Feminism in Italy originated during the
Italian renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
period, beginning in the late 13th century.
Italian writers such as
Christine de Pizan
Christine de Pizan or Pisan (), born Cristina da Pizzano (September 1364 – c. 1430), was an Italian poet and court writer for King Charles VI of France and several French dukes.
Christine de Pizan served as a court writer in medieval France ...
,
Moderata Fonte
Moderata Fonte, directly translates to Modest Well is a pseudonym of Modesta di Pozzo di Forzi (or Zorzi), also known as Modesto Pozzo (or Modesta, feminization of Modesto), (1555–1592) was a Venetian writer and poet. Besides the posthumousl ...
,
Lucrezia Marinella
Lucrezia Marinella (1571-1653) was an Italian poet, author, and an advocate of women's rights. She is best known for her writing ''The Nobility and Excellence of Women and the Defects and Vices of Men''. Her works have been noted for bringing wom ...
, and others developed the
theoretical
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...
ideas behind
gender equality
Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...
. In contrast to
feminist movements
The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such i ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, early
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
advocates in Italy emphasized
women's education
Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...
and improvement in social conditions.
Italian feminism suffered a setback under the
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
government of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
in the first half of the twentieth century, with
fascist ideology
The history of fascist ideology is long and it draws on many sources. Fascists took inspiration from sources as ancient as the Spartans for their focus on racial purity and their emphasis on rule by an elite minority. Fascism has also been conne ...
dictating procreation as a woman's duty.
In the post-war period, feminist movements surged, with public activism over issues such as
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
and
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
during the 1970s.
Italian feminism has become more prominent recently, particularly during the administration of former
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...
, with a focus on opposing objectification of women in national television shows and politics.
History
Renaissance and Early Modern feminists
Renaissance thinkers regularly challenged conventional thought from the
Medieval period
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
and earlier.
Humanism
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
became the new way of looking at politics, science, the arts, education, and other fields. Humanism pushed aside the
Medieval Christian
Christianity in the Middle Ages covers the history of Christianity from the fall of the Western Roman Empire (). The end of the period is variously defined. Depending on the context, events such as the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottoman ...
concept of a
hierarchical
A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
social order
The term social order can be used in two senses: In the first sense, it refers to a particular system of social structures and institutions. Examples are the ancient, the feudal, and the capitalist social order. In the second sense, social order ...
that placed regular citizens in a subservient position relative to members of the clergy. The
Renaissance man
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
was the ideal to emulate.
While the
Renaissance humanists
Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first Italian Renaissance, in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista ...
were for the most part "
antifeminist
Antifeminism, also spelled anti-feminism, is opposition to some or all forms of feminism. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, antifeminists opposed particular policy proposals for women's rights, such as the right to vote, educat ...
",
there were a small number of educated women who had the motivation to challenge assumptions that women should remain submissive to men.
Christine de Pizan
Christine de Pizan or Pisan (), born Cristina da Pizzano (September 1364 – c. 1430), was an Italian poet and court writer for King Charles VI of France and several French dukes.
Christine de Pizan served as a court writer in medieval France ...
wrote ''
The City of Ladies
''The Book of the City of Ladies'' or ''Le Livre de la Cité des Dames'' (finished by 1405), is perhaps Christine de Pizan's most famous literary work, and it is her second work of lengthy prose. Pizan uses the vernacular French language to comp ...
'' in 1404, and in it she describes women's gender as having no innate inferiority to men's: "
ither the loftiness nor the lowliness of a person lies in the body according to sex, but in the perfection of conduct and virtues".
However, she tempered her assertions by writing that men were created to rule, and women to follow.
Renaissance Italy
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
saw the development of
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
, including the establishment of several
universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, to which women were not admitted. Some fortunate women who could afford it were able to gain an education on their own, or had a father who allowed them to have some education through tutoring. The rare Renaissance man who supported
education for women
Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education ( primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girl ...
saw it as a way of improving her
virtue
Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...
, and to make her more
obedient to her husband. Education intended to create leaders was seen as wasted
on women.
Although some women made a mark during the Renaissance as remarkable individuals within their local sphere, when taken collectively, the "rise of the educated woman during the Renaissance" can be traced.
