Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers

1. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers • Violence against women is invisible in most of the Countries. • Police statistics record only a very little share of it, as women do not report it. • Stereotypes and tabù: • it is not fully known in its dimensions (type of, authors, inner dynamics, short and long term consequences, individual and social costs, …) • It is not fully recognised, by victims themselves The consequences are strong biases of the people and media’s thoughts about what is violence against women today Linda Laura Sabbadini Istat, Division for Surveys on Living Conditions and Quality of Life

2. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers • EXAMPLE 1 of stereotype : • perpetrators: migrants who rape Italian women: • foreign immigrate, unknown, that rapes the Italian woman:the common image is that of rapes made in the town streets by immigrants WHILE from Safety of women survey (ISTAT 2006): • rapes against italian women in Italy: 69.7% by partners, husbands or fiancés, only 6.2% by strangers • assuming 50% of immigrants for strangers, rapes from foreigners authors would be 3%

3. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers it is necessary to conduct violence against women survey with suitable methodologies as: • not considering actual statistics on this issue, can cause a wrong orientation and evaluation of priorities and types of policies • it is the only way to know • incidence and prevalence of the various forms of violence, • their dynamics • how risk factors and authors are associated each other • main aim and result: prevention

4. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Results for the Policy Makers • First result: partner violence is the most widespread ...

5. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers First result: … and the most severe: • the more severe acts ranked by authors: partners, followed by relatives, friends, colleagues. Unknown men are the main author of sexual harassments • the majority of the victims suffered several violence episodes. Partner violence episodes are even more serious. • Repeated violence is more common by partner than by non-partner (67,1% against 52,9%). The peak is for sexual violence by the current partner (91,1% of repeated violence). • Injuries, life felt in danger and heavy consequences more frequent for domestic violence the priorities for a government action should be to prevent and to fight violence by partners data VIOLENCE HAS MANY FACES. LET’S FACE THE NEAREST ONE. data go

6. back Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers

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8. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers There's only one way to change a violent boyfriend. Change boyfriend. Second result: partner psychological violence is common and often means escalation of violence 7 million 134 thousand women (43,2% of women with actual partner) were or are victims of psychological violence: • isolation and attempted isolation (46,7%), control (40,7%), financial violence (30,7%) and berating (23,8%), followed by intimidations (7,8%) • 21,1% of total victims have always or often suffered this kind of violence; • 6 million 92 thousand women were only victims of psychological violence by their current partner (36,9% of women living as couple); 1 million 42 thousand women were also victims of physical or sexual violence. A violent partner will get you nowhere: or rather,he'll get you to a hospital bed Data show a violence escalation from psychological violence to physical and sexual violence with the extreme consequence of the uxoricide If your dream lover starts to whack you, wake up!

9. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers You know he'll bang you up. If he bangs on the door, don't open it. Third result: few victims speak about violence, much more less report it to the police • Not reported violence: 96% by a non-partner; 93% by a partner. Not reported rapes: 91,6%; 94,2% for attempted rapes • Victims talk of violence with NOone: 33,9% of victims by partners – the 45% for victims of actual violence – and 24% by a non-partner. • Victims do not seek for help (only the 2,8% of victims has reported to shelters or has keep contacts with other associations supporting women) • Only 27.3 % of raped women by partner consider the suffered violence as a crime (one of the reasons for under-reporting, also for new women generations) • 20% of victims of violence by partner say they feared for their life, a very at risk set as domestic murders often happen after an escalation of violence data A violent man doesn't deserve your love. He deserves to be denounced. Mistaking slaps for love might hurt you easily. data go

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11. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers Fourth result: the violence cycle • risk factors: partners’ behaviors, women’s considerations and previous experiences of violence in childhood: • when actual partner is violent physically 35,6% versus 7,2% or verbally 25,7% versus 7,2%outside the family too • when women suffer psychological violence (in particular when partners humiliate and downgrade them) 35,9% versus 7,2% • When men were witnesses or victims of violence in childhood 30-35% versus 6% for no childhood experiences. Same tendency when women experienced violence in childhood • Of 690 thousand women suffering repeated violence by their partner, having children at the moment of violence, 62,4% declared children were witnesses of violence and 15,7% that children suffered violence by their father In Italy women often tolerate violence from their partners in the name of their children. Women have to be aware that their children differently exposed to violence will tend to reproduce learned models and the violence itself too, daughters tolerating it, sons perpetrating it. Don't marry a violent man. Children learn very fast.

12. Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers Policy makers have to prepare awareness campaign focusing on the importance to interrupt this awful violence cycle • women must be helped • But from Safety Women survey : half of victims are unsatisfied about relation with the police; 21.7 % would have liked police had made something more by keeping the partner away from home; 26 % would have liked more protection. • only 28% of violent partner that were accused were defendant and only l’8 % condemned. So male violence not-punished. Not so meaningless that the most of women don’t make reference to the police • Furthermore: the survey show stalking is common: 2077 thousands of women were stalked by partners when separating or soon after, and some of them were very frightened (18,8 %). After ISTAT data dissemination about stalking the Italian Parliament approved a law against stalking.

13. VIOLENCE HAS MANY FACES. LET’S FACE THE NEAREST ONE. Prevention against violence inviting people to adopt the campaign The woman is the subject of the campaign Advertising Campaign born also thanks to Istat WOMEN SAFETY SURVEY to prevent, widening awareness of women: to tell women they can act instead to be passive, acting is a freedom choice, the freedom to ban from the beginnig a violent man, do not mistaking violence for love

14. VIOLENCE HAS MANY FACES. LET’S FACE THE NEAREST ONE. Prevention against violence inviting people to adopt the campaign The woman is the subject of the campaign Advertising Campaign is intended as a present to be shared. The aim is to make it visible, widespread, for public, also using blogs, web sites, facebook pages, by private citizens, foundations, cultural organization, firms and companies, local administration, schools, editors, TVs, Political Parties and associations … More freely it circulates more women will be helped in understanding violence has many faces: they have to learn to know and avoid it. Especially the younger…to act timely