Union of Sammarinese Women

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Union of Sammarinese Women (Italian: Unione Donne Sammarinesi, UDS) is a civil association based in San Marino and founded in 1972 that works for equal rights and opportunities between men and women in the country.

Contents

Among the Union's greatest achievements are promoting the 1982 referendum to amend the citizenship law to repeal the provision whereby women lose their nationality when they marry a foreigner, reforming family law to include measures proposed by the Union, and promoting the 2021 referendum to legalise abortion, playing a key active role in the "Yes" campaign.

Since 2024, its current president is Valentina Rossi.

Background

San Marino introduced women's suffrage following the 1957 constitutional crisis known as Fatti di Rovereta. Sammarinese women received the right to vote in 1960. They received the right to hold political office in 1973. [1] [2]

History

In the 1970s, there was a movement of women who considered organising a movement independent of political parties. In April 1971, Marina Busignani Reffi founded the Comitato per l'emancipazione della donna sammarinese (Committee for the Emancipation of San Marino Women), which was made up of Busignani Reffi, Graziella Rossini, Luciana Franchini and Emma Rossi. Their initial demands included the possibility of holding public and civil offices, equal pay, pensions for housewives, etc. The Captains Regent accepted passive suffrage for women and legal and social emancipation, but after months without any measures being implemented and a political crisis, the Committee managed to form a Commission at the Grand and General Council to study the demands. They achieved measures such as pensions for housewives, legal and social emancipation, passive suffrage and more property rights for widows with the 1973 Law 10 September, no. 29, "Equal rights for women". [3] [4]

Starting in 1972, the Committee began to evolve towards a more organised structure, and the UDS itself considers that year to be its founding year. The first directive council was formed in 1974 and obtained legal recognition from the Council of Twelves in October 1975. [3]

The Union promoted the 1982 referendum to amend the citizenship law to repeal the provision whereby women lose their nationality when they marry a foreigner and the 1986 reformal of the family law to include measures proposed by the Union. [4]

Between 1987 and 2019, the Union ceased to be active. On 14 September 2019, they announced the resumption of their activities on the initiative of Karen Pruccoli, whom was its president between 2020 and 2023. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] They presented the recovery and the new project on 17 September. [8]

It was formally recognised as an association in 2020. [7]

Under the leadership of Pruccoli, the UDS led the "Yes" campaign of the 2021 referendum that legalised the abortion. [10] [11] [12] The referendum question was published on 15 March 2021, [13] after the RETE Movement and the Union of Sammarinese Women [14] [15] collected enough signatures. [16]

Organizational structure

According to its statutes, the UDS is structured around an Executive Committee, which is the leadership, and a General Assembly of promoters. [17]

Since May 2025, the Executive Committe is composed by: [7]

References

  1. ↑ "A World Chronology of the Recognition of Women's Rights to Vote and to Stand for Election" . Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Storia della conquista dei diritti delle donne a San Marino". Union of Sammarinese Women.
  3. 1 2 "L'Unione Donne Sammarinesi, dal 1972 al 1987". Union of Sammarinese Women.
  4. 1 2 L'unione donne sammarinesi e la conquista della cittadinanza : le radici, il referendum del 25 Luglio 1982, la riforma del Diritto di Famiglia / P. Rondelli. - Borgo Maggiore : Fondazione XXV Marzo, 2013. (in Italian)
  5. ↑ "The big battle for abortion rights in one of Europe's smallest states". Euronews . 25 September 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Unione Donne Sammarinesi, una bella storia che ritorna". Union of Sammarinese Women. 14 September 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 "UDS - Oggi". Union of Sammarinese Women.
  8. 1 2 Sirotti, Annamaria (17 September 2019). "Unione Donne Sammarinesi si presenta, massiccia partecipazione". San Marino RTV .
  9. ↑ "San Marino. Uds, il ritorno di una sigla storica per i diritti delle donne". Libertas. 14 September 2019.
  10. ↑ "San Marino votes to legalise abortion in historic referendum". The Independent. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "San Marino abortion debate heats up ahead of historic referendum | Reuters". Reuters . 6 April 2023. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  12. ↑ Califano L. La disciplina dell’interruzione volontaria della gravidanza nella Repubblica di San Marino. BioLaw [Internet]. 18 marzo 2023 [citato 17 settembre 2025];(1S):473-82. Disponibile su: https://teseo.unitn.it/biolaw/article/view/2583]
  13. ↑ "QUESITO – Segreteria di Stato per gli Affari Interni – Sito Elezioni". Segreteria di Stato per gli Affari Interni. 2021. Archived from the original on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  14. ↑ "Enclave. À Saint-Marin, les femmes décrochent un référendum pour enfin légaliser l'avortement". Courrier international. 23 June 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021..
  15. ↑ "Referendum aborto: si vota il 26 settembre". San Marino RTV (in Italian). 13 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021..
  16. ↑ San Marino, national Popular or citizens initiative [PCI] - Referendum propositivo
  17. ↑ "STATUTO DEL COMITATO CIVICO "UNIONE DONNE SAMMARINESI"" (PDF). Union of Sammarinese Women.
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