The numbers speak clearly:
- 20% of Italians think that men are better managers and political leaders than women
- 49,7% believe that man should provide for economic needs and is less suited to take care of household chores
- 34,4% think that a working mother cannot establish a good relationship with her children like a mother who does not work
- 44% of women found themselves having to give up work for family reasons during their life against 16% of men.
These are just some of the data reported by the report on hatred, intolerance, xenophobia and racism presented on July 20 by the Commission "Joe CoxChaired by the President of the Chamber Laura Boldrini and made up of deputies from every Italian political group, representatives of the Council of Europe, the UN, ISTAT, research centers and associations. Over a year of work, 187 documents examined, 31 subjects involved made it possible to analyze the level of tolerance, knowledge and understanding of Italians on phenomena such as immigration, disability and gender equality. A disheartening photograph emerges which confirms a widespread diffusion of stereotypes, false representations, discrimination and hatred, especially towards women.
Discrimination in the labor market reinforces gender stereotypes operating in the family: in the workplace, 36,8% of women suffered some form of discrimination against 6% of men and almost one in two women (44.4%) she was discriminated against while looking for work (against 2,9% of men).
No improvement when addressing the consideration and status of women in the analysis of violent and hate speech. Women are victims of violent language, harassment, threats and blackmail. They are the main victims of online hate speech. A report by the UN Commission denounces that three-quarters of women who use the internet worldwide have been exposed to some form of cyber violence. In Italy, women are the subject of 63% of all negative tweets.
Violent and discriminatory language takes direct forms towards women in the workplace, where the violent expression can materialize in real blackmail. 1 million and 224 thousand women have suffered harassment or blackmail in the workplace (8.5% of all female workers, including those seeking employment).
These data add to the infamous information about violence against women: 6 million 788 thousand women have suffered some form of physical or sexual violence. And, unfortunately, violence still remains a hidden phenomenon; just under 90% of the victims did not report.
All these phenomena are fueled by the representation of women in the media, by advertising, by entertainment shows where women are often present only as bodies - more or less naked - to be exhibited and watched, or as side figures. It is evident that the media play a fundamental role in being able to change this situation; and yet - even today - only one woman is the director of a national newspaper (Il Manifesto), the directors of television news programs can be counted on the fingertips and so are the hosts of non-entertainment talk shows. It is no consolation to discover that in this scenario Italy is in good company with other European countries (Germany, France, England), even if in these countries the situation is improving faster than in Italy where everything seems to have stalled.