Almost half of them have between the ages of 30 and 49. The women who go to anti-violence centers are mainly Italian (only 26% have a different origin): it is a constant in recent years. This is explained by the national association DiRe – Women on the Net against violence, which has just published the new report on data referring to 2021.
The perpetrator of the violence is predominantly Italian – only in 27 cases out of 100 has a foreign origin. This is a fact that has now been consolidated over the years, with insignificant deviations, which calls into question the widespread stereotype according to which male violence against women is the legacy of distant cultural universes, of non-European countries. The DiRe anti-violence centers, in 2021, welcomed a total of 20,711 women, with an increase of 3.5% compared to the previous year. The centers of the Network are present in all Italian regions, except in Molise, but they are distributed in a non-homogeneous way: in the north there are more than half of the centers (58, equal to 55%), in the center 24 and between the south and the islands there are another 24.
The activities for women victims of violence are varied: reception and the possibility of legal advice in almost all cases, psychological counseling and career guidance paths in about 90% of cases. Compared to 2020, in 2021 there was a increase for the career guidance service. This is a particularly significant figure, if we consider that one in three women (31.9% of unemployed, housewives and students) has zero income, in line with 2020 (32.9%) and 2019 (33.8%). ). Only 37% (between employed and retired) can count on a secure income.
Among the women accepted, only 28% – less than one in three – decide to report. This percentage has remained substantially constant over the years. “This figure is not surprising”, DiRe says, “the secondary victimization by the institutions that come into contact with women (social services, law enforcement, courts) continues to slow the start of a relationship of trust with women who intend to turn to justice “.
And again: “20,711 women in 2021, 3.5% more contacts than in 2020, 8.8% more women who had never called the anti-violence center, are numbers that confirm the importance of the centers of our network », explains Antonella Veltri, president of DiRe. “Behind every issue you read there is a story, the story of every single woman, who believes in the possibility of getting out of violence, gives confidence to our centers: we read the increase in women who come to us in this light. These numbers give the measure of the work that the 2,793 activists, of whom only just over 30% are paid, do to give strength to women ».
Source: Vanity Fair
