Domestic abuse hotline calls up 79.5% during COVID crisis

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 17 - Calls to Italy's 1522 domestic abuse and stalking hotline rose some 79.5% in 2020 over 2019, ISTAT said Monday.
    Calls started surging towards the end f March and there were peaks of +176.9% in April compared to April 2019 and +182.2% in May, the statistics agency said in its report 'Requests for Help During the Pandemic'.
    There was also a spike on November 25, the World Day Against Violence Against Women, ISTAT said.
    The reported violence was primarily physical (47.9%), ISTAT said but also psychological (50.5%.
    Calls for help rose more among younger women, 11.8% compared to 9.8% in 2019 up to the age of 24, and among women aged up to 55: 23.2% in 2020; 18.9% in 2019.
    As for the authors of the violence, family members were up to 18.5% in 2020 against 12.6% in 2019 while violence by current partners was steady at 57.1% in 2010.
    ISTAT said some 20,525 women had resorted to domestic abuse centres. (ANSA).