Better Off Alone: Analysing calls from Women to the Domestic Violence 1522 hotline in Italy during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This thesis examines the pervasive issue of Domestic Violence (DV) against women, with a focus on the changes observed before and after COVID-19 lockdown measures. Lockdown restrictions raised concerns about increasing DV cases, but the rise in reports could also reflect greater awareness and reporting rather than an actual increase in DV occurrences. To address this, the study analyzes calls to Italy’s anti-violence hotline 1522, distinguishing between calls requesting information and those reporting incidents of violence. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I evaluate whether the observed rise in DV-related calls represents a genuine increase in incidents. Several experimental parameters are used to ensure the robustness of the findings, which reveal a disproportionate increase in victim calls compared to information requests, suggesting a likely rise in DV cases. Additionally, the study includes two focused analyses: (1) a multilinear regression on victim calls by age group, which indicates a statistically significant surge in DV reports among younger women (ages 14-24) during the pandemic; and (2) a difference-in-differences analysis based on civil status, showing that DV calls rose more for women cohabitating with their perpetrators than for those not living with them. These findings underscore the urgent need for targeted policies to mitigate the unintended effects of lockdowns on DV incidence.