Outside of a convent setting, where they had been confined during the Middle Ages, educated women were stepping out into the secular intellectual arena. From the Renaissance and continuing into the Early Modern era, they hosted
salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
s, where men and women of intellect mingled and discussed literature, politics, and other influential topics. By the late 16th and early 17th century,
women writers Women have made significant contributions to literature since the earliest written texts. Women have been at the forefront of textual communication since early civilizations.
History
Among the first known female writers is Enheduanna; she is also ...
"presented themselves and were embraced by contemporary culture as learned wives, mothers, and equal partners in their household salons".
By the late Renaissance, educated
Italian women
Women in Italy refers to females who are from (or reside in) Italy. The legal and social status of Italian women has undergone rapid transformations and changes during the past decades. This includes family laws, the enactment of discriminatio ...
were writing "in every conceivable genre, from domestic correspondence to poetry, dialogues and even theology".
File:LauraCereta.jpg, Laura Cereta
Laura Cereta (September 1469 – 1499), was one of the most notable humanism, humanist and feminist writers of fifteenth-century Italy. Cereta was the first to put women’s issues and her friendships with women front and center in her work. Ceret ...
File:Vittore Carpaccio 085.jpg, ''The Virgin Reading'' (1505–10), by Vittore Carpaccio
Vittore Carpaccio (British English, UK: Help:IPA/English, /kɑːrˈpætʃ(i)oʊ/, American English, US: Help:IPA/English, /-ˈpɑːtʃ-/, Italian: Help:IPA/Italian, itˈtoːre karˈpattʃo c. 1460/66 – 1525/26) was an Italians, Italian pai ...
. Literacy spread among upper-class women in Italy during the Renaissance.
File:Christine de Pisan and Queen Isabeau detail.jpg, Christine de Pizan
Christine de Pizan or Pisan (), born Cristina da Pizzano (September 1364 – c. 1430), was an Italian poet and court writer for King Charles VI of France and several French dukes.
Christine de Pizan served as a court writer in medieval France ...
and Isabeau of Bavaria
Isabeau of Bavaria (or Isabelle; also Elisabeth of Bavaria-Ingolstadt; c. 1370 – September 1435) was Queen of France from 1385 to 1422. She was born into the House of Wittelsbach as the only daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingol ...
, Queen of France.
File:Catherine de Medicis.jpg, Catherine de' Medici
Catherine de' Medici ( it, Caterina de' Medici, ; french: Catherine de Médicis, ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Florentine noblewoman born into the Medici family. She was Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King ...
, Italian-born 16th century Queen consort of France, mother of kings, and a major figure in European politics.
File:Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting (La Pittura) - Artemisia Gentileschi.jpg, ''Self-portrait as the Allegory of Painting
''Self-Portrait as the Allegory of Painting'', also known as ''Autoritratto in veste di Pittura'' or simply ''La Pittura'', was painted by the Italian Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi. The oil-on-canvas painting measures and was probably pr ...
'' (1638-9) by Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia Lomi or Artemisia Gentileschi (, ; 8 July 1593) was an Italian Baroque painter. Gentileschi is considered among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing profess ...
.
File:Giuseppa Eleonora Barbapiccola.jpg, Giuseppa Barbapiccola
Giuseppa Eleonora Barbapiccola (1702 – ca 1740) was an Italian natural philosopher, poet and translator. She is best known for her translation of René Descartes' ''Principles of Philosophy'' to Italian language, Italian in 1722. In her prefac ...
19th century
![Working Italian women c 1900](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Working_Italian_women_c_1900.jpg)
At a time when most women belonged to the
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
, most were illiterate. Educated women who could read and write about feminism's various aspects were in an isolated position. In order to gain supporters for feminist causes, an appeal to women at all levels of society was needed. Beginning in the mid-19th century, enterprising women began to reach out to
middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
women through new
print media: mass-market
books and periodicals.
Italy's
Casati Casati is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Alessandro Casati (1881–1955), Italian academic, commentator and politician
* Ambrogio Casati (1897–1977), Italian painter
* Domenico Casati (born 1943), retired Italian ...
Law of 1859 set the groundwork for a system to train young women as teachers in
public schools. Women were to become the backbone of
Italy's education system, and they belonged to teachers'
associations, giving them experience in organizing to protect their interests, such as
wages and working conditions.
