Welfare Pag. 4 Health Pag. 5 Violence against Women Pag. 6 Migrant women, asylum seekers, refugees and victims of trafficking
Contact details
Shadow Report Rapporteurs: lavori.in.corsa.cedaw@gmail.com
Institutional mechanisms
The Italian national and local governments’ political commitment to make human rights of women and girls a priority and to integrate them (mainstreaming) in laws, policy guidelines and actions is sorely and willfully lacking. This neglect is in disregard, or even breach of CEDAW, the Beijing Process and other international standards’ requirements.
The government’s approach is based merely on the formal, but not substantial acceptance of the principle of equality between men and women. Such approach makes it impossible to adopt comprehensive, long-term strategies aimed at developing and implementing far-reaching gender policies which should be inclusive, adequately funded and constantly monitored in order to ascertain both the effectiveness and the quality of actions undertaken. There is no mechanism to monitor in a transparent, accountable and exhaustive fashion the allocation and deployment of the already woefully scarce financial resources earmarked by the Government and by local authorities. Nor does there exist a discernible effort at gender budgeting.
Consequently, durable and sustainable equality policies with their requisite inclusiveness, coherence over time and adequate financial backing throughout the national territory are lacking. There is an absence of a structural and systematic approach in countering and removing gender discrimination that seriously hampers the advancement of women’s rights. Government’s attention to a gender-oriented approach– also pertaining to sexual orientation–is intermittent and residual. In particular, since 2012, the Government failed to put in place adequate programmatic policies, and ensure continuity of leadership and purpose through its Department of Equal Opportunities at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
There is no stable mechanism to coordinate policy and action between government institutions and civil society on gender issues. Further, Italy failed to establish a National Human Rights Institution, despite the commitments undertaken by the country with the UN Security Council, CEDAW recommendations and the First and Second Universal Periodic Review of the Human Rights Council.
Despite numerous parliamentary proposals, there is still no law mandating national institutions to collect data disaggregated according to sex in any sphere of government action. Despite existing laws, equal representation mechanisms are still inadequate and weak.
Stereotypes
Despite the 2011 CEDAW recommendations, the Italian State, in its different articulations, has not undertaken systematic actions aimed at promoting changes in the stereotyped and unbalanced public perception of genders and at transforming the patriarchal culture based on unequal and discriminatory power relations between women and men in every sphere of life.
Sexist, discriminatory and stereotyped expressions and images, the degrading representation of the female body of every age, and of gender roles persist in the political debate, mass and social media, as well as in commercial messages. Macho attitudes and practices are widely tolerated.
In the social and mass media, femicide is persistently represented as a sudden raptus on the part of the perpetrator or as a result of the tragic outcome of a private matter in order to minimize and justify such crime.
Sexism and machismo are very strong not only in relation to women of every age, but also to vulnerable and migrant groups (Roma, Sinti, the LGBTQI community etc.).
The Italian grammar requires the use of gender-specific language, yet there is a reluctance to account for such specificity in political-administrative, public, educational, and private discourse, thus denying gender identity, particularly when referring to women who achieved professional prominence and leading positions.
The reform of the school system, known as “the Good School”, in 2013 concerned only the managerial and economic side of this system, but failed to spur the transformation of the cultural and structural obstacles and prejudices that hamper gender inequalities and women’s rights. Such transformation had been advocated by women for decades. Hence issues relating to equality between the sexes and to sexual education were, once again, left out of educational programs and materials. Schoolbooks have not been revised in order to avoid that gender prejudices and stereotypes are transmitted in their language and contents. Nor has the reform envisaged specific training courses for teachers at every level of the educational system aimed at promoting equality, recognition and deconstruction of stereotypes, and at countering discrimination and the structural and cultural underpinnings of gender violence.
Moreover, since 2011 conservative groups and other stakeholders have been allowed access to schools where they advocated discriminatory, homophobic and racist theories. Such advocacy was particularly carried out in kindergartens and primary schools. It conveyed disrespect of multiple gender identities, in support of the “natural/biological” character of traditional roles of men and women in family life and the public sphere.
