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Are there any problems concerning the implementation of national legislation prohibiting discrimination?

Code:
RED18
Key Area:
Anti-discrimination Legislation & Implementation
Strand(s):
Discrimination, Equality
02/12/2011 - 16:25
Short Answer

Yes.

Qualitative Info

Discrimination on the grounds foreseen in the Directives has until recently been a marginal subject in Italian legal and political debate. As a result of the low priority that combating discrimination has had for social and political actors, empirical research on the dimension of the actual problems has been carried out to a limited extent. The weakest equality policies in Europe are undermining equal opportunities guaranteed in Italian law. Thanks to EU law, victims of ethnic, racial, religious and nationality discrimination can use new concepts and slightly favourable mechanisms to enforce their rights in all areas of life. However, access to justice may be denied. The Prime Minister controls the Office for Racial Discrimination, Europe’s 2nd weakest equality body after Spain, according to MIPEX III. Anyway, Italy gave its residents full protection against discrimination following threats from the European Commission to take legal action. In order to tackle existing discrimination and continuously improve the law, the government responded to the points set out in the infringement proceeding 2005/2358 by implementing the Anti-Discrimination Law on 6 June 2008. Now more victims are protected from harassment and victimisation, while they do not have to shoulder the whole burden of proof throughout the legal proceedings.

At least until the transposition of the Directives, reaction to xenophobia has not taken the form of well-defined policy proposals, as the debate has been mostly focused on immigration law and not on anti-discrimination law strictly speaking. Racial and ethnic discrimination often overlaps with discrimination on the basis of religion and belief, mostly in the form of hostility towards “Arabs” and “Muslims” which occurs without distinction. With regard to religious minorities not linked to immigration (Jews, Waldensians, and others) there are no reports of serious cases of discrimination. However, the absence of a general law on religious freedom (which has been pending in parliament for years) is a cause of practical disadvantage for those groups (the Muslim, but also Jehova’s witnesses) that did not sign agreements with the Italian state. Sexual orientation is now more rarely the target of openly hostile statements in the public arena. This notwithstanding, problems of discrimination and harassment on this ground are sometimes reported, although rarely with judicial outcomes. With regard to sexual orientation, the traditional position of the Catholic Church towards gays and lesbians can – at least in theory - cause problems when employment implies some sort of evaluation of religious and moral qualities, and this can in its turn strengthen homophobic attitudes arising in other contexts. The condition of gays and lesbians is, however, increasingly the object of public debate, specially with regard to the possibility of same sex marriage, and this probably contributed  to the strong decrease of homophobic statements by politicians, that in the past were not uncommon. Problems concerning age and disability, quite often discussed in the media although almost never brought to courts, are instead more linked to the structure of the labour market, where difficulties exist in enforcing the Directives, especially with regard to age (protective rules for disabled employees do exist).

 

The recommendations by ENAR in 2010 pointed to:

- Take measures to ensure that the national equality body (UNAR) is really independent rather than under the Department for Rights and Equal Opportunities within the Presidency of the Council of Ministers;

- Unify the various provisions on racial /ethnic discrimination contained in civil and administrative laws under one act and undertake public awareness raising initiatives on existing legal instruments and how they can be best used to ensure equality;

- Entrust the systematic collection of data on discrimination in different spheres of public life, including ethnic profiling, to an independent body

- Combat barriers to access to employment for non Italian citizens and promote the conversion of diplomas and work experience gained in other countries

- Approve a comprehensive law on the protection of asylum seekers and refugees, which is in line with both international instruments and legal standards on the subject including the principle of non-refoulement and the right to a fair and satisfactory asylum procedure

- Cancel the provisions that affect the rights of regular and irregular migrants, in particular the introduction of the crime of irregular immigration;

- Develop legal and policy measures that favour the legal entry of migrant workers and allow them, especially seasonal workers, to stay in a legal condition;

- Stop the segregation of Roma and Sinti in camps and instead carry out policies aimed at promoting their inclusion. For instance favour their access to public residential housing managed by municipal authorities as well as to loans to enable some to acquire their own homes or pieces of land where they can construct their own houses;

- Reform citizenship laws to ensure that long term residents, unaccompanied minors, children born in the country to foreign parents or those who arrive at a young age have easier access to citizenship

- Ensure that attacks on migrants, Roma and other ethnic minorities are promptly investigated by the police and those responsible are brought to justice;

- Condemn forcefully and consistently all racist and xenophobic statements, especially by public and elected officials, and make clear that racist discourse has no place in Italian society.


Sources:

European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field – Report on measures to combat discrimination. Directives 2000/43/ec and 2000/78/ec. Country report 2009 Italy - /resources/toolip/doc/2011/12/05/2009-it-country-report-by-european-network-in-non-discrimination.pdf

Migrant Integration Policy Index III – Italy - http://www.mipex.eu/italy (Date of access: 5.12.2011)

ENAR SHADOW REPORT 2009/2010 - Racism and Discrimination in Italy by Laura Di Pasquale - /resources/toolip/doc/2011/10/17/enar-italy-2009-2010.pdf

Groups affected/interested Migrants, Refugees, Roma & Travelers, Muslims, Ethnic minorities, Religious minorities, Linguistic minorities, Majority, Asylum seekers, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, Persons with disability
Type (R/D) Extremism - organised Racist Violence, Anti-migrant/xenophobia, Anti-semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia, Arabophobia, Anti-roma/zinghanophobia, Religious intolerance, Inter-ethnic, Intra-ethnic, Homophobia, On grounds of disability, On grounds of other belief
Key socio-economic / Institutional Areas Policing - law enforcement, Employment - labour market, Housing, Health and social protection, Education, Culture, Media, Internet, Sport, Political discourse -parties - orgs, Political participation, Anti-discrimination, Anti-racism, Integration - social cohesion, Daily life, Religion
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