ITALY – Specific measures during COVID-19 crisis

1) Good practices on communication with victims and crime reporting

1) toll-free number 1522, of the Prime Minister’s Office – Department for Equal Opportunities, which also offers apps (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.telefonorosa.app1522&hl=it) and the possibility of chatting for those people who cannot speak;

2) the State Police has made the “YouPOL” app available also for crimes relating to domestic violence (poliziadistato.it).

2) Good practices on organisation of support and protection

1) as regards the judicial activity: Article 83 of the Legislative Decree 18/20, inter alia, excludes, from the suspension of judicial activity, the proceedings for the adoption of protection orders against family abuse in the civil sector and the procedures for validating arrest and detention in the criminal sector;

2) the Postal Police specialists (National Anti-IT Crime Center for Protection of Critical Infrastructures: C.N.A.I.P.I.C.) are providing a 24-hour service in order to block online scams and the sending of malware to control PCs remotely and in order to protect millions of Italians who work from home using much more than usual PCs and smartphones;

3) the Circular March 21, 2020: the Ministry of the Interior, in agreement with the Ministry for Equal Opportunities and the Family, invite the Prefects to find accommodation – making use of the power attributed by the Legislative Decree March 17, 2020, n. 18, in order to requisition hotels or other buildings – to host women who have been victims of violence and who cannot go to the anti-violence centers for health reasons (https://www.interno.gov.it/it/notizie/donne-vittime-violenza-prefetture-campo-garantire-lospitalita); with the subsequent Circular April 17, 2020, the Ministry of Interior invites to activate a “contact point” with which the managers of the structures dedicated to offering hospitality to the victims of violence can directly get in contact, both to report any critical issues encountered in the reception and to facilitate the actual usability of new accommodation, in constant connection with the municipal administrations; (https://www.interno.gov.it/sites/default/files/modulistica/covid_ii_circolare_vittime_violenza.pdf)

4) on April 2, 2020, the Minister for Equal Opportunities signed a Decree for the allocation of a €30 million anti-violence fund. The measure was adopted in consideration of the COVID-19 emergency and made it possible to release, with an emergency procedure, the resources already allocated to the Regions. The Decree provides that the sum of 10 million euros must be used primarily to support the initiatives which anti-violence centres and institutions providing shelters must take to deal with the Coronavirus emergency;

5) agreement between the Ministry for Equal Opportunities and the Federation of Pharmacists in order to display information signs in the pharmacies on toll-free number 1522 and to distribute reminders containing information on the “YouPOL” app of the State Police.

3) Other good practices

1) The Court of Rome has provided for the priority treatment of criminal proceedings relating to crimes committed with gender or domestic violence;

2) The Public Prosecutor of Trento issued a Directive which invites the Police to monitor domestic violence with particular attention, given the situation of prolonged cohabitation due to COVID-19 emergency, and to provide for removing offenders from home;

3) The Public Prosecutor of Tivoli informs that victims of domestic violence will be able to contact specialized personnel, both by telephone and by activating a call via PC, smartphone or tablet with the Skype program.