Emergency in the emergency or a structural problem? Gender-based violence in the time of Covid-19

Abstract

Based on the literature on gender impacts of emergencies, this article focuses on interventions aimed at protecting women victims of gender-based violence during the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy, questioning the emergency paradigm. Starting from a review of the measures implemented at national level during the so-called Phase 1 of the emergency aimed at facilitating the requests for help and the taking charge of the victims, the article analyzes the original information of a survey carried out by CNR on the anti-violence centers during the lockdown. Starting from the point of view of the AV centers pratictionners, it discusses the structural problems that Covid-19 has highlighted and the possible actions to be undertaken in order to promote a structural change that incorporates a gender perspective.

Keywords: Covid-19, violence against women, emergency, double pandemics, anti-violence centers