Anna Maria Mozzoni
Anna Maria Mozzoni (5 May 1837 – 14 June 1920) is commonly held as the founder of the woman's movement in Italy. One of the roles she is most known for is her pivotal involvement in gaining woman's suffrage in Italy.
Biography
Mozzoni was born ...
triggered a widespread
women's movement
The feminist movement (also known as the women's movement, or feminism) refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by the inequality between men and women. Such iss ...
in Italy through the publication of ''Woman and her social relationships on the occasion of the revision of the Italian Civil Code'' (''La donna e i suoi rapporti sociali in occasione della revisione del codice italiano'') in 1864. Women who had participated in the unification struggles were dissatisfied with the inequalities contained in the Republic of Italy's new Civil Code.
Mozzoni's book raised awareness of injustices in Italy's family law that discriminated against women. Mozzoni campaigned against state regulation of prostitution. She also translated ''On the Subjugation of Women'' by
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
into Italian. In 1881, to promote women's suffrage, she founded the League for the Promotion of the Interests of Women (''
Lega promotrice degli interessi femminili Lega promotrice degli interessi femminili ('League for the Promotion of the Interests of Women') was an Italian organization for women's rights, founded in 1880. It was the first organization for women's right in Italy.
It was founded by Anna M ...
'') in Milan.
1865 saw legal majority for unmarried women in Italy, as well as equal inheritance for women, and married women being allowed to become the legal guardian of their children and their property if abandoned by their husbands.
[Judith Jeffrey Howard, "The Civil Code of 1865 and the Origins of the Feminist Movement in Italy", in The Italian Immigrant Woman in North America, eds. Betty Boyd Caroli, Robert F. Harney and Lydio F. Thomasi (Toronto: The Multicultural History Society of Ontario, 1977)]
Alaide Gualberta Beccari
Alaide Gualberta Beccari (born 1842 in Padua – died 1906) was an Italian feminist, republican, pacifist, and social reformer, who published the feminist journal ''Woman'' during the 1870s and 1880s.
Biography
Alaide Beccari was born in Padua in ...
, beginning in 1868 at the age of 26, began publishing the journal ''Women'' in Venice. Beccari spent much of the 1870s and 1880s immersed in spreading information about feminism. The journal covered international feminist news, such as the political and social gains being made by women in France, the United States, and Great Britain. Male legislators and teachers were among her growing readership, and in 1877, a series of articles on pro-reform topics inspired 3000 women to sign a petition for women's suffrage.
Women were admitted to Italian universities in 1876.
In 1877 women in Italy became able to serve as witnesses to legal acts.
Italy's first national Feminist Congress was organized by Per la Donna in 1911; in it speakers called for divorce rights for women, and more non-religious schools.
In 1919 married women in Italy were granted separate economy, and public offices on lower levels were opened to women.
Women in Fascist Italy (1922-1945)
![Heatfactory2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Heatfactory2.jpg)
The feminist movement was dealt a huge blow in 1922 when
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
came to power, and the country's
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
era was underway. This period was generally anti-feminist. For example, fascist ideology dictated procreation as a woman's duty.
[ However, in 1925 women in Italy gained the right to vote, though it was limited to local elections. In 1945 women in Italy gained full suffrage.
]
Post-war Italian feminism
Franca Viola
Franca Viola (born 9 January 1948) is an Italian woman who became famous in the 1960s in Italy for refusing a "rehabilitating marriage" ( it, matrimonio riparatore) to her rapist after being kidnapped, held hostage for over one week, and raped fr ...
is considered to be the first Italian woman who had been raped to publicly refuse to marry her rapist. Instead, she and her family successfully pursued prosecution of the rapist. The trial (which happened in 1966) had a wide resonance in Italy, as Viola's behavior clashed with traditional social conventions in Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
, whereby a woman would lose her honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
if she did not marry the man to whom she had lost her virginity
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
. Franca Viola became a symbol of the cultural progress and emancipation of women in post-war
In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
Italy.[Rifiuto il matrimonio dopo lo stupro](_blank)
in Italian) (See below events in 1981.)
