CNR-IRPPS researcher Angela Toffanin contributed to the entry on Gender Discrimination for the 11th Appendix of the Italian Encyclopedia of Science, Letters and Arts, published by Treccani.

Toffanin conducts her research at our Institute, collaborating primarily with the Population, Gender and Society research group (Poges).

In the article Intersectional Approach within Italian Antiviolence Centres. Challenges for Research and Policies, Angela Toffanin, IRPPS researcher, analyzes whether and how antiviolence centers in Italy manage to respond to the needs of women victims of violence with an intersectional approach, considering how different levels of vulnerability interact with each other.

The empirical part of the article discusses some of the representations of “women in situations of violence” and “women accessing services” shared by operators of antiviolence centers and shelters in Italy, collected in qualitative research conducted in 2019-20. At the same time, the article discusses some quantitative results on the training and professional practices of antiviolence centers regarding intervention with women who embody multiple vulnerabilities.

The article examines the relational dimension that is at the center of the debate on intersectionality and its potential in research activities. The objective is to contribute to the scientific debate on intersectionality as a theoretical and empirical tool, useful for avoiding the unconscious reproduction of inequalities and privileges during research activities and in professional practices, through a reflexive approach to the categories used and one’s position in a specific social context.

Listen to the author’s audio abstract.

Toffanin A. M. (2023). Intersectional Approach within Italian Antiviolence Centres. Challenges for Research and Policies. Fuori Luogo Journal of Sociology of Territory, Tourism, Technology, 16(3), 75-88. https://doi.org/10.6093/2723-9608/9511

IRPPS, with the Viva project, has published the results of the national survey on centers for men who use violence (CUAV). The Viva project represents an important piece of the socio-cultural change necessary to combat gender-based violence.

In September, the research group involved in the VIVA project (Evaluation and Analysis of interventions for the prevention and combating of violence against women) participated in important opportunities for discussion with the scientific community, sharing perspectives and results as a starting point for upcoming qualitative investigations on the empowerment of women victims of violence and on Centers for perpetrators of violence.

Two posters were presented at the European Conference on Domestic Violence (ECDV) in Reykjavik.

The first – Networking to prevent and combat male violence against women by Francesca Proia, Maria Dentale, Pietro Demurtas, Alice Mauri – presents data relating to the analysis of the Italian anti-violence system as a complex and diversified universe.

Fig. 1 The poster Networking to prevent and combat male violence against women

The second – Defining the effectiveness of perpetrator programs from a practice-based perspective by Pietro Demurtas and Caterina Peroni – shows some of the results of the recently completed survey on Centers for Male Perpetrators of Violence (CUAV).

Fig. 2 The poster Defining the effectiveness of perpetrator programs from a practice-based perspective

Within the framework of the XVI ESPAnet Italia Conference, Beatrice Busi and Angela Toffanin also presented a contribution on conditionality in economic, employment, and social empowerment measures in anti-violence policies.

Visit the VIVA project website.

Edited by Monia Torre, with scientific support from Pietro Demurtas, Alice Mauri, Angela Toffanin.

The preliminary results of the second survey on Centers for Men who Perpetrate Violence—conducted as part of the VIVA project—were presented to the Observatory on the Phenomenon of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence.