Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Chapter IX
Returning to work after childbirth: A comparative legal
perspective on discrimination affecting new moms
Elena Falletti
1. Introduction
1
Article no. 4 of the Istanbul Convention establishes: “Fundamental rights, equality
and non‐discrimination. 1 Parties shall take the necessary legislative and other measures
to promote and protect the right for everyone, particularly women, to live free from
violence in both the public and the private sphere. 2 Parties condemn all forms of
discrimination against women and take, without delay, the necessary legislative and
other measures to prevent it, in particular by: embodying in their national constitutions
or other appropriate legislation the principle of equality between women and men and
ensuring the practical realization of this principle; prohibiting discrimination against
women, including through the use of sanctions, where appropriate; abolishing laws and
practices which discriminate against women. 3 The implementation of the provisions
of this Convention by the Parties, in particular measures to protect the rights of victims,
shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, gender, race, color,
language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with
a national minority, property, birth, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, state of
health, disability, marital status, migrant or refugee status, or other status.
2
S. DE VIDO, The Ratification of the Council of Europe Istanbul Convention by the
EU: A Step Forward in the Protection of Women from Violence in the European Legal
System, European journal of legal studies, 2017, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 69-102
302
5
E. EVATT, Finding a Voice for Women's Rights: The Early Days of CEDAW, 34
Geo. Wash. Int'l L. Rev. 515 (2002), 515
6
E. EVATT, cit.
7
J. N. C. NEO, Calibrating Interpretive Incorporation: Constitutional Interpretation
and Pregnancy Discrimination Under CEDAW, Human Rights Quarterly, 2013, p. 910.
304
8
M. A. FREEMAN, The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against
Women and the Role of Civil Society in Implementing International Women's Human
Rights Norms, 16 New Eng. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 25, p. 38.
9
M. A. FREEMAN, cit.
10
M. A. FREEMAN, cit.
305
11
C. MCCRUDDEN, CEDAW in National Courts: A Case Study in Operationalizing
Comparative International Law Analysis in A Human Rights Contex, 2017,
https://ssrn.com/abstract=2927707.
12
S. CUSACK, L. PUSEY, CEDAW and the Rights to Non-Discrimination and
Equality. CEDAW and the Rights to Non-Discrimination and Equality, Melb Jour Int
Law 14, (2013), p. 1 ss.
13
J. GALTRY, Strengthening the human rights framework to protect breastfeeding: a
focus on CEDAW, International Breastfeeding Journal, (2015), p. 29.
306
14
R. HOLTMAAT, The CEDAW: a holistic approach to women’s equality and
freedom, in A. HELLUM, H. SINDING AASEN (eds), Women’s Human Rights: CEDAW in
International, Regional and National Law, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge –
New York, 2013.
15
G. RODGERS, E. LEE, L. SWEPSTON, J. VAN DAELE, The International Labour
Organization and the quest for social justice, 1919–2009, International Labour
Organization, Geneva, 2009, p. 42; H.G. BARTOLOMEI DE LA CRUZ, G. VON POTOBSKY,
L. SWEPSTON,The International Labor Organization: The International Standards
System and Basic Human Rights, Westview Press, 1996.
16
See ILO Website: promoting social justice and internationally recognized human
and labour rights, pursuing its founding mission that social justice is essential to
universal and lasting peace. J. K. BELLACE, Achieving Social Justice: The Nexus
Between the ILO's Fundamental Rights and Decent Work, 15 Empl. Rts. & Employ.
Pol'y J. 5 (2011), 7
17
D. PEKSEN, R. G. BLANTON, The impact of ILO conventions on worker rights: Are
empty promises worse than no promises? The Review of International Organizations,
2017, pp. 75-94.
307
18
Convention concerning Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for Men and
Women Workers: Workers with Family Responsibilities (Entry into force: 11 Aug 1983)
Adoption: Geneva, 67th ILC session (23 Jun 1981)
19
Recommendation concerning Equal Opportunities and Equal Treatment for Men
and Women Workers: Workers with Family Responsibilities Adoption: Geneva, 67th
ILC session (23 Jun 1981)
20
Convention concerning the revision of the Maternity Protection Convention
(Revised), 1952 (Entry into force: 07 Feb 2002) Adoption: Geneva, 88th ILC session
(15 Jun 2000) - Status: Up-to-date instrument (Technical Convention).
