In this page:
Measuring violence against women is difficult, since it is mostly hidden. The number of undisclosed crimes is high, and it is not possible to know the extent of this phenomenon using only data from administrative sources, with the exception of femicide. For this reason, surveys on victimisation of women such as the Survey on Women’s Safety are crucial to provide the closest figures to the real picture, and they are indispensable for understanding the dynamics of violence.
The Survey on Women’s Safety was needed to measure the prevalence, volume and seriousness of violence against women. These data are essential to inform policies aimed at preventing and addressing violence against women: the dynamics of violence, the places where it occurs, its severity and consequences, and the huge number of crimes that are not reported to the police.
The National Statistical Office (Istat) has been engaged in measuring violence against women for a long time. The first survey completely and explicitly dedicated to this topic – named the Survey on Women’s Safety – was carried out in 2006 and the second edition was carried out in 2014. The survey was funded by the Department of Equal Opportunities and was the result of active collaboration with the specialist support services and contributions from some survivors of violence.
For the first time, Istat’s survey made it possible to describe the prevalence of physical, sexual and psychological violence and who are the perpetrators of such crimes. Istat also collects data on stereotypes about traditional gender roles and attitudes towards violence against women.
The Survey on Women’s Safety is a sample survey dedicated to surveying women who are between 16 and 75 years old on several forms of violence (psychological, economic, physical, sexual, stalking), by partners (current and former) and non-partners, including the causes and effects of violence.
The sample survey included 21,000 Italian and 4,000 foreign women, plus about 500 refugee women residing in Italy.
Maria Giuseppina Muratore
muratore@istat.it