A delegation of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) visited Italy from 23 to 27 October 2023 as the first step in the preparation of a monitoring report. The visit was preceded by online meetings on 20 October 2023. During the visit, ECRI’s delegation gathered information on effective equality and access to rights; hate speech and hate motivated violence; and integration and inclusion.

The delegation held meetings with representatives of the national government, the equality body (the National Office Against Racial Discrimination), parliamentarians and members of other independent bodies, representatives of civil society organisations and academia. In addition, the delegation visited a shelter for LGBTI youth and a one-stop-shop providing information and other services to asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection in the city of Rome. It also met with representatives of the local authorities in Rome, as well as with representatives of the Muslim community and with various actors engaged in combating antisemitism.

Following this visit, ECRI will adopt a report in which it will make a new set of recommendations on measures to be taken by the authorities to address racism and intolerance in the country. The implementation of two priority recommendations will be reviewed in two years’ time after the publication of the report as part of ECRI’s interim follow-up procedure.

In its 2016 report on Italy, among other recommendations, ECRI recommended that the authorities do more to raise awareness among young people of tolerance and mutual respect and alert them to the dangers of using the Internet to spread hate speech and offensive content.

It also recommended taking the necessary steps to provide victims of hate crimes with specialised support and appointing a contact person in each police district to deal with questions of racism and LGBTI-phobia, as well as contact person in the corresponding public prosecutor’s office. 

For more information on previous ECRI reports on Italy, please visit ECRI’s country monitoring page