21
Recommendation concerning Maternity Protection Adoption: Geneva, 35th ILC
session (28 Jun 1952) - Status: Replaced Recommendation; Recommendation
concerning the revision of the Maternity Protection Recommendation, 1952Adoption:
Geneva, 88th ILC session (15 Jun 2000) - Status: Up-to-date instrument.
22
L. ADDATI, Extending maternity protection to all women: Trends, challenges and
opportunities, International Social Security Review, 2015, p.76
308
23
L. WATER, Which Ideas, Whose Norms? Comparing the Relative Influence of
International Organizations on Paid Maternity and Parental Leave Policies in Liberal
Welfare States, Social Politics 2017, 37.
24
L. ADDATI, op. cit., pp. 76 ss.
25
L. WATER, op. cit.
309
to not perform work «prejudicial to the health of the mother or the child,
or where an assessment has established a significant risk to the mother's
health or that of her child».
Article No. 10 is related to breastfeeding issues, and it affirms that
the new mother has the right to one (or more) daily breaks or reduction
of hours of work to breasted her child. This period has to be determined
by national laws and these breaks and/or the reduction of daily hours of
work have to be counted as working time and remunerated accordingly.
This is one of the most sensitive points of discrimination of new-mom-
workers, especially in category of micro, small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) because this remuneration is seen as a cost rather
than investment. However, a recent survey seems to demonstrate that this
is a stereotyped perception without a quantification of costs and
benefits27.
Article No. 4 is devoted to disciplining maternity leave. It affirms
that:«1. On production of a medical certificate or other appropriate
certification, as determined by national law and practice, stating the
presumed date of childbirth, a woman to whom this Convention applies
shall be entitled to a period of maternity leave of not less than 14 weeks.
2. The length of the period of leave referred to above shall be specified
by each Member in a declaration accompanying its ratification of this
Convention. 3. Each Member may subsequently deposit with the
Director-General of the International Labour Office a further declaration
extending the period of maternity leave. 4. With due regard to the
protection of the health of the mother and that of the child, maternity
leave shall include a period of six weeks' compulsory leave after
childbirth, unless otherwise agreed at the national level by the
government and the representative organizations of employers and
workers. 5. The prenatal portion of maternity leave shall be extended by
any period elapsing between the presumed date of childbirth and the
actual date of childbirth, without reduction in any compulsory portion of
postnatal leave».
27
S. LEWIS, B. STUMBITZ, L. MILES, J. ROUSE, Maternity protection in SMEs. An
international review, Geneva, ILO, 2014, p. 7.
311
28
R. JUSTO, D. R. DE TIENNE e P. SIEGER, Failure or voluntary exit? Reassessing the
female underperformance hypothesis, Journal of Business Venturing 30 (2015) 775–
792, p. 783.
29
L. M. FINLEY, op. cit., p. 1118;
30
L. ROTHMAN, A Cultural History of Mansplaining, in The Atlantic, Nov. 1 2012.
312
31
U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against
Women, Dec. 18, 1979
313
32
G. N. POWELL, K. A. EDDLESTON, Linking family-to-business enrichment and
support to entrepreneurial success: Do female and male entrepreneurs experience
different outcomes?, in Journal of Business Venturing 28 (2013) 261–p. 280
33
Trib. Teramo, 5 July 2016.
34
For the specific Italian case: Court of Cassation, 29 September 2015, No. 19304;
Court of Cassation, 3 November 2016, No. 22318. G. OBERTO, Ancora sulla pretesa
gratuità delle prestazioni lavorative subordinate rese dal convivente more uxorio, in
Fam. Dir., 2016, 2, p. 129.
35
Istanbul Convention, Explanatory Report, §47.
314
36
A. ZILLI, Il (diritto del) lavoro per il contrasto alla violenza di genere, in Lavoro
nella giur., 2016, 4, p. 333.
