Violence against women: findings from a dataset collected in healthcare facilities in Piedmont (North-West Italy)

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a violation of human rights, and violence against women is its most widespread manifestation, affecting individuals from all cultures, ethnicities, social classes and age groups. According to the WHO, one in three women worldwide has experienced some form of GBV in her lifetime, and around a third of violence against women is perpetrated by their partner. The WHO has coined the term 'Intimate Partner Violence' (IPV) to describe any violent behaviour within an intimate relationship. IPV is one of the most common forms of violence against women and includes all acts of a physical, sexual, psychological, economic violence that occur in a family or relationship, at times constituting the prelude to femicide. A study conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in 2014 found that 22% of women surveyed had suffered physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of their partner, 43% had been victims of psychological violence and 18% had suffered economic violence. In Italy, a telephone survey conducted in the same period by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) revealed a similar situation: 22.4% of the female population have suffered psychological violence at the hands of their current partner, 13.6% are or have been victims of physical and/or sexual violence, and around 11.8% of women have suffered some form of physical or sexual violence during pregnancy. The survey also showed that in Italy partners or ex-partners often are the perpetrators of the most severe forms of violence including femicide. This presentation will analyse the spread of the phenomenon by presenting the findings from a dataset collected in different healthcare facilities in Piedmont (North-West Italy) concerning different types of violence against women, including intimate partner violence, domestic violence, non-partner violence, physical and psychological violence, drug facilitated sexual assault, sexual violence, abuse during pregnancy, and femicide. It will show how violence accompanies women throughout their lives and how often it is perpetrated by a partner or ex-partner or an acquaintance, regardless of the form of violence suffered, compared to violence perpetrated by an unknown person. It will also display how cross-cutting GBV is, affecting populations from different age groups, geographical origins, pregnancy status, and other marginalized identities.