"We want
the right to
choose!"
ALMOST 400,000 WOMEN marched through the centre of Rome on April 15. Even the least enthusiastic observers estimated that there were at least 100,000. They were protesting against recent attacks on Law 194, which made abortion legal, and against sexual violence. LIVIO MAITAN
T THE DEMONSTRATION was
called by a number of political organizations - the Italian Communist Party (PCI), the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), the Italian Republican Party (PRI), the Radical Party (PR), the Italian Social Democratic Party (PSDI), Proletarian Democracy (DP) and the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR, Italian section of the Fourth International), as well as the women's sections of the two trade union confederations, the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) and the Italian Workers' Unic- (UIL). There was a contingent of women from France, and messages of solidarity were received from Germany, the Spanish state, Holland and the United States (to be precise, from the National Organization of Women, who organized a massive pro-choice march in Washington on April 9 — see IV 162). Recent attacks on abortion law
Mobilization for the demonstration took place around the basic demand vogliamo scegliere ("we want to choose"). More immediately, women wanted to show their opposition to the recent attacks on the law legalising abortion (law 194) mounted by a variety of conservative and reactionary forces, including the so-called "right to life" movement, the Catholic Church and Carlo Donat Cattin, the Christian Democrat Health Minister. The application of that law continues to be thwarted by a variety of means, which is why the whole demonstration took up the chant "Apply 194!"
A second factor in the mobilization was the fate of the law on sexual violence, which has got bogged down in endless debates in the two houses of parliament. A few days before the demonstration, just when it seemed as if the law was finally going to be passed, (although with some important limitations, in particular in relation to the rights of young people, the Senate introduced some amendments, that, as the conservative press itself agreed, robbed it of its content. An ad hoc majority made up of the Christian Democracy (DC), the Italian Social Movement (MSI, the neo-fascist party) and some thirty freelancers from other parties voted down a clause which stated that sexual relations between consenting partners over the age of 13 could not be punished. Since Italian law does not provide for legal penalties against those under 13 regardless of the crime, this clause would have effectively put an end to the criminalisation of sexual relations between consenting minors. The Senate's vote reintroduced this notion.
Discussion on sexual violence in marriage
There was also a second important change. The law as passed by the Chamber of Deputies proposed to make any case of sexual violence a criminal offence automatically. In the version as amended by the Senate, however, if the violence takes place in the framework of a marriage, then criminal proceedings will only be initiated if the victim brings charges. It is true that the original version of the clause was a subject of some debate in sections of the women's movement - some felt that it was necessary to uphold the right of women to decide for themselves. But it is clear that only automatic criminal proceedings would offer an adequate guarantee that rape would be punished within marriage as well given that it is very difficult for the majority of women to bring charges against their male partners. The government representative himself commented after the votes had been taken, "we have taken a step backwards in comparison with the code Rocco (the code introduced by the fascists). While it is true that the law must now be taken back to the Chamber of Deputies, which could result in further changes, this cannot be done for at least another six months. This presents the danger that this bill will hang around for a long time, be blocked by procedural questions or be adopted without regard for the most basic rights and aspirations of women. We can be sure that the pressures in this direction from conservative sectors in society and above all from the church will be powerful.
Furthermore the Pope has not been wasting time. On the day after the demonstration in Rome he made another speech against abortion, stating that "the law must help the citizens to recognize and respect the value of life by means of legislation which embodies the inviolable rights of the person." His conception of the "inviolable rights of the person" is clearly not shared by the hundreds of thousands of women who marched through the streets of the Italian capital.
The Christian Democracy was not of course one of the parties supporting the demonstration. This was to be expected in the light of the struggles which it has led — and lost — against divorce and abortion. Nonetheless the organizing committee of the demonstration thought it necessary to send an open letter to the women of this party. It states:
Women's right to sexual freedom
"We have called this demonstration not in order to urge women to have abortions, but to demand the application of law 194 which allows abortion to be performed legally. We have come into the streets to demand the right of women to sexual freedom and for their right to choose when and where to have a child. It is for this reason that we call for the proper implementation of law 194, as well as further laws to make it more comprehensive and effective
"We are aware that you, the Christian Democrat women, are ready to discuss some of these points with us. We hope, in any case, that there will be a new and difBeen in the county end in parament deeds 15 both in the country and in parliament."*
Unification process in
The discussion must now turn to the problem of the party, since only a redefinition of the concept of the party that is to be built can reawaken the energies, restimulate the initiative and bring about a reorganization of militant layers.
Realignment of class-struggle forces