37
S. PETRILLI, Tutela delle vittime di violenza di genere: prevenzione, repressione
dei reati e nuove disposizioni per le lavoratrici, in Azienditalia - Il Personale, 2016, 1,
p. 29; F. MARIUCCI, La tutela della donna nelle relazioni di coppia: tra femminicidio e
violenza di genere, in Riv. Pen., 2016, 11, pp. 945-949; P. DONADI, I crimini contro le
donne e la legge sul femminicidio, in Sociol. dir., 2015, 1, pp. 103-119; F. BARTOLINI,
Considerazioni su alcune delle misure antiviolenza contenute nella L. n. 119/2013 su
sicurezza pubblica e “femminicidio”, in Archivio della nuova procedura penale, 2014,
1, pp. 1-7; S. BONINI,Sulla tutela penale di vittime fragili. Questioni sospese in materia
di atti persecutori e femminicidio (dopo il d.l. 93/2013). A margine, un'apertura della
Cassazione in tema di “mobbing” e lesioni personali, in Indice pen., 2014, 2, pp. 667-
699; E. BUCCOLIERO, Femminicidio. Una legge imperfetta, ma che rende le donne meno
ricattabili e i minori meno invisibili, in Minori giust., 2014, 1, pp. 153-158; F.
OCCHIOGROSSO, La legge sul femminicidio: un'occasione mancata, in Minori giust.,
2014, 1, pp. 148-152.
38
M. VALLINO, V. MONTARULI, Artemisia e le altre. Miti di rinascita nella violenza
di genere, Roma, 2016, p. 81 ss.
39
A. BROWN, E. PATTEN, The narrowing, but persistent, gender gap in pay, Pew
Research Center, 2017, http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/03/gender-pay-
gap-facts/, World Economic Forum, Gender Parity and Human Capital, 2016
316
that female role and work have always been treated as invisible in social
relationships40 as low-level, hard, unrecognized, feminine work has
always existed, especially in the countryside and industry. This disparity
has irreparable consequences on income and on the autonomy of the
female workers because, together with the remuneration, it also affects
the contributions payable and hence the difference in pension income
when the worker retires. Indeed, female pensioners have poorer pensions
than male ones. This treatment diversity will be discounted throughout
the entire life of the female worker.
The European Court of Justice ruled on this specific point
condemning Italy: The Luxembourg court argues that. Article no. 141
EC prohibits any discrimination on grounds of remuneration between
male and female workers, which is the mechanism which generates this
inequality. Therefore, fixing of an age requirement that varies according
to sex for the granting of a pension constitutes a remuneration within the
meaning of Article no. 141 EC, and it is contrary to such provision41.
Indeed, the Court argued that establishing, for retirement purposes,
a different age depending on sex does neither compensate for the
disadvantages to which female workers are exposed by helping these
women in their professional life nor remedy the problems they may
encounter during their professional career. Therefore, maintaining in
force legislation which allows workers to receive old-age pension at
different ages, depending on whether they are men or women, the Italian
Republic has failed the obligations set forth in art. 141 CE42 regarding
equal pay for men and women for equal work or for work of equal value.
With regard to the specific issue that is here treated, the protection of the
http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2016/gender-parity-and-human-
capital/
40
E. DAHLSTRÖM, R. LILJESTRÖM, The Patriarchal Heritage and the Working-Class
Women, in Acta Sociologica, Vol. 26, No. 1 (1983), p. 8; E. BOULDING, The Underside
of History: A View of Women through Time, New York, 1976.
41
Court of Justice of the European Union, 14 December 1993, case C-110/91,
Michael Moroni v Collo GmbH, §§10 and 20; Court of Justice of the European Union,
28 September 1994, Constance Christina Ellen Smith and others v Avdel Systems Ltd.,
cause C-408/92.
42
P. SCHLESINGER, F. BONETTI, Pensione di vecchiaia dei dipendenti pubblici e
parita' di trattamento tra uomini e donne, in Corriere Giur., 2009, 5, p. 589.
317
working mother, the woman risks being discriminated even before she
becomes pregnant when she has to undertake specific treatments against
infertility.
About this, the Italian case law43, referring to the European Union
law44, states that dismissing a worker prior to implantation of ovules
already fertilized in vitro, proving that the resolution of the work contract
was due to the particular condition of the worker as a woman, is therefore
discriminatory for gender reason45.
43
http://www.osservatoriodiscriminazioni.org/index.php/2016/07/20/finalmente-
revirement-della-cassazione-sul-licenziamento-discriminatorio/
44
Court of Justice of the Euroopean Union, 26 February 2008, Sabine
Mayr contro Backerei und Konditorei Gerhard Flockner OHG cause C-506/06.
