The published tables cover three quarters of 2023 that contain data on telephone and chat calls for help give users and victims, which are not comparable with those published during previous years; in fact, the platform for storing the information collected during calls was changed during 2022/2023, thus marking a series break (see updated methodological note in this regard).
Specifically, within the valid calls, the information reported is divided by the categories of “users” and “victims,”. As reported in Table 1bis, the additional information details on the reasons for the calls, allow, as of 2023, for a better distinction between users and victims between those who call for help (for themselves and others) and those (including victims) who use 1522 to get information and not only to receive help.
Over the next year, the new platform will make it possible to produce more detailed information on users, victims and perpetrators and, as early as this publication, more up-to-date information with respect to new forms of violence (e.g., online violence).
Over the three quarters observed, the number of phone and chat calls remains essentially stable, with a decrease occurring in Q2 and, on an annual basis, increasing compared to previous years (see Table 6), reaching a total of 30,581 calls during all three quarters considered (it was 22,553 in 2022 and 24,699 in 2021).
Although requests for help from users and victims increased during the III quarter compared to the previous quarter (+6.5% +3.7%, respectively), the largest increase in calls came from users turning to 1522 for information about the type of service provided (+24.8%). Moreover, this request constitutes, in terms of percentage composition, the most frequent reason for contacting this service (31.9%), during the 3rd quarter. The figure is probably influenced by the awareness and communication campaigns adopted by the Equal Opportunities Department. In fact, coinciding with the information passages in the mass media, there is such a high flow of calls that it activates the answering machine, which is, moreover, followed up by the 1522 operators, who call back the numbers registered by it (Table 2). The high number of service inquiries can be explained by increased engagement of law enforcement agencies. In fact, during the period under consideration, a significant increase in the number of cases (+ 85.8 percent from the first to the third quarter) claim to have learned about the 1522 service through Law Enforcement (table.9).
In continuity with the purposes of the service and in an increasingly timely manner, 1522, in the three quarters considered, performs an important function as a hub at the territorial level between services to support those who turn to it, connecting victims with the nearest available protection services. Approximately two-thirds of calls (68.2 percent) are in fact directed to the services best suited to the requests, which, for 93.9 percent of cases, are represented by Anti-Violence Centers and Services, Sheltered Houses and Victims’ Shelters (Table 10).
Analyzing the types of violence experienced in the three quarters of 2023 (Table 12), for about half of the victims it is physical violence that motivates the use of the call for help (47.6 percent of total responses.). Psychological violence is the second cause of calls (36.9%). Also considering the cases of victims who have experienced two or more types of violence, in 62.3% it is psychological violence that is experienced in a relevant form. It should be noted that when the violence is multiple, it is economic violence, in addition to physical violence, that is most frequently associated with the others (12.1%, Table 12 bis-tris-quater).
Continuing to look at the three quarters of 2023, most victims report a long history of experiencing violence: in fact, 64.5% of them say they have experienced violence for years, and 25.5% for months, while the figure for requests for help from victims who have experienced only one or a few incidents of violence stands at 10 percent. (Table 13).
24.8% of the victims who turned to 1522 are afraid of death and fear for their own safety and that of their loved ones, while 2/3 of them experience anxiety and 24.3% feel in serious awe. In contrast, 10.2% feel harassed but not in danger (Table 14).
Violence reported to 1522 is predominantly domestic: in the three quarters of 2023, 79.4% of respondents say the place of violence is their home (table.15). This explains the high percentage of cases of witnessing violence. In the three quarters under consideration, about half of the responding victims (44.5%) have children, and of them 24.3% say they have minor children. In 57.1 percent victims with children state that their children witnessed the violence and in 25.8 percent they experienced it themselves (table.18).
Victims’ narrative to 1522 operators shows that most of them do not report the violence they have suffered to the relevant authorities. In fact, only 15.8% in the three quarters under consideration reported the violence they suffered (1,311 victims). The data show a persistent resistance to reporting: 59.4 percent of victims in indeed say they do not report even if the violence they have suffered has lasted for years.
Finally, the tables made available report information on:
- the profile of victims who contact the service and region of origin of calls;
- the timing of calls by day of the week and time of day.
Useful links
- Web site Violence against women
- Insights into the Public Utility Number 1522
- Mapping of 1522 Anti-Violence Centers by the Department of Equal Opportunity
More information
Alessandra Capobianchi
capobian@istat.it
Claudia Villante
claudia.villante@istat.it
Maria Giuseppina Muratore
muratore@istat.it