Rights expert blasts Italy's handling of gender-based violence and discrimination against women

A European human rights expert says violence and discrimination against women in Italy is a “prevailing and urgent concern.”

Violence and discrimination against women in Italy is a “prevailing and urgent concern,” a European expert on human rights said Thursday in a scathing report that comes amid a national outcry over a gruesome murder of a young woman allegedly by her ex-boyfriend.

Dunja Mijatovic, commissioner for human rights at the Council of Europe, faulted Italy across multiple areas, lamenting 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 noted Italy’s last-place in the EU ranking for gender equality in the workplace.

The report followed a visit by Mijatovic to Italy in June and focused also on the country’s handling of migrants and press freedom. But the section of her report on women comes amid a national reckoning on gender-based violence following the latest 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 later arrested in Germany, and is being held in an Italian jail pending an investigation to bring charges. Turetta's lawyer has said he admitted to the crime under prosecutors’ questioning.

Cecchetin was among 102 women murdered through mid-November this year in Italy, more than half by current or former intimate partners, according to the Interior Ministry.

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 treatment of victims and prevent them from being revictimized.

In it's official response, the Italian government said the report was incomplete and in some cases incorrect, stressing that new prevention initiatives and funding are under way. It also noted provisions of its five-year strategic plan to address gender equality.

Italy ranks 13th in the European Union’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% of women changing their employment status for family reasons, compared to 12% of men, the report said.

The gender pay gap is also widening, particularly in the private sector where women earn up to 20% and in some cases 24% less than their male counterparts, the report said.

Mijatovic blamed a deeply rooted culture of “entrenched stereotypes” about women, their negative portrayal in media and “sexist hate speech” in public debate as part of the problem. In its response, the Italian government strongly protested the assertion, noting above all the number of women in public office, starting with Premier Giorgia Meloni, Italy's first female head of government.

On sexual and reproductive health, the commissioner lamented 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.