The birth of the Italian Republic took place 70 years ago with the decisive contribution of women. The referendum between the monarchy and the republic was, after the administrative elections held in 1944 in some regions, the first time in which Italian women participated in the political vote. After decades of struggles and discussions, which began as early as the mid-nineteenth century without ever reaching a result, Italian women conquered this fundamental right thanks to the very important role they played during and after the war. Not only as full-fledged and courageous fighters in the partisan brigades, but for the maintenance of the country, of the families, of the society which during the war and in the very first years of reconstruction had rested entirely on the shoulders and on the intelligence of the women.
If we look at the role of women in Italian politics I believe we can trace a dividing line between the generation that after the war asserted the right to vote and stand as a candidate and remained the protagonist of political-parliamentary life for the next forty years, and the following generation. The first generation of women in republican politics, that of Tina Anselmi, Nilde Jotti, Elena Marinucci, precisely by virtue of that referendum victory, was able to create in our country one of the most advanced social protection systems for women in the world , starting with the legislation on the protection of maternity before and after childbirth and on the right of women expecting a child to keep their jobs. And then the divorce law and the abortion law, issues that had established themselves thanks also to the contribution of feminist movements that older women in Parliament had been able to incorporate and carry forward. Conquests that seemed unthinkable in a Catholic country like Italy and which instead women had imposed and affirmed in the culture and customs of our society.
The following generation failed to have as much strength in imposing the issues of the political agenda and in particular the economic and social issues. The women who have voted for seventy years have been mostly confined in institutions, both locally and nationally, to roles that traditionally "suit" to women (school, equal opportunities) without however being able to permeate of these issues, modernizing them, the national economic policies.
Unemployment which affects women more than men today (+ around 19%!!), the lack of tools for reconciling work and family time, the wage gap between men and women present in all sectors, the paradoxical disinvestment from education policies in the last fifteen years, are the sign of the weakness of the female presence in recent decades, a weakness that has meant that the impact of the crisis was unloaded in the first place and with particular gravity on them.
Now something is changing. The younger generation takes for granted the achievements of previous generations and does not have inferiority complexes. The quotas introduced at the electoral level but also on the board of directors of listed companies and public companies are widening the presence of women in decision-making places. What is still missing is a cultural change in politics but also of opinion leaders that transforms the reduction of gender inequalities into a structural reform not only in terms of equality rights between the sexes but, above all, as a fundamental lever for growth and sustainable development. The documents of the United Nations and the OECD are full of recommendations in this sense but they are certainly among the most ignored. Today, the civil and political commitment of women must set this goal: to impose a "women agenda" for national and European economic and social policy. It's not just in women's interests; like seventy years ago, it is above all in the interest of the country and of future generations.
