Istat provides information regarding requests for help to the 1522 public utility number against violence against women and stalking for the fourth quarter of 2022. The historical series of quarterly data starts from the first quarter of 2018. The Public Utility Number is promoted and managed by the Department of Equal Opportunity (DPO) at the Prime Minister’s Office. Information collected by the Public Utility Number Against Violence and Stalking provides evidence related to monitoring the phenomenon of domestic violence, especially with respect to the trend of requests for help.
Compared to the first quarter of 2021, the first quarter of 2022 records a slight decrease in valid calls (from 7.974 to 7.814; -2%); a decrease that is of the same intensity for both telephone and chat contacts, which decrease from 6.673 to 6.534 and from 1.301 to 1.280, respectively. Among the reasons for calls, there is an increase in both requests for information on 1522, which rise from 1.401 to 2.384 (+70%), and requests for help not strictly related to violence (off-target requests) from 660 to 1.159 (+70%), while all calls for other types of reasons are down. Calls from victims also decreased (from 4.310 to 2.966; -30%). The decrease in calls from victims may be partly related to the contingent period under analysis: the first quarter of 2021 was strongly affected by the characteristics of the first phase of the pandemic, characterized by general and local lockdowns. The noticeable decrease in calls from victims began consistently already in the preceding quarters of 2021.
Comparing with the previous quarter (IV 2021) also shows a decrease in both valid calls (-31.1%) and victims (-25.2%). However, analysing the percentage composition of the same quarter’s valid calls by reason for call, there is an increase in the weight of calls for help from 25.9% to 28.4%, on the other hand, inquiries to the 1522 service are down (from 33% to 30.5%). The fourth quarter is particularly influenced by the “Violence Against Women” day on November 25, which as every year, registers peaks in contacts with 1522, thanks in part to the awareness-raising campaigns corresponding to this event; the fourth quarter 2021 was therefore particularly characterized by the increase in calls for information requests. In any case, the awareness-raising effect of the campaigns continues to influence the type of requests to 1522.
People who called 1522 for the first time in the first quarter of 2022 are 82.4%, a figure that is slightly lower than in previous quarters and compared to the same period in 2021. Among victims, this figure is on the rise and reaches 92.6 percent.
Victims who contacted 1522 reported experiencing multiple types of violence in 68.9 percent of cases (specifically, 2 in 21.7 percent and 3 or more forms of violence in 47.2 percent of cases; a slightly higher figure than in the previous quarter). The data for the first quarter of 2022 confirms that what was analyzed in previous quarters, namely that when victims contact 1522, they most frequently report physical violence as the main violence they experience, but considering all forms of violence they have experienced, psychological violence is the most frequent.
In the first quarter of 2022, more than 61.4 percent of victims report that they have been experiencing violence for years, which is an increase from both the previous quarter (56.7 percent) and the respective quarter of 2021 (53.7 percent). Since the third quarter of 2020, requests for help from victims who have experienced a few or one episode of violence have increased (13.3%, up from 6% in previous quarters). The number then decreased slightly from 2021 to stand at 10.5% in first quarter 2022.
The 1522 service continues to play an important function as a territorially-based link between services to support those who turn to it: increasing the percentage of victims who were referred to a territorial service in the first quarter of 2022 (74.6%), and of these 93.8% (or 2.076 victims) were referred to an anti-violence center.
The tables report information: on the type of service users articulated regionally, the timing of calls, the places and forms of violence, and the effects generated by violence both directly on victims and on their children (witnessing violence), reporting, where available, socio-anagraphic information details and providing indications of call outcomes.
More information
Alessandra Capobianchi
capobian@istat.it
Claudia Villante
claudia.villante@istat.it
Maria Giuseppina Muratore
muratore@istat.it