45
Indeed, Article 2(1) and 5(1) of Council Directive 76/207/EEC of 9 February
1976 on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women as
regards access to employment, vocational training and promotion, and working
conditions, preclude the dismissal of a female worker who is at an advanced stage of in
vitro fertilisation treatment, that is, between the follicular puncture and the immediate
transfer of the in vitro fertilised ova into her uterus, inasmuch as it is established that
the dismissal is essentially based on the fact that the woman has undergone such
treatment
46
Article 14. Prohibition of Discrimination. The enjoyment of the rights and
freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any
ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national
or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.
318
47
European Court of Human Rights, 28 May 1985, Abdulaziz, Cabales and
Balkandali v. the United Kingdom, (Application no. 9214/80; 9473/81; 9474/81). See
also, the Belgian Linguistic case, para. 10, the Marckx case, para. 33, and the
Rasmussen case, para. 38.
48
European Court of Human Rights, 21 December 1999, Case of Salgueiro da Silva
Mouta v. Portugal, App. No. 33290/96, European Court of Human Rights, 18 July 1994,
Karlheinz Schmidt v. Germany, App. No. 13580/88.
49
European Court of Human Rights, 26 July 2005, Siliadin v. France, App. No.
73316/01. The case had been filed by a Togolese citizen who illegally immigrated to
France when she was still a minor. She was sold by her father to a relative with the
promise to send her to school and instead “loaned” to a couple of her acquaintances.
The young woman demanded the condemnation of France because the French
authorities had not put in sufficient efforts to protect her from servitude at the hands of
her “bosses” who obliged her to work as a servant and baby-sitter in their home for free
and without the possibility to change her miserable conditions, with the threat of being
reported as being clandestine. Her exploiters were sentenced by first-instance judges to
twelve months of detention (of which seven were suspended) and the compensation of
a hundred thousand francs, as they used the work of the young woman without a
residence permit, either paying it or paying contributions. However, the defendants
319
were defeated in appeal, and even though the sentence was overturned in cassation by
referring to a new appeal decision that only condemned the exploiters to payment of
just over thirty thousand euros, the young woman appealed to the European Court of
Human Rights to seek the French State's sentence for breach of art. 4 ECHR (M. G.
GIAMMARINARO, Articolo 5 in G. BISOGNI, G. BRONZINI e V. PICCONE, La Carta dei
diritti dell'Unione Europea. Casi e Materiali, Taranto, 2009, p. 92).
50
The Court affirmed that “Accordingly, the offences to which she had been
subjected fell within the provisions of Articles 225-13 and 225-14 of the Criminal Code
as worded at the material time. These were non-specific texts of a more general nature,
which both required that the victim be in a state of vulnerability or dependence. Those
concepts were as vague as that of the offender's “taking advantage”, which was also
part of the definition of the two offences. In this connection, she emphasized that both
legal commentators and the National Assembly's taskforce on the various forms of
modern slavery had highlighted the lack of legal criteria enabling the courts to
determine whether such a situation obtained, which had led in practice to unduly
restrictive interpretations” (European Court of Human Rights, 26 July 2005, Siliadin,
cit.).
51
The Court noted: “With regard to the concept of “servitude”, what is prohibited
is a “particularly serious form of denial of freedom” (see Van Droogenbroeck v.
Belgium, Commission's report of 9 July 1980, Series B no. 44, p. 30, §§ 78-80). It
includes, “in addition to the obligation to perform certain services for others ... the
obligation for the 'serf' to live on another person's property and the impossibility of
altering his condition” (Corte europea dei diritti umani, siliadin, cit)
320
criminal law52. The Court held that, in the Siliadin case, there was an
infringement of Article No. 4 ECHR, because the perpetrators were not
imprisoned under the criminal law since this was non-existent53. By that
failure, the Court ordered France to reimburse the applicant for legal
expenses, but not to pay compensation for moral damages, since the
applicant had not applied for it.
What is the correlation between this case and the purpose of my
article? Siliadin is a case that does not fall under a specific singular
criminal provision, but it concerns a servile state and a form of violence
and discrimination that hinders all the life choices of the person involved,
for instance, the study to attend, the work to do, the friends to make, and
to form a family and, so, maternity.
