Gender-based violence during the COVID-19 pandemic response in Italy

Gender-based violence (GBV), with one out of three women worldwide experiencing violence in their lifetime, has been defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a "global public health problem of epidemic proportions" . During the current COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO and other international authorities have warned about the increased risk of GBV related to more time spent indoors, isolation from social and protective networks, and greater social and economic stress related to both the epidemic and response measures. We report here data from the Italian National Women's Network Against Violence, D.i.Re. The network collects data annually from anti-violence centers which fulfill the Istanbul Convention minimum criteria for specialized service providers.