Work and welfare
Women’s employment levels remain low (47.2%) with strong regional disparities between the Northern and Southern parts of the country and among different age groups. Income levels for equal work are inferior to those of men, with a high incidence of part-time jobs (not always a voluntary choice) and career paths and/or professional advancement that are either precluded to, or are made slower for, women. This implies a gender pay gap which is reflected in a higher gender pension gap (43.5%) and a tendency towards the feminization of poverty.
Widespread and increasing conditions of temporary employment for women affect especially younger age groups. Such job insecurity undermines their autonomy and self-determination, their civil and social participation, their aspirations, and their confidence in the future, as well as their ability to obtain benefits and access to welfare mechanisms and protection, and to develop lifelongplans, including motherhood.
The family-based approach of Italian social policies, affected by the weakening of the welfare system, determines a chronic restriction of choices for women forcing them to forego or postpone careers in order to meet their commitments/obligations of care-work for their kin.
As a result of the financial and economic crises, coupled with short-sighted policies, the welfare system capacity to help fulfill universal rights for all, particularly for women, including access to adequate food, health and housing is undermined and remains patchy in different parts of the country.
Women in general, have more difficulty in accessing credit.
In sum, all the obstacles described above create pockets of exclusion that preclude adequate access to social, economic and cultural rights for native and migrant women, and that ultimately undermine these women’s attainment of sufficient income levels to ensure satisfying and dignified life conditions.
Health
The right to health is not uniformly guaranteed in the nation.
Recent government policies have engendered a significant reduction of the services provided by the National Healthcare System as well as triggered a process toward the privatization of health-care services. This has led to a decrease in the demand of prevention and care services and to the rise of morbidity and mortality at different stages of the life cycle and among the most deprived sectors of society.
The essential level of assistance (LEA), introduced in 2001 and re-examined in 2016, are not actually granted throughout the nation (instead of the Euro 13 billion expected, just 8 million has been allocated).
Scientific research does not take into account different diseases and the differences among men and women and age groups; moreover, the health-care system does not provide for gender-oriented care. Family counseling, a free service with direct access, is distributed unevenly in different parts of the country and has been adversely affected both by the economic crisis and by political disempowerment. This penalizes younger generations, women, and migrant couples.
The state does not consider health risks caused by environmental pollution and the specific gender impact related to it.
Violation of sexual and reproductive rights
Women’s right to sexual and reproductive self-determination is systematically violated; moreover, access to sexual and reproductive health services and to health entitlements enshrined in law has been made more difficult. At the national level, conservative policies (such as the Fertility Day’s sexist and racist campaigns) have been adopted in order to support women’s fertility as a value in and of itself, rather than as an aspect connected to people’s general and reproductive health. The causes that lead to sterility or to the choice of foregoing maternity or paternity are not deemed relevant.
The European Committee for Social Rights of the Council of Europe has recognized twice the substantial non-application of law 194/1978-which legalizes abortion- due to the high number of
“conscientious objectors” among the public health system’s care givers. On average, 60% of doctors in the national health system refuse to perform abortions on “conscience” grounds. And in some parts of the country, particularly in the South, such numbers reach 93%, However, the government has not taken any steps to ensure that the care service provided for by the law is performed.
The Constitutional Court has declared the unconstitutionality of an important part of the law 40/2004 concerning medically assisted reproduction, asserting that such practice leads to an excessive protection of the embryo, which threatens woman’s health rights. In any case, medically assisted procreation, especially the heterologous type, still requires long waiting times thus forcing couples to seek such medical procedure abroad.
There have been no information campaigns on contraception. New contraception methods have risen in cost and are not covered by the national health system. Conversely, the price of old contraception methods (dangerous to women’s health) has remained stable. Female condoms remain unknown and not distributed anywhere.
Access to emergency contraception is made difficult. As opposed to what happens in other
European countries, the protocol of application of RU486 is still unevenly implemented in Italy and when applied it forces women to three days of hospitalization.
With regard to sexually-transmitted diseases, including HIV-AIDS, during the last years, a decrease of resources and measures for the prevention has been recorded, combined with an increase of those affected among the heterosexual population, especially among young people.