As in other countries, feminist groups started in Italy in the 1970s as part of the second wave. In 1970, Rivolta Femminile ("Women's Revolt") was formed in Rome and Milan by Carla Lonzi
Carla Lonzi (Florence, 6 March 1931 – Milan, 2 August 1982) was an Italian art critic and feminist activist, who is best known as the cofounder of '' Rivolta Femminile'' (Feminine Revolt), an Italian feminist collective formed in 1970.
Lonzi ...
and published a manifesto.
In 1974, the Wages for Housework
The International Wages for Housework Campaign (IWFHC) is a grassroots women's network campaigning for recognition and payment for all caring work, in the home and outside. It was started in 1972 by Mariarosa Dalla Costa,Dalla Costa, M. & James, S ...
Campaign began in Italy. A number of groups calling themselves Salario al Lavoro Domestico (Wages for Housework) formed in various Italian cities. To celebrate, one of the founding members, Mariarosa Dalla Costa
Mariarosa Dalla Costa (born 1943 in Treviso) is an Italian autonomist feminist and co-author of the classic ''The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community'', with Selma James. This text launched the "domestic labour debate" by re-defining ...
, gave a speech entitled "A General Strike" in Mestre
Mestre () is a borough of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Venice, on the mainland opposite the historical island city in the region of Veneto, Italy.
Administratively, Mestre forms (together with the nearby Carpenedo) the ''Municipalità di ...
, Italy. In this speech she talks about how no strike before has ever been a general strike before, but instead, only a strike for male workers. In Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
, Italy, a group called ''Lotta Feminista'', formed by Mariarosa Dalla Costa
Mariarosa Dalla Costa (born 1943 in Treviso) is an Italian autonomist feminist and co-author of the classic ''The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community'', with Selma James. This text launched the "domestic labour debate" by re-defining ...
and Silvia Federici
Silvia Federici (born in Parma, Italy, 1942) is a scholar, teacher, and feminist activist based in New York. She is a professor emerita and teaching fellow at Hofstra University in New York State, where she was a social science professor. She al ...
, adopted Wages for Housework as their organizing strategy.["More Smiles, More Money"](_blank)
''N+1 Magazine'', August 2013. The Campaign was formed to raise awareness of how housework and childcare
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
are the base of all industrial work and to stake the claim that these unavoidable tasks should be compensated as paid wage labor. The Wages for Housework Campaign called for economic compensation for domestic work but also used this demand to call attention to the labors of women, the reliance of capitalist economies on exploitative labor practices against women, and leisure
Leisure has often been defined as a quality of experience or as free time. Free time is time spent away from business, work, job hunting, domestic chores, and education, as well as necessary activities such as eating and sleeping. Leisure ...
inequality.
In 1975, the family law in Italy was reformed to remove adultery as a crime, as well as making it so that male and female partners in a marriage are considered equal by the law. Specifically, ''Law no 151/1975'' provides for gender equality within marriage, abolishing the legal dominance of the husband. 1975 Italian legal reforms also removed discrimination against children who were not born in wedlock.
In 1976 in ''Sentenza n. 12857 del 1976'', the Supreme Court of Italy ruled that "the spouse who compels the other spouse to carnal knowledge by violence or threats commits the crime of carnal violence" eaning rape("''commette il delitto di violenza carnale il coniuge che costringa con violenza o minaccia l’altro coniuge a congiunzione carnale''").
Among the other major achievements of feminism in Italy in this decade were the introduction of a law for divorce (1970) and of a law regulating abortion (1978).
Italy signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1980, and ratified it in 1985.
1981 saw repeal of the Italian law which provided for mitigated punishment in case of honor killing
An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of t ...
s; prior to 1981, the law read: ''Art. 587: He who causes the death of a spouse, daughter, or sister upon discovering her in illegitimate carnal relations and in the heat of passion caused by the offence to his honour or that of his family will be sentenced to three to seven years. The same sentence shall apply to whom, in the above circumstances, causes the death of the person involved in illegitimate carnal relations with his spouse, daughter, or sister''.
Also in 1981, Italy repealed Article 544.[Van Cleave, Rachel A. "Rape and the Querela in Italy: False Protection of Victim Agency." Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, vol. 13, 2007, pp. 273–310.] This article stated that if a man who raped a woman married his victim, even if she was a minor, any sexual offence would lapse. Neither the law nor society made a distinction between such premarital rape on the one hand, and consensual elopement
Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...