52
M. G. GIAMMARINARO, Art. 5, cit. p. 93.
53
In addition, according to the report of 12 December 2001 by the French National
Assembly's joint taskforce on the various forms of modern slavery, Articles 225-13 and
225-14 of the Criminal Code, as worded at the material time, were open to very
differing interpretations from one court to the next, as demonstrated by this case, which,
indeed, was referred to by the taskforce as an example of a case in which a court of
appeal had unexpectedly declined to apply Articles 225-13 and 225-14. In those
circumstances, the Court considers that the criminal-law legislation in force at the
material time did not afford the applicant, a minor, practical and effective protection
against the actions of which she was a victim. It notes that the legislation has been
changed but the amendments, which were made subsequently, were not applicable to
the applicant's situation. It emphasizes that the increasingly high standard being
required in the area of the protection of human rights and fundamental liberties
correspondingly and inevitably requires greater firmness in assessing breaches of the
fundamental values of democratic societies (European Court of Human Rights,
Siliadin, cit.).
321
women”. To focus on this issue, I scrutinized the recent case law of Italy,
the United Kingdom and France.
54
Trib.Padova 9 May 2000, Trib. Firenze 28 February 2004, Trib. Milano 31 March
2006
55
Trib. Prato, April 9, 2010.
56
Trib. Prato September 10, 2010, in D & L 2010, 1063.
57
Constitutional Court 23 December 2003, No 371, Constitutional Court, May 16,
2002, No. 197; Constitutional court December 14, 2001, No. 405, Constitutional Court,
February 2010, No. 4623.
322
58
Constitutional Court, 28 July 2010, No. 285.
59
Constitutional Court, 28 July 2010, No 285.
60
Constitutional Court, 7 April 2011, No. 116.
61
R. NUNIN, I congedi parentali dopo il d.lgs. 15 giugno 2015, n. 80, in Lavoro
nella Giur., 2016, 1, p. 14.
62
L. CALAFÀ, Il sostegno della genitorialità dopo il Jobs Act, in Lavoro nella Giur.,
2015, 10, 877
63
L. CALAFÀ, op. cit.
64
R. NUNIN op. cit.; L. CALAFÀ, op. cit.
323
parenthood and workplace. The most significant changes concern the 12-
year-old child's extension for the use of parental leave, but above all, the
treatment of fathers. Now both self-employed and free professional
fathers may enjoy the same parental leave as the subordinate workers,
with some specific exceptions65.
The recognition to equal access to parental leave does not concern
a discrimination fighting issue, but it regards a wider context. If the father
requests parental leave (as well as the mother), justifying his absence
from work to follow the child’s growth, motherhood (or parenthood) will
not only be a new mothers’ problem, but a shared need among
employees. So, employers should abandon “punitive” policies against
parents, promoting the reconciliation between life, family, and work,
more effective than a promise made through a legislative text66.
Despite a wide anti-discrimination legislation, a punitive attitude
towards women still survives, it is rooted in widespread culture
preventing them from a full equality recognition67. Indeed, both under a
social and familiar perspective, a woman who does not want to have
children is required to justify her choice68. Some scholars investigate
whether this approach could be referred to some influence of the mixed
Catholic and fascist legacies still present in the more conservative
mentality about the idea of family69, as it could demonstrate a recent
65
L. CALAFÀ, op. cit.
66
L. CALAFÀ, op. cit.
67
A. SPADA, C. SUNNA, Discriminazioni nei confronti delle lavoratrici madri e
dimissioni per maternità: un’analisi cognitivo-sperimentale, in E. CIAVOLINO (ed.),
Valutazione delle dimissioni delle lavoratrici madri, in I Quaderni Regionali di Parità,
Bari, 2013, pp. 181-210.
68
A. ROSINA, M. R. TESTA, Senza figli: intenzioni e comportamenti italiani nel
quadro europeo, in Rivista di studi familiari, 2007, pp.71-81; L. LAZZARI, Quando la
scienza fallisce: Maternità negata e ridefinizione della “normalità”, in L. LAZZARI, J.
CHARNLEY,To Be or Not to Be a Mother: Choice, Refusal, Reluctance and Conflict.
Motherhood and Female Identity in Italian Literature and Culture – Essere o non essere
madre: scelta, rifiuto, avversione e conflitto. Maternità e identità femminile nella
letteratura e cultura italiane, Intervalla: Special Vol. 1, 2016.
69
P. GINSBORG, Famiglia Novecento, Torino, 2013, pp. 245 ss.; F. DI LORENZO, “La
carriera di madre”: La demistificazione del ruolo materno in Paola Masino, Laudomia
Bonanni e Anna Banti, in To Be or Not to Be a Mother, cit., p. 74 ss.