Violence against women
The Italian Government continues to regard violence against women (VaW) merely as emergencies thus denying its serious and widespread structural and cultural roots. One in three women has suffered some form of violence during her lifetime (ISTAT, survey 2015) and femicides are frequent.
International standards and conventions that have been accepted or ratified by Italy are regularly disregarded, including the obligations set forth by the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention).
Regarding this latter convention, and in particular for what concerns prevention policies, the following elements are of note:
-There is no inclusion in curricula at all levels of the educational system, including graduate studies in the social, medical, legal, historical, and political fields of a specific focus on structural factors underpinning VaW and on the effects of gender-based violence and gender discrimination. Equally lacking are specific curricula on international norms and standards promoting women’s rights and countering VaW;
-Measures and practices to promote awareness of VaW among all public services operators are patchy at best. Similarly, their training and a requirement to upgrade and refresh their knowledge of
VaW are not standardized and insufficient;
-State awareness-raising campaigns are discontinuous and lacking in meaningful content.
Moreover, Italy has been either negligent or ineffective or both in adopting:
– Integrated policies to protect victims and to punish acts of violence. The system and measures outlined in the 2015 National Plan on Violence against Women lack a global vision and a mechanism for effective implementation. It does not ensure the coordination of the national system with the regional systems, limiting the action of existing local networks;
-Financial resources supporting specific anti-violence women’s shelters are not sufficient and are not allocated with regularity and continuity. At the time of this writing, several anti-violence shelters for women have been forced to shut down or to reduce their activities.
– The lack of harmonization between criminal and civil protection measures makes it difficult for women to achieve adequate protection from domestic violence.
– The current organization of the courts and prosecution system also hinders a rapid and effective access to justice.
– Access to legal aid is not ensured to all women as required by law 119/2013.
-The condition of minors exposed to violence is undervalued, and family mediation and shared custody continue to be applied even in case of VaW.
Women belonging to vulnerable groups are exposed to greater risk of violence and multiple forms of discrimination, and they encounter greater difficulties in accessing the justice and protection systems, which are not equipped and trained to understand the complexity of their lives.
Migrant women, asylum seekers, refugees and victims of trafficking
In Italy, the difficulty of gaining one’s own residence permit is the main factor that exposes third country women citizens to multiple discrimination forms and gender-based violence in all spheres of life, including the workplace and the private realm, forcing them into a condition of social and economic marginalization. These conditions also determine a progressive deterioration of their health, as they are precluded access to the national health system, except in emergency cases.
Anti-trafficking measures and policies have been progressively weakened by the prevalence of repressive policies. Funds allocated for protection and support of trafficked women are inadequate and leave large areas of the nation without anti-trafficking services.
Due to the current regulation of residence permits, usually connected with a job contract, and/or family ties (as a wife or as a daughter who entered the territory for family reunification), migrant women, more than men, are likely to become undocumented, especially when they dare to challenge exploitation and violence, both at work and at home. The residence permit for victims of domestic violence (art. 18 bis of Legislative Decree 286/1998) is rarely implemented. Migrant women may encounter obstacles to gain access to anti-violence women’s shelters.
Access to international protection to women seeking asylum is less likely to be guaranteed than in cases pertaining to men. When international protection requests are accepted, these are granted prevalently on humanitarian grounds by virtue of generic gender-related vulnerabilities, rather than on the positive affirmation of international rights. Gender based persecution is not investigated nor recognized as a ground for the recognition of refugee status, in breach of article 60 of the Istanbul Convention which requires a gendersensitive interpretation for each of the 1951 Geneva Convention grounds.
The procedure for obtaining Italian citizenship by naturalization and marriage is still lengthy and not transparent.
Policies and practices related to women migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are lacking the following:
– a gender perspective in the definition and implementation of immigration policies;
– an adequate and uniform gender based training of public and private social workers who deal with migrant, asylum seekers and refugees at first and second reception. This deficiency leads to a lack of awareness about the many forms of VaW migrant women may suffer (women from conflicts, victims of torture, mass rapes, female genital mutilation, trafficking, etc.).
– the knowledge of national and international legal tools to protect female unaccompanied migrant children. This violates the rights of women and girls to be able to report violence they experienced and prevent them from the access to the forms of international protection recognized by law.
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