The Gender Equality Index 2017 examines the progress and challenges in achieving gender equality across the European Union from 2005 to 2015. Using a scale from 1 (full inequality) to 100 (full equality), it measures the differences between women and men in key domains of the EU policy framework (work, money, knowledge, time, power and health). The Index also measures violence against women and intersecting inequalities.
Many women victims of intimate partner violence in the EU Member States remain unprotected. Perpetrators often go unpunished due to inadequate law enforcement approaches, which do not align with international human rights treaties. A gender-neutral approach to the law, coupled with the unavailability of data and existing stereotypes result in the denial of violence against women and its tolerance or normalisation.
Violence against women is rooted in women’s unequal status in society, and that status reflects the unbalanced distribution of social, political, and economic power among women and men in society. It is one of the most pervasive human rights violations of our time and a form of discrimination that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm or suffering to women.
This publication summarises the main results of the Gender Equality Index 2015 for Italy. It presents scores for 2005, 2010 and 2012, allowing for an assessment of the progress made in the pursuit of gender equality in Italy over time.
