Committee: Commission on the Status of Women Topic: Violence against Women and the Feminization of Poverty Country: Italy

School: La Martiniere for Boys School, Kolkata Delegate Name: Sumit Shyamsukha Over the years, the status of women in Italy has undergone a steady, yet positively inclined revolution, largely characterized by a shift in their perceived status and a more prominent role in politics. This was aptly reflected when Enrico Letta, the newly elected Italian Prime Minister, appointed the greatest number of women MPs(7 out of 22) to the Cabinet as compared to previous Italian governments. Historically speaking, gender violence in Italy stems from the roots of a warped psychological predicament. The intrinsic entwining of gender stereotypes with the ethos of the country gives way to a saddening statistic where a third of all women face physical or sexual violence in the course of their lives. Italians, rather incorrectly, like to believe that gender violence is a private matter that should remain confined within the boundaries of a domestic atmosphere. It is this prevailing misogynistic attitude that has built up what might soon give way to an epidemic of femicide in the country. In 2012, Rashida Manjoo, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women revealed that an astonishing 78 per cent of all violence committed against women in Italy is domestic in nature. Italy seeks to carry out the following in order to reduce acts of violence against women: A three tiered command structure is to be devised comprising of (i) NGO personnel, (ii) Doctors and psychologists (iii) Public Administrators. On a rural level this structure can be effective in implementing various programmes. On a National level, policies are to be coordinated among the rural command structures of the nation. Finally, on a macrocosmic international scale, the national body of each country is to meet once a year to coordinate the basic policies and set down a basic skeletal framework that successfully ensures parity with regards to functioning at the grass root level. A few programmes initiated at the basic levels will be: i) Education: This does necessarily entail to conventional school and college courses necessarily but rather lessons that have a direct and effective application in the world for example, a knowledge of the laws of the country, self-defense lessons, self-sustaining practices, etc. ii) Establishing homes for women subject to domestic violence in every rural pocket taking into consideration the fact that these women are generally unable to leave their homes on grounds of to economic dependence. Introduction of cottage industry patterns in these homes to be made mandatory in order to encourage self-sustenance. iii) Recreational activities like dance, art, craft and so on to be organized for both men and women together to dilute gender demarcations and promote a spirit of co-ordination. The capabilities of Italian women are largely under-utilized with respect to smooth functioning of the state mechanism. Held back by tainted ingrained cultural attitudes, coupled with inadequate public services and political under-representation, women are usually less likely to be in paid work, despite having better educational qualifications than their male counterparts. Italy is largely characterized by large cross-regional differences especially with reference to productivity, GDP in terms of female labor force participation, employment rates, political empowerment and the like. This reflects, rather unfortunately, Italy's lack of competitiveness and its untapped labor market resources women and young people. It calls for a thorough reform of product markets and of crucial institutions such as the justice and education systems. Italy's speaker of the lower house of parliament Laura Boldrini said that violence against women would be placed among "priority items for the political agenda of this parliament, starting with the ratification of the Istanbul Convention," a 2011 Council of Europe convention on tackling violence against women. In order to eradicate the unfortunate reality of the situation, it is imperative to address the basic causes of the problems. At the outset, it is desirable to conduct surveys as different poverty pockets have different causes for feminization. Furthermore, each firm should have mandatory checks of the trends in firing people, especially with regards to male female ratio in terms of firing. If the cause for firing more women is justified, women should be provided additional training for a specific period of time before the final decision to fire. In the event of an unjustified firing, legal action should ideally be taken. The Government can send deputations to these areas to teach them about economic planning. This should be followed by provision of small loans to set up businesses. Essentially speaking, there are several ways of solving the problems related to women and poverty. However, taking into account the intricately linked global scenario, it is imperative to adopt a basic structural framework at large which may be used as a reference point by the nations of the world. However, the most important element that contributes to eradication of the problems is unity and an effective desire to combat the crises and ensure equal opportunities for women, the world over.