GREVIO: First thematic report on Italy.

The path towards the implementation of the Istanbul Convention has begun,

but the road is still very long.

D.i.Re – Women in Network against violence looks with interest at First thematic report Italy published last December 2nd, which takes up many of the critical observations expressed in the Report of Women's Associations – coordinated by Rete D.i.Re – in which 18 women's organizations experienced in violence participated.

“GREVIO's first thematic report confirms the crucial role of women-only organizations that were the first to read and highlight male violence against women and gender-based violence as a structural phenomenon in society.” declares Cristina Carelli, president D.i.Re - Women on the Net against violence. "In fact, among the recommendations to the State that the Report highlights, many take up the critical observations contained in the Report of the Women's Associations, the result of an in-depth analysis of the experience gained daily by the anti-violence centers and shelters present in the territories.” continues Carelli. A privileged point of reference for women's needs, the difficulties and obstacles they often encounter in the institutional settings from which they seek help. These obstacles, in addition to exposing women to potentially serious risks, slow down the emergence of the phenomenon. Emergence and prevention are two processes that must be addressed to overcome the culture of gender inequality and discrimination, implementing systemic policies that address education, welfare, employment, health, and safety. Specific guidance on this matter should be included in the Strategic Action Plan on Male Violence against Women, which, however, remains a document lacking an operational plan that specifies timelines, responsible parties, and resource allocation to specific objectives and indicators for measuring progress.” concludes the president.

The analysis offers important insights for the concrete fight against male violence against women, as required by the Istanbul Convention. Among these, the point regarding Anti-Violence Centers and Shelters: in addition to reporting the failure to achieve the standard of one place per family per 10.000 inhabitants in shelters, GREVIO underlines the importance of minimum quality standards for anti-violence centres and shelters; this would avoid the channelling of funds towards improvised anti-violence bodies, which use a one-size-fits-all approach. gender-neutral – contrary to the principles of the Convention – with a serious impact on women who are not guaranteed qualified and specialized support.

A second important point is the one concerning the trainingGREVIO, in fact, places the utmost attention on training with a specific recommendation for the training of the civil and criminal judiciary to finally prevent the re-victimization of women in court, to avoid the high rate of dismissals and the low number of convictions that characterize the Italian system, as well as having the guarantee of the recognition of violence.

The Cartabia reform raises concerns. In fact, according to GREVIO, it does not satisfy some of the requirements of Article 31 of the Convention, in particular the following:various shortcomings in the field of custody and visitation rights, including ensuring that cases pending before the courts are systematically reviewed for evidence of domestic violence; that judges require disclosure of risk assessments carried out by other bodies; cases of domestic violence should be a mandatory legal criterion to be systematically taken into consideration when deciding on custody and visitation rights; and children are not removed from the care of the non-violent parent, including through the use of harmful and unfounded concepts such as so-called parental alienation syndrome and similar concepts.

According to Marcella Pirrone, lawyer for Rete D.i.King and the working group on the Report of Women's Associations, "It is important to link this GREVIO thematic report on Italy to the first monitoring report of 2020 to have a complete picture of the implementation of the Istanbul Convention in Italy.” Pirrone continues: “one can see lights and shadows and, unfortunately, on some crucial issues for an effective and concrete fight against violence against women, the road is still long.” It is interesting to observe how GREVIO indicates precisely (and not rarely with a certain severity 'deploring' the observed status quo) where and how it is necessary to intervene with tools and

adequate funding beyond propaganda laws and abstract claims” concludes the lawyer.