At the end of the examination of the report presented by Italy at its 2035th and 2036th sessions on 19 February 2024 in Geneva, and the discussion that followed, also in the light of a number of alternative reports submitted by Italian non-governmental organizations, CEDAW addressed the following recommendations to the Italian Authorities.

Legislative framework and access to justice
Adopt a clear definition of discrimination against women, including direct and indirect discrimination in the public and private spheres, as well as intersectional forms of discrimination, in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Convention); Mobilize political support in the Senate, for the approval, of the "Decreto Zan", aimed at amending Article 604 bis of the Criminal Code to criminalize discrimination and violence based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability; Systematically collect data and create mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of laws and policies aimed at promoting de jure (legal) and de facto (substantive) equality of women and men; Expand and adequately fund public services to ensure access to free legal aid for women without sufficient means, in particular for women in rural areas, women with disabilities, migrant, asylum seeker and refugee women, Roma, Sinti and “Caminanti” women, with respect to proceedings related to gender-based violence and discrimination against women; Strengthen training programmes for judges, prosecutors, lawyers and other legal practitioners with regard to the Convention, its Optional Protocol, the Committee's General Recommendations and its Views on individual communications and investigation reports, under the Optional Protocol, and take action against gender bias and secondary victimisation against women.

Women, peace and security
Apply all possible measures to prevent the negative impact of the misuse of exported weapons on women, including in conflict zones; Include in its next Periodic Report information on the measures taken to address the correlation between arms exports and the purchase of firearms on the one hand, and gender-based violence on the other; Accelerate the incorporation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court into national law.

Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women and equal participation in political life
Establish a coordination mechanism, with a strong mandate and adequate human and financial resources, to advance women's rights and gender equality in a coordinated manner; Allocate adequate resources to strengthening the means and capacities in the field of gender equality of the Public Administration, at national and regional level; Ensure the equal participation of women's rights organizations in the design, adoption and implementation of national plans and strategies, including the National Recovery and Resilience Plan; Strengthen the priorities of gender equality and women's empowerment in negotiations and cooperation agreements in the framework of international cooperation and development and increase the resources allocated to international cooperation to promote gender equality and women's empowerment, particularly in the countries of origin of the main migrant populations in Italy; Define a strategy that ensures 50/50 gender equality in all areas of political and public life, with defined deadlines, in particular with regard to elective offices in national, regional and local legislative bodies and within the structures and electoral lists of political parties, paying particular attention to the representation of disadvantaged women's groups.

National Human Rights Institution
To create as soon as possible, as already recommended in the past, an independent National Human Rights Institution, in line with the principles relating to the status of national institutions (the Paris Principles), with a strong mandate for the protection and promotion of women's human rights and to provide it with adequate human, technical and financial resources to effectively carry out its mandate.

Combating gender stereotypes
Strengthen existing regulatory measures and accelerate the adoption of a comprehensive strategy with proactive measures to eliminate stereotypes about the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and society, allocate adequate human, technical and financial resources for its implementation in collaboration with the Regions, and ensure the imposition of sanctions by the Italian Communications Authority (AGCOM) in cases of use of a discriminatory and hateful language against women; Take decisive action to counter hate speech against LGBTI women and girls and women and girls with disabilities and promote the use of gender-sensitive language in the media, including by holding social media platforms accountable for user-generated content; Put in place adequate safeguards to prevent gender stereotypes associated with biometrics, surveillance and algorithmic profiling systems by law enforcement agencies in prevention and investigations, and take measures to eliminate discrimination related to artificial intelligence and algorithmic services.

Gender-based violence
Provide adequate means for the implementation of the regulatory and strategic framework aimed at preventing, combating and punishing all forms of violence against women, as well as with regard to the new National Strategic Plan on Men Violence against Women; Encourage the reporting of gender-based violence against women and girls, including women with disabilities, women in rural areas and refugee, asylum seeker and migrant women, by raising awareness of the criminal nature of gender-based violence against women; Amend the Criminal Code to specifically criminalise femicide, including violence against LGBTI people, and define all forms of gender-based violence against women, including physical, psychological, sexual, economic and domestic violence as criminal offences; Amending the Criminal Code to incorporate a definition of rape based on the lack of free and voluntary expression of consent, so that it covers any non-consensual sexual act and takes into account all coercive circumstances, in line with international human rights standards; Ensure, through mandatory and continuous reinforcement of training of judges, prosecutors, police officers and other law enforcement agencies, that gender-based violence, including sexual and domestic violence against women, is effectively investigated and prosecuted; Assess the impact of the new measures introduced by the “Cartabia Law” in cases of gender-based violence against women and further strengthen efforts to create courts specialized in gender-based violence against women, in all regions of the State Party; Adequately finance victim support services, including by subsidizing shelters run by non-governmental organizations, and expand the network of specialized shelters; Ensure the systematic collection of data on the incidence of all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls, including domestic violence, forced sterilization, cyber-violence and femicide, disaggregated by age, region, disability and relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.

