"They lock themselves in the bathroom, turn the music up, speak quietly, make the most of the few moments they have outside the house — like when they take out the rubbish or go shopping. Lockdown changed the way women who are victims of violence communicate with 1522."

Michela is 42 years old, and her job is to answer calls from people who want to report gender-based violence. It is a profession she has been practising for fourteen years, and one that has changed a great deal in 2020. The pandemic forced Italy into a national lockdown, and enforced cohabitation increased the risks of domestic violence. Calls to 1522, the number activated by the Department for Equal Opportunities and today managed by Differenza Donna to bring to light and combat the phenomenon of gender-based violence both within and outside the family, rose sharply from March onwards. At the same time, however, lockdown reduced the moments and spaces available for people to ask for help.

"Women are adopting various strategies to speak without being overheard," Michela continues, "to avoid triggering a further escalation of violence against them."

The anti-violence helpline keeps ringing

According to data gathered by Istat, which analysed figures made available by the 1522 anti-violence helpline, between March and June 2020 calls and chat communications to the switchboard more than doubled compared with the same period the previous year, recording a +119.6 per cent increase. The total number of valid contacts in the period under consideration was 15,280, of which around a third were subsequently referred to other services such as anti-violence centres. These figures are absolutely incomparable with the past.

Awareness-raising campaigns broadcast through the media and on social networks certainly contributed to this, but the increase was too pronounced to be attributed entirely to that. The total lockdown in which Italy found itself cannot have failed to have had a decisive impact on the surge in requests for help. And the data analysis offers several clues pointing in that direction. Chat contacts, which do not require a spoken exchange in the context of quarantine, quintupled in spring. In addition, calls made at night increased — one of the few moments in a context of enforced cohabitation when it is possible to carve out a moment of solitude.

The spike in contacts came precisely with the start of the total national lockdown. While up to mid-March an average of around 50 calls a day was recorded, by the end of the month the figure had comfortably exceeded 100, with peaks above 200 in April. From June, with phase two and the possibility of leaving the house again, the numbers fell back below 100 daily calls. Meanwhile, proceedings registered for mistreatment of family members and cohabitants classifiable as gender-based violence increased by 11 per cent.

"The health pandemic has been added to the pandemic of gender-based violence, which has unfortunately always existed. Enforced cohabitation has undoubtedly intensified the violence; more moments of being together have emerged that are liable to translate into episodes of violence, and women have found themselves more exposed to situations of this kind," explains Michela, the 1522 operator. "Spending 24 hours a day at home alongside a violent man increases the moments of contact with him and therefore also the danger that this violence will be inflicted."

Who the telephone operators are

The 1522 never closes, because gender-based violence has no opening hours. Giving women who are victims of abuse the ability to call the switchboard at any time of day or night therefore becomes essential. Active 24 hours a day, every day of the year, the service offers support in Italian, English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

Lockdown changed the way women who are victims of violence communicate

Michela, 1522 telephone operator

The operators find themselves managing very different situations, providing an initial response to victims' needs with useful information and guidance towards public and private social and health services available across the country, but ultimately also offering psychological support to those who call. It is not a straightforward role; it requires adequate preparation before embarking on this profession, as well as ongoing training throughout.

"There is a dedicated training course for operators; it lasts a year and, through a process of shadowing, enables you to then carry out work at anti-violence centres, refuges and so on," says Michela, who points out that training continues every day, even for someone like her who has been doing this job for a long time. "There is a constant exchange of opinions and points of view among colleagues; we try to adjust our approach in response to the new situations we encounter in calls. We discuss things together, there is collaboration, a continuous and consistent exchange of ideas, to refine what we do and be able to offer the best possible service."

Once a shift ends, it is hard to switch off mentally. The work of anti-violence helpline operators is mentally demanding, given the stories and issues confronted on a daily basis. But it is also a mission, carried forward inside and outside working hours. "Working within an organisation like this is a way of life; we embrace the fight against gender-based violence and multiple forms of discrimination in its entirety, and in our daily lives we always try to give our best to promote collective wellbeing against all actions that limit the freedom of the individual," Michela continues.

"It is not a job you clock off from and forget about once you go home; it is a continuous mission that involves your whole life. That is why there is a great deal of mutual support, a deep processing of our emotional states — we are a group of women who also do a great deal of work on themselves."

More resources are needed for the service

A commitment that is bearing fruit and that over the years has helped thousands of women escape situations of abuse and violence. Unfortunately, however, statistics and news reports tell us that the situation is still critical, not least because external factors such as the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have intervened, amplifying the vulnerability of many women in the domestic environment. "When I think back to when I started this job 14 years ago, I have to say that today society is becoming increasingly aware of the phenomenon of gender-based violence, and tends to know more about it than it did back then," admits Michela. "However, there is still a great deal to be done; civil society must commit through work in schools, training courses for law enforcement too, awareness campaigns, to better explain the phenomenon and contribute to the creation of a social context free from any form of violence."

ActionAid Italia @ActionAidItalia

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♥ 12💬 1 23 nov 2020 · Apri su X →

For this to happen, it is also necessary to make available to the cause the resources that exist but are not being disbursed. As shown by the report just released by ActionAid, Tra retorica e realtà. Dati e proposte sul sistema antiviolenza in Italia, the regions have so far disbursed only 72 per cent of the funds for the 2015–2016 annual allocation made available by the Department for Equal Opportunities, 67 per cent of those for 2017, 39 per cent for 2018, and only 10 per cent for 2019. A bug that is bringing several organisations to their knees, especially during these months of Covid-19, when funding to cope with the growing number of people in need of help is more necessary than ever. At the gender-based violence centres in Cremona, for example, on-call availability has been extended to 24 hours a day during these months, despite human resources having been cut by 50 per cent.

The health pandemic has been added to the pandemic of gender-based violence, which unfortunately has always existed

Michela, 1522 telephone operator

Keeping the system afloat are, once again, the workers at gender-based violence centres, who, in the face of significant reductions in staff and resources, have rolled up their sleeves to continue offering women an indispensable service. A great capacity for adaptation and response in an extraordinary situation, which must now be normalised, so that services combating gender-based violence not only survive, but are strengthened.