Women In Italy Striving to Achieve Gender Equality

The European nation of Italy is on an ongoing endeavor to achieve complete gender equality across all aspects of life. Like several other modern countries, Italy has progressive rights and laws to ensure women’s safety and growth opportunities. Several national laws, legislation from the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) protect gender-based rights in Italy.

But, having laws in place is not enough. The reality of gender equality in Italy is far from being ideal. According to WEF’s data, gender equality in Italy lags behind several other nations in the region. The 2023 EIGE Gender Equality Index placed Italy at the 14th spot out of 27 EU member states. The country scored 68.2/100. Italy has also ranked 30th among the 36 countries in the EU according to World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2023 Global Gender Gap Report.

Much like several other countries, deep seated gender-based stereotypes and deeply engrained sexism in the Italian society has been hindering women’s true growth and empowerment in Italy.

A large chunk of the country’s population still believes that women must prioritize family and household responsibilities while men should be the primary breadwinners of the family.

However, such regressive outlook on gender roles has no place in today’s day and age where all genders must have equal opportunities to grow, financially and socially.

Women have often defied such regressive thoughts and have gone out to build successful careers and business leaders and professionals. In the current edition of the Global Woman Leader magazine, we meet some such prolific women from Italy.

Read an in-depth conversation with Barbara Barbieri, Managing Director of BCA Italia, a leading European vehicle remarketing company. Barbara brings a diverse wealth of experience in sales, negotiation, and people management, having developed her expertise through hands-on roles rather than formal legal training. She values empathy and understanding in building commercial relationships. She prioritizes innovation, continuous improvement, and fostering a culture of evolution through regular brainstorming sessions.

We also feature an interview with Sabrina Calabrese, Managing Director of bonprix Italy, is a seasoned professional with a strong customer-centric mindset. She began her career as a call center agent at 23 and later studied strategy, sales, and negotiation techniques in Germany. After returning to Italy, she led the Customer Service Department, focusing on service quality, process optimization, and digital transformation.

In this edition also get to know about the professional journey of Barbara La Tella, partner at Jacobacci Avvocati, is an IP expert specializing in the pharmaceutical sector, patent protection and luxury brand protection. She holds a magna cum laude degree in law from the University of Turin and a master's degree from the Turin School of Business Administration. She has been a member of the European Communities Trademark Association since 2015 and is currently Secretary of its Patent Committee.

These women are shining examples of women furthering gender equality in Italy.

Do let us know your thoughts.