Introduction 

Gender equality is a fundamental goal that everyone, everywhere, should strive to achieve. It is not an issue concerning women alone, but a collective responsibility that benefits society as a whole. As one of the core principles of the 2030 Agenda, gender equality is a powerful driver for achieving all 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Respecting the differences based on gender, the most numerous and symbolically important, lays the foundation for respecting all other forms of differences. Only in this way, we move closer to building a peaceful , just and inclusive society. Eliminating disparities between men and women in terms of participation levels, access, remuneration, rights, benefits is therefore essential.

UN Women Italy outlines that gender equality is not only a matter of justice and equality, but also a strategic lever for economic growth, innovation and competitiveness in the country. According to the International Monetary Fund, reducing workplace gender inequality could boost emerging countries' GDP by up to 8%. When combined with governance reforms, stronger institutions and financial measures to unlock investment, efforts to close gender gaps can significantly amplify economic returns. Research cited by UN Women Italy didn’t show by chance that companies with at least three women on their boards tend to perform better financially and achieve above-average ESG results.

Reducing the gender gap in the workplace can also help address demographic decline and the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. In the technology and artificial intelligence sectors, UN Women Italy denounced that women remain underrepresented: only 6% of women work in software development and 12% in AI research, and women represent only 20.6% of students enrolled in ICT-related university program

Women and girls make up half of the world’s population. Therefore, gender inequality narrows the potential social progress of half of humanity. Regardless of individual opinions, advancing gender equality is essential to building healthy societies, from reducing poverty to improving health, education, protection and overall well-being for both girls and boys

Nowadays context in Italy

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2025  published by the World Economic Forum,  no country in the world has achieved gender equality today. In Italy, women rights are formally protected by national laws, as well as legislation from the European Union and the United Nations. Nonetheless, Italian society continues to struggle with stereotypical gender roles and structural sexism, which risk undermining the effective protection of women’s rights. The 2025 EIGE Gender Equality Index ranks Italy 12th among EU Member States, with a score of 61.9 points out of 100. Similarly, Italy is placed 35th out of 40 in the EU region on the 2025 Global Gender Gap Report, dropping five positions since 2023. 

UN Women outlined several key areas continuing to weaken the full realization of women’s rights in Italy. These include violence against women; the disproportionate burden of unpaid care and domestic work on women and girls; the persistent gender pay gap; higher risks of poverty among women; physical and sexual harassment; limited access to assets, including land ownership; and the gendered impacts of environmental challenges.

From a legal perspective, Italy has progressively developed a framework aimed at protecting women’s rights. Women obtained the right to vote and to stand for election in 1946. Subsequent reforms introduced economic protections for working mothers (1950) and granted women access to public office (1963). Key reforms strengthening women’s personal freedom were adopted in the following decades: the introduction of divorce (1970), family law reform establishing equality between spouses (1975), legislation on maternity protection and voluntary termination of pregnancy (1978)  and the abolition of “honour killing” provisions and so-called “marriage of reparation” (1981). It was only in 1996 that the Italian Criminal Code reclassified sexual violence as a crime against the person, specifically against personal freedom, rather than a crime against public morality. More recent measures include the 2009 law criminalizing persecutory acts, which established the offence of stalking. Since 2011, further protections have been introduced, including gender quotas in public administration and on corporate boards, as well as incentives for companies promoting equal opportunities and combating workplace sexual harassment. In 2019, Law No. 69/2019, known as the Codice Rosso, strengthened measures against gender-based violence and femicide, accelerating judicial procedures in such cases and introducing specific penalties for crimes such as revenge porn.

Women's rights in the workplace

Regardless of their gender, employees must receive equal treatment with regard to recruitment, pay, promotion and contract termination under the Italian constitution. In practice, however, significant disparities persist. According to the Gender Equality Index, Italy ranks last in the EU with a score of 61.0 in the domain of work, largely due to weak performance in the subdomain of participation. Only around 52.4% of working-age women have a job (compared to the OECD average of 63.2%), compared to 70.3% of men (OECD average: 77%). The participation rates in Italy remain the lowest in the EU for both genders, but the gender gap remains substantial. The full-time equivalent (FTE) employment rate further highlights this disparity: it stands at 33%  for women, compared to 53% for men. 

Since 2015, there have been modest improvements in the duration of working life between women and men and in reducing the level of vertical segregation of women, but structural inequalities remain deeply rooted. The disparity in earnings ratio among men and women is still very high. This is a complex issue and reasons behind differences in salary can be numerous, but data from the Gender Equality Index show a striking imbalance within households: women in heterosexual couples earn on average the 53 % of their partner’s income, while men on average 112 % more than their partner’s income. Additionally, Italy also faces a marked underrepresentation of women in senior, managerial, and decision-making roles. To address this gap, various support networks and initiatives have emerged to promote female entrepreneurship and leadership, such as Italia Domani, WEGate, Professional Women’s Network and programs promoted by the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy. 

Beyond formal employment barriers, Italian women face further less visible obstacles such as unpaid domestic and care work. On average, women in Italy spend 20.4% of their time on housework, compared to 8.4% for men. Mothers are expected to stay home to take care of young children under the age of 3 and, since most primary schools in Italy operate on half days, 20% of women quit their jobs within a year of having their first child.

