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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report and the attached documentation. It also notes the comments submitted by Confindustria. It asks the Government to provide further information in its next report on the following points.

1. The Committee notes the measures taken by the Government to increase women’s participation in the labour market. It further notes the figures that show an actual increase in women’s participation in the labour market of 2.8 per cent, compared with 0.8 per cent for men. However, it notes that such increase is due both to the greater adaptability of women to the demands of the market, for example in part-time positions, and the rise in the number of "women’s occupations", such as personal services like domestic help and door-to-door selling (78 per cent of women in the south are engaged in these types of work). In fact, employment in atypical work from 1999 to 2001 rose by 36.1 per cent for women, compared with 24.6 per cent for men. Therefore, the Committee recalls that women are still frequently segregated into lower status and lower remunerated occupations, and reiterates its request for information on the measures taken to increase women’s participation in full-time and higher status positions. The Committee also reiterates its request for information on the manner in which the principle of the Convention is respected in atypical employment relationships.

2. In its previous comments the Committee noted the measures adopted by the Government and the social partners to reinforce the policy of gender mainstreaming and to promote the presence of women in decision-making positions in the public sector. However, the Committee notes the data supplied with the latest report on the distribution of men and women in the different sectors and at the different levels of the public administration, and notes in particular that only 6.9 per cent of women occupy the post of general director of a Ministry, and 20.8 per cent the post of director, and that 15.1 per cent of women have been elected to the Parliament in the last elections. The Committee asks the Government to continue to supply such statistical data, and to enhance the measures taken to promote women’s access to senior managerial positions within the public administration.

3. The Committee notes the threefold approach taken by the Government in order to advance equality in employment and occupation: it notes section 3 of Decree 151/2001 which confirms respect for the principle of non-discrimination, section 4 of Act No. 903 providing for equality of treatment in pensions, and the progressive lightening of the cost of female labour. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would describe the manner in which these provisions have helped to reduce the pay gap between women and men workers.

4. The Committee is concerned about the lack of statistical data on wages and incomes disaggregated by sex and level of responsibility. It points out the importance of providing statistics in order for the Committee to be able to examine the actual situation in relation to the wage gap between men and women. In this connection the Committee reiterates its request for a copy of the survey on wage differentials in Italy, disaggregated by sex, commissioned by the National Commission on Equality which was expected to be available in 2001.

5. The Committee notes the attachments to the Government’s report concerning court decisions on cases of indirect discrimination. It also notes the summary table of violations and sanctions relating to equality legislation, in particular that the violation of the principle of equal pay for work of equal value (article 2(1) and (2) of Act 903/77) is sanctioned with a fine from £200,000 to £1,000,000. The Committee further asks for information on any jurisprudence relevant to the application of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value.

6. The Committee is obliged to reiterate its previous request for information on the Government’s efforts to curtail the caporalato scheme of illegal contracting. In this regard, the Committee had noted section 1(3) of the Act No. 196/97, which provided for the experimental use of temporary labour contracts in the agricultural sector. In this context, the Committee again repeats its request that the Government provide information on the follow-up to the Senate Labour Commission Investigative Committee’s recommendations regarding strengthening the monitoring of violations of the principle of equal remuneration between men and women in the agricultural sector.