On Saturday, 15th October 2022 the streets of Bolzano (Italy) were filled with people protesting for women’s rights. The second women’s march took place in Bolzano with the motto “Shaking up the region” and the women’s museum Meran participated in the organization of the march.
The reason for the march are the countless inequalities that still exist between men and women in all spheres of life, the gender pay gap, the gender pension gap, the unabating violence against women, the alarmingly high numbers of women seeking protection in women’s shelters and, last but not least, the ever-growing list of those women who have not survived violence.
South Tyrolean women receive on average about half the monthly pension of men (735 euros to 1,433 euros). The weekly care and housework among employed persons amounts to 22.2 hours for women and 8.2 hours for men? Although the level of education of women is now higher than that of men (in the Euregio 19.4% of women have a university degree; in comparison 12.6% of men), neither politics (representation – 13 to 103 mayors, 2 to 7 provincial councillors, etc.) nor the economy (glass ceiling and income gap of 4.2% less per hour) nor the media landscape (26% of the space/time in Italy is occupied by female experts and protagonists) takes into account the view of women.
In Italy, one femicide is expected every 60-72 hours, and recently female homicides have even increased, while the overall number of murders has decreased. In the South Tyrolean women’s shelters, 105 women with 141 children were admitted last year, and 586 women were accompanied in the counseling and contact centers.