Stéphane Mourlane

 

The question of the dissolution of matrimonial relations has been a political conern since the unification of Italy. The first proposition was initiated in 1878 by Salvatore Morelli, author of a book in 1862 (La Donna e la scienza o la soluzione del problema sociale) that foreshadowed women's emancipation. This project, like others subsequently, was refused. The Concordat of 1929, which recognized religious marriage civil effects, strengthened the indissoluble character of matrimonial links. The Italian society, rural and conservative, where the Church had a strong influence, and in the southern regions, where remained archaic social and mental structures, adapted so well to this situation. Marriage ensured the perpetuation of a family model, a structuring form of the Italian society, in which the woman was subject to the authority of her husband. The figure of Mamma was one of the most iconic stereotypes of the importance of family ties within the Italian society. Literature, such as in movies, has contributed to define the characters thereof: The Mamma displayed generous figures, witnessing and symbolyzing motherhood and she found in domestic activities her main social function. In 1955, the official instructions of the primary education emphasized on the valorization of the differences between sexes, with the implicit goal of better training the girls for their future household chores. In fact, the issue of divorce was directly linked to the slow process of women’s emancipation since the end of World War II. On the political level, women had the right to vote since 1945. It was not until 1956 that they were accepted in a seated jury in court. Within the family, it was not until 1968 that they repealed the section of the Rocco code that was adopted in the Fascist era, and that penalized adulterous women.

The 1960s offered a more favorable context for a new debate on the legalization of divorce. Italian society, as a result of the economic miracle, knew significant changes that benefited women from a social and a cultural point of view. Thus, their share in higher education increased from 27% to 38% between 1960 and 1970. They contributed to the affirmation of a generation far from the conservative political and social contexts, leading to protests between 1967 and 1968. Investigations in the press and polls proved their commitment to change the status of women, mainly by the adoption of the divorce legislation.

In this environment, also marked by the gradual decline of the Church, the Socialist deputy Loris Fortuna submitted in 1965 a law project that was not continued immediately. Following an important opinion campaign, he joined the Liberal Antonio Baslini to make a new proposal in 1969. The law was adopted by the House of Representatives on November 27, 1969 by 325 votes against 283, then on October 9 by the Senate in the same proportions. The elected Christian Democrats opposed it, under pressure from the Church that saw the legalization of divorce as a violation of the Lateran accords.

The Church demanded and obtained a referendum to repeal in May 1974. Despite a very active campaign supported by the Christian Democrats, only 40% of Italians were in favor of the prohibition of divorce. The legalization of divorce in Italy was therefore a milestone in the country's social development, marking a breakthrough resulting from the women’s emancipation, and autonomy of the social actors away from the tutelage of the Church. However, the divoce, symbol of cultural and legal constraints remained at an exceptionally low level in Europe.

 

Michela De Giogio, Le Italiane dall’Unità ad oggi, Roma-Bari, Laterza, 1997.

Diana De Vigili, La battaglia sul divorzio. Dalla Costituente al Referendum, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2000.

Giambattista Scirè - Il divorzio in Italia. Partiti, Chiesa, società civile dalla legge al Referendum, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2007