Violence against women in Italy after Beijing 1995: the relationship between women’s movement(s), feminist practices and state policies

ABSTRACT

Italy, as well as other United Nations Member States, took up the global call to end all forms of violence against women and girls (VAW) embraced in the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Through this contribution, we aim to explore the tensions and synergies between the agendas of local women’s rights movement(s) and government strategies to implement Beijing. Specifically, we will analyse the role of women’s groups and feminist movement(s) in shaping VAW policies and interventions, on one hand, and, on the other hand, the relationships between the Italian strand of feminism and VAW policies and practices. Based on original quantitative and qualitative data collected between 2018 and 2019, we will analyse the extent to which feminist thoughts have (or have not) been recognised by Italian institutions in the past 25 years in relation to the approaches adopted to combat VAW.

L’Italie, à l’instar d’autres États membres de l’ONU, a répondu à l’appel mondial à mettre fin à toutes les formes de violence contre les femmes et les filles (VCF) adopté dans la Déclaration et le Programme d’action de Beijing de 1995. Grâce à cette contribution, nous cherchons à examiner les tensions et les synergies entre les ordres du jour du mouvement local (ou des mouvements locaux) de défense des droits de la femme et les stratégies gouvernementales en vue de la mise en œuvre de Beijing. Plus précisément, nous analyserons le rôle des groupes de femmes et du (ou des) mouvement(s) féministe(s) au moment de donner forme aux politiques et interventions en matière de lutte contre les VCF d’un côté et, d’un autre côté, les rapports entre le volet italien du féminisme et les politiques et pratiques de ce pays en matière de VCF. Sur la base de données quantitatives et qualitatives originales recueillies entre 2018 et 2019, nous analyserons dans quelle mesure la pensée féministe a été (ou pas) reconnue par les institutions italiennes durant les 25 dernières années dans le contexte des approches adoptées pour lutter contre les VCF.

Al igual que otros Estados miembros de las Naciones Unidas, Italia aceptó el llamado mundial a poner fin a todas las formas de violencia contra mujeres y niñas (vcm), el cual quedó plasmado en la Declaración y la Plataforma de Acción de Beijing de 1995. En el presente artículo pretendemos examinar las tensiones y las sinergias existentes entre las agendas de los movimientos locales por los derechos de la mujer y las estrategias gubernamentales destinadas a aplicar la Declaración de Beijing. Concretamente, analizaremos el papel desempeñado por los grupos de mujeres y los movimientos feministas en la elaboración de políticas e intervenciones contra la vcm, por un lado, y las relaciones entre la variante italiana del feminismo y las políticas y prácticas implementadas contra la vcm, por otro. Empleando una base de datos cuantitativos y cualitativos originales recabados entre 2018 y 2019, analizaremos el grado en que durante los últimos 25 años las instituciones italianas han reconocido (o no) el pensamiento feminista en los enfoques adoptados para combatir la vcm

KEYWORDS:

• VAW policies
• feminist thoughts
• feminist movement(s)
• anti-violence centres
• VAW state institutional approaches

Notes on contributors

Marta Pietrobelli is currently a research fellow at the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (National Research Council, Rome, Italy), in the context of the ViVa Project. Postal address: Via Palestro, 32, 00185 Rome, Italy. Email: [email protected]

Angela M. Toffanin is currently a research fellow at the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (National Research Council, Rome, Italy), in the context of the ViVa Project. Email: [email protected]

Beatrice Busi is an independent researcher currently collaborating with the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (National Research Council, Rome, Italy), in the context of the ViVa Project. Email: [email protected]

Maura Misiti, senior researcher, is the co-ordinator of the ViVa Project at the Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies (National Research Council, Rome, Italy). Email: [email protected]

Notes

1 Adopted in September 1995, available at www.un.org/en/events/pastevents/pdfs/Beijing_Declaration_and_Platform_for_Action.pdf (accessed 16 December 2019).

2 We will focus not only on ‘the politics of state and the politics of social movements, but also the politics of language, the politics of exchange, and the politics of representation’ (cited in Krook and Childs 2010, 4).

3 More information is available at www.viva.cnr.it (accessed 11 December 2019). The project has two main aims and is divided into six working packages: (1) mapping support services for women victims of violence and treatment programmes for perpetrators, through both quantitative and qualitative research; (2) supporting policies to prevent and fight VAW, through ex ante and in itinere analyses of the current National Plan on VAW (2017–2020) and ex post evaluation of the previous National Plan (2015–2017).

4 Adopted on 23 November 2017, available at www.pariopportunita.gov.it/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/testo-piano-diramato-conferenza.pdf (accessed 11 December 2019).

5 See www.istat.it/it/violenza-sulle-donne (accessed 11 December 2019).

6 More information is available at www.udinazionale.org/ (accessed 11 December 2019).

7 ‘Donne in rete contro la violenza’, national network of anti-violence centres and shelters. The network of women’s and feminist associations working to provide anti-violence centres and shelters became the D.i.Re. association in 2008 (https://www.direcontrolaviolenza.it, accessed 11 December 2019).

8 See www.cittadegliarchivi.it/pages/getDetail/sysCodeId:IT-CPA-SN0001-0000032#contenuto (accessed 10 February 2020).

9 The Italian name of the law is Norme Contro La Violenza Sessuale.

10 The Italian name of the law is Misure Contro La Violenza Nelle Relazioni Familiari.

11 Gender mainstreaming was defined as ‘the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels’ (ECOSOC 1997).

12 The Italian name of the law is Disposizioni concernenti la prevenzione e il divieto delle pratiche di mutilazione genitale femminile.

13 See https://www.1522.eu (accessed 11 December 2019).

14 See http://www.leonde.org (accessed 16 December 2019).

15 See https://lenove.org (accessed 16 December 2019).

16 The Italian name of the law is Conversione del decreto in materia di sicurezza, misure anti-stupri e stalking.

17 The Italian name of the measure is Linee guida nazionali per le Aziende sanitarie e le Aziende ospedaliere in tema di soccorso e assistenza socio-sanitaria alle donne vittime di violenza, available at www.trovanorme.salute.gov.it/norme/dettaglioAtto?id=62811&completo=true (accessed 24 March 2020).

18 The Italian name of the measure is Intesa relativa ai requisiti minimi dei centri antiviolenza e delle case rifugio, prevista dall’art. 3, comma 4, del DPCM del 24 luglio 2014, available at www.regioni.it/download/news/390501/ (accessed 11 December 2019).

19 Emilia-Romagna Anti-violence Centres Network, ‘Dalle parole ai fatti’, 2014, document available at https://centriantiviolenzaer.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/com-stampa-25nov14.pdf (accessed 10 February 2020).

20 Many centres opened before 2013, just 9.6 per cent before 1993.

21 Strategic objective D.1., Beijing Declaration (1995).