(in Sicily commonly called ''fuitina'') on the other. Socially, a woman raped by a man was put under heavy pressure to agree to marrying her rapist; the alternative was being shunned for the rest of her life as ''una donna svergognata'': a "woman without honor" (literally: a shameless woman). She was held responsible for the humiliation of losing her virginity out of wedlock, bringing shame upon herself and her family. If she agreed to marry her attacker, it was considered a "reparational marriage" (''matrimonio riparatore''), that restored her family's honor.
In Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1992, a 45-year-old driving instructor was accused of rape. When he picked up an 18-year-old girl for her first driving lesson, he allegedly raped her for an hour, then told her that if she was to tell anyone he would kill her. Later that night she told her parents and her parents agreed to help her press charges. While the alleged rapist was convicted and sentenced, the Italian Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 1998 because the victim wore tight jeans. It was argued that she must have necessarily have had to help her attacker remove her jeans, thus making the act consensual
Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. It is a term of common speech, with specific definitions as used in such fields as the law, medicine, research, and sexual relationships. Consent as und ...
("because the victim wore very, very tight jeans, she had to help him remove them...and by removing the jeans...it was no longer rape but consensual sex"). The Italian Supreme Court stated in its decision "it is a fact of common experience that it is nearly impossible to slip off tight jeans even partly without the active collaboration of the person who is wearing them." This ruling sparked widespread feminist protest. The day after the decision, women in the Italian Parliament protested by wearing jeans and holding placards that read "Jeans: An Alibi for Rape." As a sign of support, the California Senate and Assembly followed suit. Soon Patricia Giggans
Patricia Occhiuzzo Giggans (born October 25, 1944), also known as Patti Giggans, is a Los Angeles-based feminist activist and advocate for supporting victims of domestic violence.
Career
Giggans received her bachelor's degree in Psychology from ...
, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women, (now Peace Over Violence) made Denim Day
Denim Day takes place on the last Wednesday of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. This day of action and awareness is an event in which people are encouraged to wear denim to combat victim blaming and educate others about sexual viole ...
an annual event. As of 2011 at least 20 U.S. states officially recognize Denim Day in April. Wearing jeans on this day has become an international symbol of protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault. As of 2008 the Italian Supreme Court has overturned their findings, and there is no longer a "denim" defense to the charge of rape.
In 1996, Italy amended its rape laws, toughening the punishment for sexual assault and reclassifying it from a moral offense to a criminal felony.
After a few cases of infibulation practiced by complaisant medical practitioners within the African immigrant community came to public knowledge through media coverage, the Law n°7/2006 was passed in Italy on 1/9/2006, becoming effective on 1/28/2006, concerning "Measures of prevention and prohibition of any female genital mutilation
Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...
practice"; the Act is also known as the ''Legge Consolo'' ("Consolo Act") named after its primary promoter, Senator Giuseppe Consolo. Article 6 of the law integrates the Italian Penal Code with Articles 583-''Bis'' and 583-''Ter'', punishing any practice of female genital mutilation "not justifiable under therapeutical or medical needs" with imprisonment ranging from 4 to 12 years (3 to 7 years for any mutilation other than, or less severe than, clitoridectomy, excision or infibulation). Penalty can be reduced up to if the harm caused is of modest entity (i.e. if partially or completely unsuccessful), but may also be elevated up to if the victim is a minor or if the offense has been committed for profit. An Italian citizen or a foreign citizen legally resident in Italy can be punished under this law even if the offense is committed abroad; the law will as well afflict any individual of any citizenship in Italy, even illegally or provisionally. The law also mandates any medical practitioner found guilty under those provisions to have his/her medical license revoked for a minimum of six up to a maximum of ten years.
In 2022 the Constitutional Court of Italy
The Constitutional Court of the Italian Republic ( it, Corte costituzionale della Repubblica Italiana) is the highest court of Italy in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name ''Consulta'' is used as a metonym for it, because its sessi ...
ruled against automatically giving Italian children only their father’s last name. The court stated that unless the parents agree the child should have one of their surnames, the child should have both, in the order the parents agree on.
References
{{Feminism in Europe
Society of Italy
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...