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Human Rights in Italy from a Civil Society Perspective

10 October 2014

On 27th October, Italy will be reviewed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) for its second Universal Periodic Review (UPR). It was previously reviewed by the HRC in 2010.

What is the Universal Periodic Review?

The UPR is the main mechanism used by the HRC to assess the human rights situation of every state. Reviews occur every four years. If you’d like to learn more about it, watch our webinar on the HRC and the UPR.

Before each review, Geneva-based NGO UPR-Info organises a pre-session for civil society organisations (CSOs) and national human rights institutions. This gives them the opportunity to share their assessment of the human rights situation and accomplishments in the country under review. It also gives the opportunity for CSOs to suggest recommendations that UN Member States can endorse, since only Member States participate in the UPR itself.

WILPF’s Human Rights Programme monitored the pre-session on Italy, and WILPF Italy took the floor to share its recommendations.

Issues of concern for Italian CSOs

Several Italian CSOs expressed concerns and recommendations at the pre-session. Both FIACAT and the Comitato per la promozione e protezione dei diritti umani, insisted on the need to create and implement a national human rights institution in Italy. According to the Comitato, the marked absence of such an institution is not only due to the lack of financial resources, but also to the lack of political will from the Italian government.

FIACAT expressed concern over the deficiencies of the national system of reception of migrants and asylum-seekers. It recommended that Italy respect the European Union’s reception standards by creating a national system for the protection of asylum seekers and the reception and rehabilitation of victims of conflict.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) highlighted the absence of legal protection to combat discrimination and violence against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex community, as well as the disparities in the enjoyment of the right to family life for same sex couples. ILGA thus recommended amending the law on marriage rights to eliminate discrimination against homosexual couples.

WILPF’s recommendations

WILPF expressed great concern regarding the situation of women’s employment in Italy. WILPF Italy recommended that the Italian government develop a national policy to encourage women’s employment by allocating necessary funds for the creation of public child care services, as well as incentives to businesses that hire women with stable contracts.

Another one of our concerns is the level of gender based violence and the growing number of feminicides. WILPF Italy recommends allocating a sufficient budget to a policy on gender based violence that includes a focus on prevention, and guarantees the protection of women who denounce violence against them.

Last but not least, WILPF Italy stressed the need to regulate arms transfer by assessing their impacts on women’s human rights. Small arms and light weapons in particular contribute to insecurity within communities and increase the risk for women to experience violent situations.

For more information, read our recommendations for the UPR of Italy.

What will happen now?

The UPR of Italy will take place on 27th October. WILPF’s Human Rights Programme will attend the session, and will keep you posted on the outcome of the review. Don’t forget to keep an eye on our website and to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. To get the latest news directly to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter.

In the meantime, spread the word about the UPR mechanism!

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Melissa Torres

VICE-PRESIDENT

Prior to being elected Vice-President, Melissa Torres was the WILPF US International Board Member from 2015 to 2018. Melissa joined WILPF in 2011 when she was selected as a Delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women as part of the WILPF US’ Practicum in Advocacy Programme at the United Nations, which she later led. She holds a PhD in Social Work and is a professor and Global Health Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine and research lead at BCM Anti-Human Trafficking Program. Of Mexican descent and a native of the US/Mexico border, Melissa is mostly concerned with the protection of displaced Latinxs in the Americas. Her work includes training, research, and service provision with the American Red Cross, the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Centre, and refugee resettlement programs in the U.S. Some of her goals as Vice-President are to highlight intersectionality and increase diversity by fostering inclusive spaces for mentorship and leadership. She also contributes to WILPF’s emerging work on the topic of displacement and migration.

Jamila Afghani

VICE-PRESIDENT

Jamila Afghani is the President of WILPF Afghanistan which she started in 2015. She is also an active member and founder of several organisations including the Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organisation (NECDO). Elected in 2018 as South Asia Regional Representative to WILPF’s International Board, WILPF benefits from Jamila’s work experience in education, migration, gender, including gender-based violence and democratic governance in post-conflict and transitional countries.

Sylvie Jacqueline Ndongmo

PRESIDENT

Sylvie Jacqueline NDONGMO is a human rights and peace leader with over 27 years experience including ten within WILPF. She has a multi-disciplinary background with a track record of multiple socio-economic development projects implemented to improve policies, practices and peace-oriented actions. Sylvie is the founder of WILPF Cameroon and was the Section’s president until 2022. She co-coordinated the African Working Group before her election as Africa Representative to WILPF’s International Board in 2018. A teacher by profession and an African Union Trainer in peace support operations, Sylvie has extensive experience advocating for the political and social rights of women in Africa and worldwide.

WILPF Afghanistan

In response to the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban and its targeted attacks on civil society members, WILPF Afghanistan issued several statements calling on the international community to stand in solidarity with Afghan people and ensure that their rights be upheld, including access to aid. The Section also published 100 Untold Stories of War and Peace, a compilation of true stories that highlight the effects of war and militarisation on the region. 

IPB Congress Barcelona

WILPF Germany (+Young WILPF network), WILPF Spain and MENA Regional Representative

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Demilitarisation

WILPF uses feminist analysis to argue that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.

Sixteen states are believed to have supplied weapons to Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020 with the US supplying 74 % of weapons, followed by Russia. Much of this equipment was left behind by the US military and is being used to inflate Taliban’s arsenal. WILPF is calling for better oversight on arms movement, for compensating affected Afghan people and for an end to all militarised systems.

Militarised masculinity

Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace has been one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities. WILPF shares a feminist analysis on the links between militarism, masculinities, peace and security. We explore opportunities for strengthening activists’ action to build equal partnerships among women and men for gender equality.

WILPF has been working on challenging the prevailing notion of masculinity based on men’s physical and social superiority to, and dominance of, women in Afghanistan. It recognizes that these notions are not representative of all Afghan men, contrary to the publicly prevailing notion.

Feminist peace​

In WILPF’s view, any process towards establishing peace that has not been partly designed by women remains deficient. Beyond bringing perspectives that encapsulate the views of half of the society and unlike the men only designed processes, women’s true and meaningful participation allows the situation to improve.

In Afghanistan, WILPF has been demanding that women occupy the front seats at the negotiating tables. The experience of the past 20 has shown that women’s presence produces more sustainable solutions when they are empowered and enabled to play a role.

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