https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from Italy in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Italy hosts the world's top paralympic athletes this month, but just getting across the street in Rome can feel like an Olympian task for wheelchair users. https://www.thelocal.it/20260304/italys-patchy-disability-access-an-insult-ahead-of-paralympic-games Wed, 04 Mar 2026 09:18:24 +0100 italys-patchy-disability-access-an-insult-ahead-of-paralympic-games International Women's Day is this Sunday, March 8th – here are the ways the occasion is being commemorated in Italy, from a general strike to free museum visits. https://www.thelocal.it/20260302/heres-how-italy-is-marking-international-womens-day-this-year Mon, 02 Mar 2026 16:32:25 +0100 heres-how-italy-is-marking-international-womens-day-this-year Children born to foreign parents in Italy must wait until they are 18 to apply for citizenship, and then have just one year to do so or face a years-long wait - a process some have described as a 'psychological violence'. https://www.thelocal.it/20240315/true-italians-the-children-left-waiting-for-citizenship Fri, 15 Mar 2024 10:53:35 +0100 true-italians-the-children-left-waiting-for-citizenship As the world marks International Women’s Day, here are some of the ups and downs of living in Italy as a woman. Share your own experiences in the comments section below. https://www.thelocal.it/20240308/what-are-the-positives-and-negatives-of-living-in-italy-as-a-woman Fri, 08 Mar 2024 16:45:25 +0100 what-are-the-positives-and-negatives-of-living-in-italy-as-a-woman Judges in Italy on Tuesday ruled that children can have two mothers listed on their birth certificates – a decision hailed as a victory by rights campaigners in Catholic-majority Italy. https://www.thelocal.it/20240305/italian-court-rules-in-favour-of-same-sex-parents-on-birth-certificates Tue, 05 Mar 2024 16:20:32 +0100 italian-court-rules-in-favour-of-same-sex-parents-on-birth-certificates Members of the EU parliament on Thursday demanded that Italy's government "rescind its decision" after the country's interior ministry ordered Milan to stop registering the children of same-sex families. https://www.thelocal.it/20230330/eu-parliament-slams-italys-clampdown-on-same-sex-couples-rights Thu, 30 Mar 2023 19:22:56 +0200 eu-parliament-slams-italys-clampdown-on-same-sex-couples-rights Hundreds of people took to the streets of Milan on Saturday in protest against a new government directive stopping local authorities from registering the births of same-sex couples' children. https://www.thelocal.it/20230318/protesters-gather-in-milan-as-italy-limits-same-sex-parents-rights Sat, 18 Mar 2023 18:24:40 +0100 protesters-gather-in-milan-as-italy-limits-same-sex-parents-rights Milan's city hall has stopped issuing birth certificates to children of gay couples following a directive from Italy's far-right government, local media reported on Monday, in a move rights groups called "painful and unjust". https://www.thelocal.it/20230314/milan-stops-recognising-children-born-to-same-sex-couples Tue, 14 Mar 2023 13:02:28 +0100 milan-stops-recognising-children-born-to-same-sex-couples From protests to free museum tickets, here's a look at what towns and cities across Italy are doing for International Women's Day on March 8th. https://www.thelocal.it/20230308/how-italy-is-marking-international-womens-day-2 Wed, 08 Mar 2023 12:42:17 +0100 how-italy-is-marking-international-womens-day-2 On International Women's Day, The Local looks what it's like to be a woman in Italy today by the numbers. https://www.thelocal.it/20220308/11-statistics-that-show-the-state-of-gender-equality-in-italy Tue, 08 Mar 2022 17:02:28 +0100 11-statistics-that-show-the-state-of-gender-equality-in-italy On Friday March 8th women across Italy will take action to demand equality. https://www.thelocal.it/20190307/what-you-need-to-know-about-womens-day-action-in-italy Thu, 07 Mar 2019 13:00:49 +0100 what-you-need-to-know-about-womens-day-action-in-italy A womens' day flyer printed by Italy’s League has been slammed as “backwards” for claiming the "natural role of women” is “the promotion and support of life and the family.” https://www.thelocal.it/20190306/league-womens-day-leaflet-womens-natural-role-is-supporting-the-family Wed, 06 Mar 2019 18:11:31 +0100 league-womens-day-leaflet-womens-natural-role-is-supporting-the-family When the Italian government sat down with heads of industry to discuss the budget this week, there was something noticeably missing from the picture: women. https://www.thelocal.it/20181212/why-are-there-so-few-women-in-italys-most-powerful-jobs Wed, 12 Dec 2018 11:48:08 +0100 why-are-there-so-few-women-in-italys-most-powerful-jobs On International Women's Day, The Local looks what it's like to be a woman in Italy by the numbers. https://www.thelocal.it/20180308/statistics-women-in-italy-womens-rights-gender-gap-equality Thu, 08 Mar 2018 19:18:28 +0100 statistics-women-in-italy-womens-rights-gender-gap-equality Women who want equal opportunities to work, fair pay, political representation, a higher education and access to health care won’t find it in Italy, global statistics show. https://www.thelocal.it/20171103/italy-gender-gap-worse Fri, 03 Nov 2017 12:56:18 +0100 italy-gender-gap-worse The Women's Marches on Saturday are thought to have brought up to four million people together from across the globe to demonstrate for civil rights. One of the organizers of the Milan event, Rachael Martin, explains why women marched - and need to keep marching - in Italy. https://www.thelocal.it/20170125/why-women-need-to-keep-marching-in-italy Wed, 25 Jan 2017 11:35:00 +0100 why-women-need-to-keep-marching-in-italy This weekend, hundreds of protesters marched in Rome, one of the many global events in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington. Here's what they had to say. https://www.thelocal.it/20170123/the-best-signs-from-the-womens-march-on-rome Mon, 23 Jan 2017 09:54:02 +0100 the-best-signs-from-the-womens-march-on-rome Sara Di Pietrantonio was just 21 years old. In what was described by a Rome police chief as the worst crime he'd seen in his 25 years in the role, the student suffered a torturous death at the hands of her ex-boyfriend. https://www.thelocal.it/20160620/how-can-italy-stop-violence-against-women Mon, 20 Jun 2016 13:52:27 +0200 how-can-italy-stop-violence-against-women The brutal murder of Sara Di Pietrantonio by her ex-boyfriend has thrown the issue of femicide into the spotlight again, and Thursday saw both marches and individual displays of solidarity across the country. https://www.thelocal.it/20160602/italys-small-silent-protest-against-femicide-sara-di-pietrantonio Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:44:07 +0200 italys-small-silent-protest-against-femicide-sara-di-pietrantonio Judging from her predecessors, Josefa Idem is not a typical Italian minister for equal opportunities. Not only has she never posed topless, but she’s also an Olympic gold medallist. This week, she became the first Italian minister to announce she’d be joining a Gay Pride march. https://www.thelocal.it/20130606/from-olympic-medalist-to-cabinet-minister Thu, 06 Jun 2013 17:48:00 +0200 from-olympic-medalist-to-cabinet-minister