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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Crime & Justice

EU advocate general says Italian police recruitment rules discriminate against women

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Named sources In the courts
  • An EU advocate general said Italian police recruitment rules unlawfully discriminate against women by combining a ban on visible tattoos with a skirt requirement for official ceremonies.
  • The opinion followed an Italian applicant’s exclusion after authorities noticed a small flower tattoo on her calf while she wore a skirt.
  • Advocate general opinions do not bind the EU Court of Justice, but often influence its final ruling, which will come later.

A small flower tattoo on a police applicant’s calf has become the focus of an EU legal challenge over Italy’s rules for women in the police force.

The applicant was removed from the selection process after authorities spotted the tattoo during an entrance examination. She had been required to wear a skirt, making the tattoo visible. The EU advocate general said the result came from the combined effect of two rules: one banning visible tattoos and another requiring women to wear skirts at official ceremonies.

The advocate general argued that the rules treated female candidates less favorably because of their sex. “The combined application of two rules, one prohibiting visible tattoos and another requiring women to wear skirts at official ceremonies, treats female candidates unfavorably on grounds of sex. If she had been a man, she would not have been excluded from the selection procedure solely because she had a tattoo on her calf.”

The combined application of two rules, one prohibiting visible tattoos and another requiring women to wear skirts at official ceremonies, treats female candidates unfavorably on grounds of sex. If she had been a man, she would not have been excluded from the selection procedure solely because she had a tattoo on her calf.

· EU advocate generalThe opinion argues that the interaction between Italy’s tattoo ban and skirt requirement disadvantages women.

Italian authorities had defended the policy as a way to enable participation in ceremonial events, convey traditional values and strengthen the police force’s identity. The advocate general rejected that reasoning, saying excluding women with tattoos was “both inappropriate and unnecessary” because ceremonies account for only part of police work. Female officers already wear trousers as part of their regular uniform, and senior commanders can authorize exceptions, the opinion said.

Allowing women to wear trousers at ceremonies would not undermine the force’s identity or uniformity, the advocate general added. The disadvantage of barring women from the profession outweighs the symbolic value of retaining skirts for occasional events. The EU court will issue its final judgment at a later date, and the advocate general’s conclusions are not legally binding.

Both inappropriate and unnecessary

· EU advocate generalThe advocate general described the exclusion of women with tattoos on the grounds that they could not take part in ceremonies.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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