324
70
Fertility Day, la campagna del governo scatena le polemiche sui social, Corriere
della Sera, 31.8.16; Polemiche sul 'Fertility Day' lanciato dal ministero della Salute:
“Insulta chi non ha figli”, La Repubblica, 31.8.16.
71
Miss S Logue v Northamptonshire County Council: (England and Wales : Breach
of Contract : Disability Discrimination : Parental and Maternity Leave : Public Interest
Disclosure : Sex Discrimination) [2017] UKET 3400335/2017 (16 June 2017); ([2017]
UKET 3400335/2017; From United Kingdom Employment Tribunal; Miss H Parish v
Mr Paul Betts (England and Wales : Parental and Maternity Leave : Unfair Dismissal)
[2017] UKET 3400410/2017 (26 July 2017); ([2017] UKET 3400410/2017; From
United Kingdom Employment Tribunal); Miss K Roberts v Zurich Financial services
(UKISA) Ltd (England and Wales : Flexible Working : Parental and Maternity Leave :
Part Time Workers : Sex Discrimination : Unfair Dismissal) [2017] UKET
1302205/2016 (7 April 2017); Mrs O Pettier v Taylormade Golf Ltd and Mrs Susan
Taggart: (England and Wales : Flexible Working : Maternity and Pregnancy Rights :
Parental and Maternity Leave : Sex Discrimination : Unfair Dismissal) [2017] UKET
1400318/2017 (8 April 2017)
72
Miss N L Bates v Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd t/a Betfred Retail (England
and Wales: Breach of Contract: Parental and Maternity Leave: Unfair Dismissal:
Working Time Regulations) [2017] UKET 2401066/2016 (24 February 2017)
73
Miss N Wright v Protocol Education: (England and Wales: Parental and Maternity
Leave: Sex Discrimination: Unfair Dismissal) [2017] UKET 2200172/2017 (7 June
2017)
74
Andrea Brady v Jepsons Ltd and Andrew Chell (England and Wales: Breach of
Contract: Disability Discrimination: Parental and Maternity Leave: Sex
Discrimination: Unfair Dismissal: Unlawful Deduction from Wages: Written Pay
Statement) [2017] UKET 2400427/2016 (14 March 2017)
325
75
Andrea Brady v. Jepsons Ltd and Andrew Chell, cit.
326
statement to the Respondent saying “I bet you don’t have pink nipples”.
All these acts of discrimination caused the Claimant upset and distress».
7.3. France
76
Cour de cassation - Chambre sociale, 14 September 2016, n.1599.
327
77
Cour de cassation, civile, Chambre sociale, 14 septembre 2016, cit.; Cour de
cassation, Chambre sociale, 8 July 2015, 14-15.979.
78
Cour de cassation, Chambre sociale, 25 March 2015, 14-10.149.
79
Cour d'appel de Bastia, 23 November 2016, 15/00292.
80
Cour d'appel de Bastia, 23 November 2016, 15/00292
81
Cour d'appel d'Angers, 2 February 2016, 13/01210
328
8. Conclusion
What emerged from this analysis of the case law of Italy, the
United Kingdom and France is that article no. 4 of the Istanbul
Convention could be used as a legal education tool. On the one hand, as
we know, this article recommends fighting any form of discrimination
against women, and on the other hand, domestic violence could also have
an impact on the workplace environment. Furthermore, it is useful to
focus on the fact that female discrimination due to maternity factors is
also a form of violence because it is discriminatory, even if it is nuanced
according to the different national situations. Under this perspective, the
issue is how to use Article No. 4 of the Istanbul Convention to protect
the return of new moms to workplace due to family life choices.
Education, culture, information dissemination, would be the areas in
which to take advantage of the “other tools” provided by article 4.
Moreover, legislative power may not be enough, and so social
intervention must be provided, even of business companies. Indeed, it
also emerged that most women and men expect companies, in addition
to legal obligations, to adopt internal policies and practices to support
pregnancy and maternity of their employees, by among other things
addressing service shortcomings concerning public sector care for
children82.
82
F. MOSCARINI, M. GATTI, M. DELLA CORTE e D. CASERTA, L’impatto
organizzativo della gravidanza e della maternità, Impresa-Progetto, in Electronic
Journal of Management, 2014, 2, pp.2-24.