Il 18 aprile 1948 si sono tenute le prime elezioni politiche dell'Italia repubblicana. Poche le donne in quella I legislatura: 49 in tutto, il 5 per cento. Ci sono voluti quasi 30 anni (e altre sette legislature) perché nel 1976 fosse superata soglia 50 elette, e altri 30 anni per avere, nel 2006, più di 150 donne in Parlamento. Nella XVII legislatura, per la prima volta, la compagine femminile alla Camera e al Senato ha raggiunto il 30,1 per cento. La XVIII legislatura fa ora prevedere un ulteriore aumento: alle elezioni del 4 marzo erano in lista 4.327 donne su 9.529 candidati, quasi la metà, e i primi dati segnalano un numero di elette superiore a quello della XVII legislatura.

The first general election in Republican Italy was held on 18 April 1948. In Parliament there were only 49 women, equal to five percent. Almost 30 years and seven parliaments went by before Italy had more than 50 women in Parliament. It happened in 1976. It then took another 30 years to top the threshold of 150 women MPs, in 2006. In The 17th Parliament, for the first time, women elected in the Chamber of Deputies and in Senate reached a total of 30.1%. The 18th Parliament is likely to experience another increase: 4,327 women were running in the election of 4 March 2018, out of 9,529 candidates. That's almost half as many. The first data point to over one third of women MPs.

The path towards parity over the past 70 years has been long: only 78 women were appointed ministers thus far, out of 1,500 appointments. No woman has ever been appointed President of the Council of Ministers, nor President of the Senate. Only 23 Parliamentary Committees have been chaired by women.