Trafficking and exploitation of prostitution
Adopt comprehensive legislation to combat trafficking in persons, especially women and girls, and adequately prosecute and punish traffickers and their accomplices, including when they are public officials; Strengthen mechanisms for the early identification and referral of victims of trafficking to appropriate services, provide temporary residence permits and protection to victims of trafficking, regardless of their ability or willingness to cooperate with judicial authorities, and ensure that an individualised risk assessment is conducted prior to any forced removal, to prevent trafficking or re-trafficking of victims of trafficking upon return to the country of origin; Adopt procedures for the early identification and referral to appropriate services, both of children who are victims of trafficking and of victims of trafficking who are forced into prostitution on the web; Apply specific measures to target the continued operation by Nigerian trafficking organised networks, which subject Nigerian women and unaccompanied Nigerian children to sex trafficking; Ensure that victims of trafficking have full and timely access to information and assistance in an accessible language and with accessible procedures; Eliminate any restrictions on the work of non-governmental organizations that assist victims of trafficking in obtaining international protection and access to social inclusion projects; Ensure the systematic collection of data on victims of trafficking, disaggregated by sex, age and nationality, and adopt standardized operating procedures for data protection; Strengthen assistance and exit programs for women and girls.

Nationality
Improve the procedures for determining statelessness by ensuring compliance with international standards on procedural guarantees and facilitate access to Italian citizenship for stateless persons and children of stateless persons not formally recognized, with particular attention to women and girls.

Education
Promote the importance of girls' education at all levels, as a basis for their empowerment; Strengthen measures to address gender stereotypes and structural barriers, which can discourage young women and girls from pursuing careers as university lecturers or studying in traditionally male-dominated fields, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and information and communication technologies (IT), including artificial intelligence; Eliminate gender stereotypes from textbooks at all levels of education; Ensure that school curricula, academic programmes and vocational training for teachers adequately address women's rights and gender equality; Provide comprehensive and age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and the rights of girls and boys as part of the regular school curriculum, including responsible sexual behaviour and prevention of early pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; Take measures to reduce early school dropout of girls and women belonging to disadvantaged groups, in particular Roma, Sinti and Traveller women and girls, and migrant and refugee women and girls; Develop a national anti-bullying policy to ensure safety and inclusive educational environments, free from discrimination, harassment and gender-based violence against women and girls, including through safe transport to and from schools; Investigate, prosecute and adequately punish all cases of harassment and gender-based violence against girls and women in educational institutions.

Employment and migrant workers
Formulate a national policy for equal opportunities at work and continue to strengthen measures to increase women's access to employment in the formal economy; Apply the principle of equal pay for work of equal value; Strengthen measures to close the gender pay gap; Promote the equal sharing of family and care responsibilities between women and men by introducing flexible working arrangements and innovative measures to increase social acceptance of men who take care of their children and women who choose to return to work after childbirth; Increase the availability of quality and affordable childcare facilities and services; Adopt programmes to support women who are trying to re-enter the labour market after long career breaks; Increase women's access to job opportunities in the areas of climate transition as well as technology and innovation; Ensure the distribution of EU funds for the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRP), with a view to consolidating professional and wage equality; Combat gender stereotypes, which dissuade fathers from sharing parental responsibilities equally; Increase paid paternity leave or shared parental leave, in order to promote equal sharing of domestic and childcare responsibilities, as well as responsible parenthood. As far as female workers are concerned, strengthen measures to combat labour exploitation of migrant workers, increasing labour inspections and the capacities of the National Labour Inspectorate, facilitating access to regularisation procedures for migrant workers to reduce undeclared work, establishing confidential procedures to allow migrant workers to file complaints against their employers without fear of retaliation. To improve women's enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms in all aspects of life, the Committee urges Italy to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

Access to health
Strengthen women's access to health services, including sexual and reproductive health services, throughout Italy, especially in rural and remote areas, with a particular focus on women belonging to ethnic minorities such as Roma, Sinti and Caminanti women, refugee, asylum seeker and migrant women and LGBTI women; Increase the budget allocated to the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, access to contraceptives at affordable prices; Ensure that the exercise of conscientious objection by health care personnel does not prevent women from accessing safe abortion services, and take effective measures to prevent and address victimization and harassment of women who choose to have an abortion; Ensure that women and girls with disabilities, including women and girls with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities, have adequate access to health care services, including sexual and reproductive health services; To inform health professionals adequately about the right of women and girls with disabilities to decide for themselves on issues related to their health.

Refugee women, asylum seekers and women prisoners
Adopt age-appropriate gender-sensitive screening and assessment procedures to ensure identification, protection and referral to sectoral support services for refugees and asylum seekers, in particular of women and girls who are victims of or at risk of gender-based violence, as previously recommended; Strictly observe the principle of non-refoulement for all women and girls in need of international protection. Ensure that women in pre-trial detention have adequate access to legal assistance, and that conditions of detention of women, including in migrant detention centres, are in line with the UN Standards for the Treatment of Women Detained, Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders and the UN Standards for the Treatment of Prisoners.

Climate change and disaster risk reduction
Ensure that women are represented and participate equally in the development of legislation, policies and programmes on climate change, disaster response and disaster risk reduction; Integrate the gender perspective into the above laws and policies and ensure that women, particularly those in rural areas, participate equally in their development; Take measures to address the impact of climate change specifically on women's livelihoods and access to resources

Follow-up of the report and preparation of the next one
The Committee asks Italy to provide, within two years, written information on the measures taken to implement the above Recommendations concerning the creation of a National Human Rights Institution, to ensure the equal participation of women and men in political and public life and employment, and to women refugees and asylum seekers. The Committee will communicate the due date of the next Periodic Report in line with a future timetable based on an eight-year review cycle.