A new report from GREVIO, the Council of Europe’s expert group on violence against women, has urged the Italian authorities to enact more measures to protect women from violence.
Written by the Council of Europe
Strasbourg, 13.01.2020 – In its first report published today on implementation by Italy of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence, known as the “Istanbul Convention”, the Group of Experts (GREVIO) welcomes a succession of legislative reforms with concrete actions to stop violence.
Some of these legislative initiatives made considerable headway, such as the legislation of 2009 on stalking, or the adoption of Law No. 119/2013 which formalised the authorities’ duty to support and to promote, including by attributing financial means, a vast network of support services for victims. Law Decree No. 80/2015 granting women victims of violence special paid leave and Law No. 4/2018 containing several measures in favor of orphans of a victim of domestic violence were also particularly innovative.
While acknowledging progress made to promote women’s rights, the report highlights that the cause of gender equality is facing resistance in the country with emerging signs of a tendency to reinterpret and refocus gender-equality in terms of family and motherhood policies.
