italian violence against women survey: lessons for the policy makers linda laura sabbadini istat,...

Italian Violence against Women Survey: Lessons for the Policy Makers

Linda Laura SabbadiniIstat, Division for Surveys on Living Conditions and Quality of Life

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

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%

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


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

1. incidence and prevalence of the various forms of violence,

2. their dynamics

3. how risk factors and authors are associated each other

main aim and result: prevention


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

Lifetime* Last 12 months

Any manPartner

or ex partner

Man no-

partner

Any man

Partner or ex partner

Man no-

partner

Physical or sexual violence 31.9 (6743 thousands) 14.3 24.7 5.4 2.4 3.4

Physical violence 18.8 (3961 thousands) 12.0 9.8 2.7 1.7 1.1

Sexual violence 23.7 (~5000 thousands) 6.1 20.4 3.5 1.0 2.6

Rape or attempted rape 4.8 (~1000 thousands) 2.4 2.9 0.3 0.2 0.2

Rape 2.3 1.6 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.0

Attempted rape 3.3 1.3 2.3 0.2 0.1 0.2

* For violence by non parnter the reference period is since the woman was 16teen


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

VIOLENCE HASMANY FACES.LET’S FACE THENEAREST ONE.

data

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data


TYPE OF VIOLENCE

AUTHOR

Total*Current or ex

partner

Unknown man

Acquaintance

Colleague Friend RelativeFamily friend

Not specified

Pushed, yanked, grabbed, having an arm twisted, or her own hair pulled

69.9 13.8 8.3 2.5 6.8 6.3 0.4 0.9 100.0

Threatened to be hit 58.4 18.5 14.7 3.9 4.7 7.1 0.9 1.8 100.0

Slapped, kicked or bitten 82.5 4.5 4.4 0.7 3.5 8.5 0.2 0.7 100.0

Hit with objects 64.1 8.0 9.6 3.5 7.1 9.9 0.1 2.0 100.0

Use or the threat to use pistols or knives

52.5 24.3 11.6 4.5 2.2 7.0 . 0.7 100.0

Attempted strangulation and burning

78.0 6.5 5.0 0.3 2.7 8.8 . 1.9 100.0

Other physical violence 41.4 21.1 15.7 6.3 5.7 6.5 1.4 4.1 100.0

Undesired sexual intercourse perceived as violence

93.6 0.5 2.0 0.2 3.9 1.5 0.0 0.5 100.0

Rape 69.7 6.2 17.4 1.5 7.2 1.5 0.8 1.2 100.0

Degrading and humiliating sexual intercourses

100.0 - - - - - - - 100.0

Attempted rape 37.9 16.4 27.4 7.9 9.5 5.0 1.2 1.3 100.0

Sexual violence in other ways 40.1 33.1 12.4 4.4 7.6 3.8 1.5 0.2 100.0

Forced to have sexual acts with other people

49.8 3.0 34.8 13.8 3.7 4.1 2.7 . 100.0

Sexual harassments - 68.3 17.3 9.7 6.0 1.6 1.2 0.5 100.0

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PHYSICAL VIOLENCE

SEXUAL VIOLENCE

RAPE OR ATTEMTED

RAPE

PHYSICAL VIOLENCE

SEXUAL VIOLENCE

RAPE OR ATTEMTED

RAPE

Current or ex partner non partner

DID YOU HAVE INJURIES

Yes 28.6 17.5 15.7 17.9 10.3 11.7

DID YOU FEEL YOUR LIFE IN DANGER*

Yes 21.4 22.2 23.1 32.0 10.4 38.1

PERCEIVED SERIOUSNESS OF THE EVENT*

Very or enough serious 64.0 69.1 67.7 63.1 54.6 77.1

Enough serious 30.0 27.1 26.1 33.2 35.7 35.1

HOW THE WOMAN CONSIDERS THE EVENT*

A crime 17.7 26.1 26.5 26.4 25.1 43.6

Something wrong, but not a crime 43.8 47.0 46.3 41.0 50.7 31.1

Simply something happened 36.7 25.1 25.3 30.4 23.1 23.9

* Data referred to the last suffered event

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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.

Data show a violence escalation from psychological violence to physical and sexual violence with the extreme consequence of the uxoricide

There's only one wayto change a violent boyfriend.Change boyfriend.

A violent partner will get you nowhere:or rather,he'll get you to a hospital bed

If your dream loverstarts to whack you,wake up!


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

dataMistaking slaps for lovemight hurt you easily.

A violent man doesn'tdeserve your love.He deservesto be denounced.

You knowhe'll bang you up.If he bangs on the door,don't open it.

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During lifetime* Last 12 months

Any authorsPartner or ex

partnerNot partner Any authors

Partner or ex partner

Not partner

Physical or sexual violence 93.8 92.5 95.6 96.4 96.3 96.7

Physical violence 90.1 92.3 88.1 93.8 96.3 90.2

Sexual violence 97.8 94.9 98.0 98.8 97.2 98.9

Rape or tempted rape 93.3 94.3 92.9 94.1 96.8 92.0

Rape 91.6 94.8 87.4 85.7 95.1 66.4

Attempted rape 94.2 95.0 94.1 97.1 100.0 95.6

* Violence by not partner are collected by age 16th

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Fourth result: the violence cycle risk factors: partners’ behaviors, women’s considerations and

previous experiences of violence in childhood:1. when actual partner is violent physically 35,6% versus 7,2% or

verbally 25,7% versus 7,2% outside the family too

2. when women suffer psychological violence (in particular when partners humiliate and downgrade them) 35,9% versus 7,2%

3. 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

4. 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 marrya violent man.Childrenlearn very fast.


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.

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 beginniga violent man, do not mistaking violence for love

The woman is the subject of the campaign


Prevention against violence inviting people to adopt 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

The woman is the subject of the campaign


Prevention against violence inviting people to adopt the campaign

italian violence against women survey: lessons for the policy makers linda laura sabbadini istat,...

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