Dunja Mijatović, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, has released a new report on the situation of migration and asylum, women's rights and gender equality in Italy, following her visit to our country in June 2023. The report shows that while Italy is committed to migration, it must “ensure adequate search and rescue capacity” for people at sea. In addition, Italian legislation that hinders the work of NGOs in this area must be repealed. Among other things, the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Italian government with Albania does not meet international human rights standards, and Italy needs to improve its domestic asylum and reception system.

When it comes, however, to gender equality and combating violence against women, the situation looks bad. Despite the presence of a legal framework against violence, discrimination and inequality, women continue to suffer it on a daily basis. National institutions must work to combat it and improve support services for victims of gender-based violence. 

In addition, crimes of sexual violence such as rape should be criminalized based on the concept of freely given consent. Special attention should be paid to victims of sexual violence and law enforcement and judicial personnel should be trained on the treatment of women and LGBTQI victims of violence.

Regarding the rights of the LGBTQI community, the report calls on Italy to establish anti-discrimination, hate crime and hate speech legislation that covers the rights of LGBTQI people.

Finally, the current disproportionate laws against defamation hinder the work of journalists. Therefore, the Commissioner recommends decriminalizing these laws to protect freedom of expression.