On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 2020, on November the 24th, Save the Children announced the results of a survey conducted on its own behalf by Ipsos on a sample of adolescents between 14 and 18 years old in Italy.
Teenagers are more aware of violence against women, but still 70% of girls say they have suffered harassment in public places and sexual appreciation and 64% of them happened to feel uncomfortable about comments or advances from an adult, considered their point of reference. Still few those who report harassment, both out of fear of reaction (29%) and shame (21%).
The virtual world also returns a scenario in which 39% of boys and girls in Italy are exposed online to content that justifies violence against women, with a range that widens from 31% of males to 48% of females. Among the girls, 41% saw posts from their social contacts, content that made them feel offended and/or humiliated as a woman, and of these 10% felt more exposed during the lockdown.
Almost 1 in 5 respondents (18%) directly witnessed an episode in which a friend was the victim of a form of violence (with a percentage that reaches 26% in the north-east of the country), and in 83% of cases there was an intervention on the incident, either directly or by asking for the help of a reference adult or the police. However, in almost one in ten cases (9%) fear prevented any type of intervention.
Sexual and physical violence against a girl are seen as very serious by 94% and 92% of young people respectively, while psychological violence by 88% of them.
For 52% of adolescents in Italy, there is too little talk of violence against women (41% males, 63% females) and for 34% the topic is dealt with “the right”. Only 7% of them think that it is an abused topic, of these 10% is represented by males and only 4% by peers.
More than two out of three adolescents (64%) have experienced first-hand the discomfort in the face of behaviours, comments or advances suffered by reference adults, 70% of the interviewees declare that they have suffered sexual harassment or appreciation, almost one out of three it was groped in public places (31%).
And if 18% admit having witnessed a form of physical violence against a friend, 83% also say they have intervened in defence of her (80% boys and 85% girls).
67% of the girls interviewed would report on-line episodes of harassment and think it is important to share their experiences with other peers. This greater awareness also translates into collective actions involving the youngest, starting with the experience of Turin, where many girls joined in a flash mob to kick off a social campaign to report harassment.
Read the full survey here (in Italian)
