8991 International Women's Day Saturday, 8th March

[url=http://www.internationalwomensday.com]International Women's Day 2008[/url]

[url=http://www.ansa.it/site/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2008-03-07_107193552.html]ANSA.it - News in English - Women take to streets for 8 March[/url]

WOMEN TAKE TO STREETS FOR 8 MARCH

Italy marks Women's Day with marches against inequality
(ANSA) - Rome, March 7 - Italian women are taking to the streets this year for two separate political marches as the country celebrates Women's Day on Saturday.

Kicking off the celebrations early, the National Feminist and Lesbian Assembly will march on Friday evening in Rome and 15 other large Italian cities to protest against violence towards women and recent public debate about the right to abortion.

''We say 'enough' to those who use the issue of abortion for political campaigns and who want to reduce women to simple containers for reproduction and remove their right to choice,'' the assembly said.

On Saturday, Italy's three largest trade unions - Cgil, Cisl and Uil - have organised a national march in Rome in support of women's rights in the workplace.

Trade union leaders and Equal Opportunities Minister Barbara Pollastrini will join the manifestation.

''We must be there in the squares, cities and institutions to hammer home our independence,'' Pollastrini said. ''We ask for more jobs for women, especially in the south,'' she added.

Italy remains second to bottom of all European Union countries for the percentage of women in employment, with 46.9% compared to the European average of 58.8%, according to a report issued by EU statistics bureau Eurostat this week.

Only Malta has a lower female employment record at 37.5%, while at the other end of the scale the Netherlands tops the league at 70%.

And while the number of female company directors in Italy is in line with European averages at 32.9%, women are still under-represented in politics.

According to European Parliament figures, the average quota of female MEPs is 31%, while Italy skulks near the bottom of the league at 16.7%, or 13 women out of 78 MEPs.

Pollastrini said the aim of Saturday's march was to strike at the heart of Italy's conservatism.

CELEBRATIONS ACROSS COUNTRY Among other national initiatives on Saturday, President Giorgio Napolitano will oversee a special ceremony at the Quirinal Palace in Rome where women who have distinguished themselves in a variety of fields will be honoured. The mother of 23-year-old Antonella Russo, shot dead by her mother's lover in Avellino last year, will pick up a gold medal for civilian valour on her daughter's behalf. The Italian Red Cross has chosen the day to kick off its distribution of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, which will be offered free to around 7,000 disadvantaged girls between the ages of 13 and 18 who are orphans, live in children's homes, or come from large single-parent families living below the poverty line.

And astronomy website Virtual Telescope - which links up to equipment at the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Ceccano, Lazio - is offering a free live Internet webcast that will explore galaxies, asteroids and comets in the winter skies that women astonomers have discovered or undertaken important research on.

''Women have been fundamental in many contexts, from planetary science and astrophysics to cosmology,'' said Virtual Telescope chief Gianluca Masi.

''Their results have often been revolutionary and have turned our vision of the cosmos upside down,'' he added.

Local-level celebrations include the organisation of a human chain in the red-light district of Modena to protest against women who are forced to work as prostitutes.

Prostitutes, clients and members of the public will join hands in the Bruciata area of the city, where the youngest victims of sex rackets gather on the streets.

''No woman is born a prostitute, but there is always someone who will force her to become one,'' organisers said.

In Milan, the local branch of the Northern League is planning to spurn the day's traditional gift of a sprig of yellow flowering mimosa in favour of distributing 500 cans of pepper spray to women passers-by in a central city square.

''Rather than mimosa, the women of Milan are increasingly in need of safety,'' said local councillor and Northern League member Matteo Salvini. ''We prefer to give a tool of self-defence to the women who come to see us, instead of soothing our consciences with some little flower that's good for nothing,'' he added. And Milan's three-day pornography expo Mi-Sex, currently under way at the Milanofiori Congress Centre, said it would honour women's ''special day'' with a guest appearance by retired superstud and world No.1 male hardcore star Rocco Siffredi.

Photo: Sprigs of mimosa, the traditional Women's Day flower.