Violence and discrimination against women in Italy is a “prevailing and urgent concern,” a European expert on human rights on Thursday last week said in a scathing report that comes amid a national outcry over the murder of a young woman, allegedly by her ex-boyfriend.
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic faulted Italy across multiple areas, saying that Italian courts and police sometimes revictimize the victims of gender-based violence and that women have increasingly less access to abortion services.
She also said that Italy is placed last in the EU ranking for gender equality in the workplace.
The report followed a visit by Mijatovic to Italy in June and also focused on the country’s handling of migrants and press freedom.
However, the section of her report on women comes amid a national reckoning on gender-based violence following a case that has grabbed headlines for a month.
Giulia Cecchettin, a 22-year-old who was about to graduate with a bioengineering degree, was found dead, her throat slit, in a ditch in a remote area of the Alpine foothills on Nov. 18. She had disappeared along with her ex-boyfriend a week earlier after meeting him for a burger.
Filippo Turetta, 21, was arrested in Germany, and is being held in an Italian jail pending an investigation to bring charges.
Turetta’s lawyer has said that he admitted to the crime under prosecutors’ questioning.
Cecchetin was among 102 women murdered in Italy from Jan. 1 to the middle of last month, more than half by current or former intimate partners, the Italian Ministry of the Interior said.
While Italy has made some progress and passed notable legislation to punish perpetrators of violence against women, courts interpret sex crimes differently, and there are uneven, regional disparities in access and funding to shelters and other services for victims of domestic violence, the report said.
“There is an urgent need to combat sexism and prejudice against women among law enforcement, prosecution and judicial authorities, which contribute toward the low prosecution and conviction rates in cases of violence against women and impunity for perpetrators,” the report said.
It called for better training of personnel to improve the treatment of victims and prevent them from being revictimized.
In its official response, the Italian government said the report was incomplete and in some cases incorrect, and that new prevention initiatives are under way, along with funding.
It also referred to provisions of its five-year strategic plan to address gender equality.
Italy ranks 13th in the EU’s Gender Equality Index, under the EU average and the worst score for any major European economy. The index ranks EU countries on certain benchmarks in economic, political, education and health-based criteria. In the criteria of gender equality in the workplace, Italy ranks last altogether.
Motherhood in general and the COVID-19 pandemic in particular have exacerbated the gender gap in the workplace, with 38 percent of women changing their employment status for family reasons, compared with 12 percent of men, the report said.
The gender pay gap is also widening, particularly in the private sector where women earn up to 20 percent and in some cases 24 percent less than their male counterparts, the report said.
Mijatovic blamed a deeply rooted culture of “entrenched stereotypes” about women, their negative portrayal in the media and “sexist hate speech” in public debate as part of the problem.
In its response, the Italian government strongly protested the assertion, listing the women in public office, starting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s first female head of government.
On sexual and reproductive health, the commissioner said that women in Italy have uneven access to abortion, which has been legal since 1978. She cited bureaucratic obstacles, regional disparities and widespread conscientious objection by doctors who refuse to terminate pregnancies.
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