ROME - Speaking on International Women's Day, Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Friday that he would be presenting two new laws to fight violence against women in Italy. Meanwhile, Head of State Sergio Mattarella spoke at the Quirinale, stressing the importance of the role of women in society.

 As well as using the day celebrate women, the interior minister also recognised the need to protect women from violence. “I will present two new laws; one that eliminates sentence reductions for murderers and rapists and another that will require judges to summon and question women who report abuse within three days of the report, to prevent death and injury,” said Salvini.

 To celebrate International Women’s Day, the changing of the guard at the Quirinale was all female, with the guard of honor entrusted to the women of the Lancieri di Montebello.

 At the Quirinale, Mattarella took the opportunity to stress that “The condition of women attests the degree of civilization reached by a country.” The president also referred to the theme of this year's celebrations at the Quirinale, which is that of women enslaved and forced into prostitution.

 Mattarella firmly condemned sexual slavery, saying, “it is an ignoble exploitation to the detriment of women, spent minors, coming from the most extreme poverty, from war contexts, from arid lands, that end up in the networks of cruel human traffickers.” It points to the “transnational mafias that make money off the bodies and souls of women,” he added.

 Mattarella also called for education and prevention against femicide and the need to protect “victims of violence caused by the distorted and criminal mentality of possession and domination.”

 Moreover, the head of State did not neglect recalling the employment disparities that still hinder women today and the need for change. On average, women are still 17 per cent less than men, Corriere della Sera reported.

 “The contribution of women to the civil, cultural, social, economic growth of our country has been immense, but even today we pay distortions and disparities that, penalising women, they penalise us as a whole,” said Mattarella.

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