BACKGROUND AND AIMS Domestic violence is defined by the U.N. as the kind of violence perpetrated by intimate partners through physical, psychological and economic abuse. Milano's SVSeD center for domestic and sexually abused victims was founded in 1996. At the beginning the main task was to assist the sexually abused victims in the province of Milan; a decade later it opened also to domestic violence victims. The present study describes the data retrieved in 20 years (over 10,000 victims), showing the general change in trends, and focusing on the years 2012-2014. MATERIALS AND METHODS Raw data on each victim was analysed including all the variables relevant to the comprehension of the phenomenon, such as the sociological, psychological and medico legal aspects of the offense. RESULTS Evaluation of the data shows a clear trend towards a constant rise in the requests for support for both types of violence with an increase of 409% from 1996 to 2015 related to sexual violence and a 124% increase in domestic violence between 2008 and 2015; an increase in the spontaneous access of males has also been noticed, though these represent a minority of the victims. The most frequently victimized age group is between 31 - 40 years, firmly standing between 33% and 37% of cases; the age group of perpetrators is superimposable. There is an equal distribution between national and foreign victims, the latter mainly coming from south America, north Africa and the Filippines (with abusers frequently of the same nationality). In over 30% of cases domestic abuse involves serious physical violence, whereas the overlap between sexual and domestic violence seems very weak, ranging from 0,6% to 1,6%. Other interesting trends detected are related to children witnessing domestic violence, which have slowly increased up to 16%. CONCLUSIONS In summary, the information retrieved during this initial analysis leads to an improved understanding of the phenomenon, and reinforces our idea that the final purpose of the study on the development of prevention policies may be achieved. We shall further analyze the relationship between different variables such as the most victimized nationalities and the revictimization trend.
Intimate partner violence: a glimpse from Italy's largest Domestic Violence Center / Maria Carlotta Gorio; Alessandra Kustermann; Alberto Amadasi; Alberto Blandino; Cristina Cattaneo. - STAMPA. - (2016), pp. 400-400. (Intervento presentato al convegno IALM Intersocietal Symposium tenutosi a Venezia nel 21-24 giugno 2016).
Intimate partner violence: a glimpse from Italy's largest Domestic Violence Center
Alberto Amadasi;
2016
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Domestic violence is defined by the U.N. as the kind of violence perpetrated by intimate partners through physical, psychological and economic abuse. Milano's SVSeD center for domestic and sexually abused victims was founded in 1996. At the beginning the main task was to assist the sexually abused victims in the province of Milan; a decade later it opened also to domestic violence victims. The present study describes the data retrieved in 20 years (over 10,000 victims), showing the general change in trends, and focusing on the years 2012-2014. MATERIALS AND METHODS Raw data on each victim was analysed including all the variables relevant to the comprehension of the phenomenon, such as the sociological, psychological and medico legal aspects of the offense. RESULTS Evaluation of the data shows a clear trend towards a constant rise in the requests for support for both types of violence with an increase of 409% from 1996 to 2015 related to sexual violence and a 124% increase in domestic violence between 2008 and 2015; an increase in the spontaneous access of males has also been noticed, though these represent a minority of the victims. The most frequently victimized age group is between 31 - 40 years, firmly standing between 33% and 37% of cases; the age group of perpetrators is superimposable. There is an equal distribution between national and foreign victims, the latter mainly coming from south America, north Africa and the Filippines (with abusers frequently of the same nationality). In over 30% of cases domestic abuse involves serious physical violence, whereas the overlap between sexual and domestic violence seems very weak, ranging from 0,6% to 1,6%. Other interesting trends detected are related to children witnessing domestic violence, which have slowly increased up to 16%. CONCLUSIONS In summary, the information retrieved during this initial analysis leads to an improved understanding of the phenomenon, and reinforces our idea that the final purpose of the study on the development of prevention policies may be achieved. We shall further analyze the relationship between different variables such as the most victimized nationalities and the revictimization trend.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
