Violence against women 1960 Divorce law in 1970 Abortion Act 1978 Female quotas in 2011 TIMELINE

1960 Violence against women In memory of the Mirabel sisters November 25th is the date chosen to celebrate the day of violence against women, in honor of the three Mirabel sisters, heroines of the liberation struggle of the Dominican Republic, tortured and killed in 1960 by agents of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. There are many initiatives organized in all Italian cities on this day every year.

1970 Divorce law Divorce (or the dissolution of marriage) is the termination of a marital union canceling the legal duties and responsibilities arising from it and dissolving the marriage between the parties (unlike annulment which declares the marriage null and void). The divorce laws vary considerably around the world but in most countries divorce requires the validity of the judgment of a court or other authority in a legal process. Since 1970, several countries have legalized divorce (including Spain, Italy, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, and Malta). Today, only two countries in the world - the Philippines and the Vatican City - are not in their legal civil proceedings for divorce.

1978 Abortion Act Abortion is the premature termination of a pregnancy. This can occur by natural causes (miscarriage) or be artificially induced (induced abortion or abortion) The abortion law 194/78 - The Italian regulations on abortion contains the "Rules for the social protection of motherhood and on abortion”, 22 articles governing its implementation.

2011 Female quotas The presence of women in leadership roles in Italian companies is still low. Although the law n°120/2011 which introduced the so-called "female quotas" (meaning that a fixed share of the members of an institution like the Parliament or town council must be women) has begun to bear fruits - the"pink" chairs today (Consob data), amount to 17.2% of the total - the data show that there is still much to do!