The anti-violence and anti-stalking hotline 1522: quarterly data for Q1 2025

In the first quarter of 2025, there was a -16.2% decrease in valid calls compared to the previous quarter, totaling 14,011 (table 1). This decline appears partly physiological, as the fourth quarter is usually characterized by a peak in calls linked to November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, which contributes to higher figures compared to other periods of the year. The daily trend in the first quarter of 2025 (table 6) nevertheless remained above the levels recorded in the same quarters of previous years, with the exception of the first quarter of 2024, which had shown particularly high values due to widely reported news events that significantly influenced public awareness.

Looking at the reasons people contact the 1522 helpline, the decline in calls is broadly uniform across all categories covered by the service. In particular, the decrease is more pronounced for requests for information and clarifications, as well as for requests for support related to situations of violence or stalking. An analysis of the distribution of reasons for contacting in the first quarter of 2025 shows no significant changes compared with previous quarters: requests for help continued to represent about one-fifth of total valid calls (19.4%), maintaining a substantially stable share. Other main motivations—such as requests for information about the 1522 service (34%) and about national Anti-Violence Centers (14.2%)—also showed a composition similar to that observed in previous periods.

The data provide information on the communication channels through which both users and victims contacted the 1522 service (table 9). In the first quarter of 2025, the Internet continued to play a fundamental role in spreading awareness of the service: 3,520 people stated that they had learned about 1522 through this channel, confirming it as the most widely used. This was followed by communication campaigns, mentioned by 3,508 people, a figure up compared to the same period in 2024, when they were 2,692, confirming the effectiveness of such campaigns.

1522 plays a coordinating role at the territorial level, facilitating contact between victims and local protection services (table 10). As already observed in previous quarters, a high proportion of calls resulted in referrals to Anti-Violence Centers and Services, Shelters, and reception facilities for victims (95%). This outcome highlights the value of 1522 as a fundamental tool in strengthening the local support network for the protection of victims.

Physical violence continued to represent, as in previous quarters, the most prevalent form of abuse, affecting almost half of victims (39.8%), followed by psychological violence (33.8%) (table 12). In cases where victims reported having experienced multiple forms of violence (table 12bis), psychological violence was most frequently associated with other forms, with 1,582 reports. Considering the overall set of reported violence (table 12ter), in addition to physical and psychological violence, threats (1,758 cases) and stalking (816) also emerged frequently, confirming the central role of the service in tackling stalking. Economic violence was also significant, with 806 reports.

Table 13 highlights how episodes of violence often have a prolonged duration: more than half of victims (53% in Q1 2025) reported experiencing them for years. This ongoing situation has a significant impact on emotional and behavioral well-being. Testimonies collected by 1522 operators confirm that 59.5% of victims, in the first quarter of 2025, displayed states of anxiety and a marked condition of subjugation. These results are consistent with those observed in previous quarters, confirming the persistence of these effects over time.

Another element confirming the stability of the dynamics of violence concerns the place where it occurs: even in the first quarter of 2025, the home was confirmed as the main setting, reported by 68.7% of victims (table 15), a percentage substantially unchanged compared to previous quarters.

Violence also affects victims’ children: in the first quarter of 2025, more than half of women (56.7%) reported having children, and among these, 54% had minors. In a significant share of cases, minors were directly involved: 25.7% had both witnessed and experienced the violence, while in 36.9% of cases they had been witnesses only (table 18). These figures, substantially in line with those of previous quarters, confirm the persistence of the phenomenon of witnessed violence.

The fact that violence occurs predominantly in the family setting explains the consistent centrality of partners or ex-partners as the main perpetrators (table 17). Even in the first quarter of 2025, the data confirmed continuity with what had been observed in previous quarters: 49.7% of victims indicated their current partner (cohabiting or not) as the perpetrator, 21.6% the ex-partner, 0.8% a casual partner, and 10.7% a family member.

As with other dynamics analyzed, under-reporting also confirmed substantial continuity with previous quarters. In the first quarter of 2025, about 75% of victims who turned to 1522 did not report the violence they experienced to the competent authorities. The reasons remain the same: primarily fear and concern about the perpetrator’s reaction, which accounted for nearly 37% of cases (table 16).

At last, the tables made available report information on the profile of victims and perpetrators and the region of origin of calls and the timing of calls by day of the week and time of day.

More information

Alessandra Capobianchi
capobian@istat.it

Maria Giuseppina Muratore
muratore@istat.it

Claudia Villante
claudia.villante@istat.it