With regards to maternity protection, Italy has relatively strong legal safeguards. New mothers are entitled to five months (20 weeks) of mandatory maternity leave paid at 80% of their wage. In addition, both parents can take up to nine months of additional parental leave. Italian labor law imposes limitations on employers from firing female employees from the start of their pregnancy until one year after the birth. During this time, new mothers are also entitled to two hours of rest per working day and can resign without notice.

Women's rights and healthcare

Since 2020, Italy has seen a slight decline of 0.1 points in the health domain considering the Gender Equality Index. The Italy tax-funded healthcare system should provide free and low-cost health care regardless gender. Italian women are entitled to maternity care, sexual  and reproductive health services and psychological support for survivors of domestic violence. In recent years, however, two issues have been at the center of public debate: reproductive and sexual healthcare, particularly access to abortion, and the recognition of menstrual leave.
Abortion has been legal in Italy since the approval of the Law No. 194/1978, which decriminalized voluntary termination of pregnancy. The pharmacological voluntary interruption of pregnancy (using RU846) can take place, according to the Ministry's guidelines, within the ninth week and on an outpatient basis. In practice, however, access remains uneven. Only a limited number of facilities can perform this procedure on an outpatient basis and a high proportion of healthcare professionals invoke conscientious objection, refusing to perform abortions on moral or religious grounds. Amnesty International repeatedly expressed concern that only 64% of hospitals in Italy have departments that comply with the law, with more than 70% of doctors, anaesthetists and paramedics claiming conscientious objection. Concerns have also intensified following the approval of Law No. 56/2024, opening the doors to anti-abortion associations in counseling centers, which should be intended to provide reproductive and sexual healthcare services, including information and support related to abortion.

Another emerging issue concerns menstrual leave. Recently some Italian secondary grade schools have introduced menstrual leave for female students with certified dysmenorrhea, allowing up to two days of absence per month without affecting the minimum attendance requirement for the academic year. This practice was introduced for the first time in Italy in a school in Ravenna in 2022, followed by other schools in Padova, Roma, Catania, Frosinone, Torino, Potenza and Milano. This initiative is proposed and adopted only by singular schools and the issue is deeply linked to the welfare of many girls and women, as the Società Italiana di Medicina dell'Adolescenza has estimated that up to 52% of missing classes by teenagers is linked to dysmenorrhea. Despite many legislative proposals during the years (the first proposal was elaborated in 2016), so far in Italy there is not a national law to guarantee the right to be absent from the workplace due to pains related to dysmenorrhea implicitly creating for many women and girls barriers for the fulfilment of their rights.

Against discrimination and against violence based on gender

More broadly, gender equality remains a priority across multiple levels of Italian society and is consistently included on the agendas of civil society organizations, public institutions, schools, and academic institutions. Gender-based discrimination and violence, female genital mutilation, human and sex trafficking and stalking are all prohibited by law. Italy has also adopted the fifth National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security (2025-2029) outlining a proactive approach to protect and promote the rights of women and girls in Italy. Despite this formal framework, discrimination and especially violence against women remains deeply rooted in structural and cultural patterns shaped by longstanding patriarchal norms. Preventing gender-based violence therefore requires not only legal reforms but also profound cultural change.

The civil society organization Non Una di Meno has recorded 84 femicides only in 2025, alongside numerous other gender-related killings. In the same year, another 78 attempted femicides were reported. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the perpetrator was known to the victim, highlighting the urgent need for preventive interventions that address intimate and domestic contexts, as well as broader societal attitudes. Preliminary estimates of the National Statistics Institute indicate that approximately 6.4 million (31.9%) Italian women aged between 16 and 75 have experienced physical or sexual violence at least once during their lifetime. Law No. 181/2025 formally recognized femicide as a distinct criminal offence, but civil society organizations are concerned about the lack of widespread awareness and the need for a new narrative, one that is not victimising and is oriented towards male and collective responsibility.  Education plays a crucial role in prevention. In October 2025, the Minister of Education and Merit Valditara announced that the 2025 guidelines on civic education in schools include relationship education and education on respect for everyone, especially women, as compulsory learning objectives. Despite this, Italy lacks a systematic and uniform approach to sex and relationship education and at the end of 2025, a bill on informed parental consent was approved by the Deputies Chamber that, if approved by the Senate, would allow parents of secondary school children to exclude them from sex and relationship education classes. Between 2016 and 2020, only 219 educational initiatives on sex education were identified nationwide, with an average duration of four to six hours per year. Just 21 of these projects explicitly addressed “diversity education,” while most focused primarily on disease prevention. Limiting discussions of sexuality to biological aspects risks undermining the broader preventive function of education, which should equip young people with the tools to challenge stereotypes, build respectful relationships, and prevent future episodes of violence and discrimination.

At the same time, although Italian authorities have progressively strengthened laws concerning violence and sexual assault, the legal framework is not fully based on the principle of affirmative consent. Amnesty international has urged Italy to reform its laws and judicial practices so that cases of sexual violence do not depend on victims showing evidence that they resisted and did not seek the sexual act. Instead courts should centre their assessment on whether genuine consent was present. consider the accused man “guilty until proven innocent”. A bill aimed at reforming sexual violence legislation is currently under parliamentary debate, offering tangible prospects of advancement.