Italy

Intimate Partner Violence in Pregnancy – A Multidisciplinary Approach

Organisation/Third party
Fondazione G.B. Guzzetti

Grant amount
€ 18.590,00

Website
www.fondazioneguzzetti.it

Country
Italy

Title of the project
Intimate Partner Violence in pregnancy

Project duration
7 months

Target groups
The project aims at recruiting and screening at least 120 pregnant women.
Indirect beneficiaries are also health professionals involved in the training (around 50 people)

Project summary
Fondazione G.B. Guzzetti, in collaboration with the SVSeD (Service for Sexual and Domestic Violence) of Policlinico Hospital—the first Italian Family Justice Center—has launched an innovative project focused on identifying and addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy. The initiative aims to build a strong bridge between family counseling services and the hospital's FJC through three key actions:

1. Training Health Professionals: A multidisciplinary training program for midwives and gynecologists to detect and respond to IPV in pregnancy. The training covers risk assessment, health consequences, and coordinated responses involving legal and psychosocial services.
2. Pilot Screening Study: A pilot screening will be conducted with pregnant women in counseling services and the maternity unit of Policlinico Hospital. The study will assess IPV prevalence, timing, and effective screening periods during pregnancy, and will offer integrated support for affected women.
3. Knowledge Exchange: Findings will be shared with other local Family Counseling Centers to explore the replication of the model in similar settings.

This initiative represents a significant step towards early detection, comprehensive care, and the prevention of violence against women and children during a critical life stage.

Project activities

• Training for health professionals.
• Pilot study for the screening of IPV in pregnancy.
• Create connections and exchange of experiences between working groups.

Qualitative results

• Following the conclusion of the training program on IPV in pregnancy, a questionnaire will be disseminated to the professionals involved. The purpose of the questionnaire is to ascertain their experiences with the training and tools offered. The results of this survey will be used to make any necessary adaptations to the training package.
• Qualitative interviews with a subgroup of professionals and questionnaire for women involved in the project will be conducted and disseminated to identify any potential barriers and misunderstandings regarding the items of the screening questionnaire.

Quantitative results

• The frequency of detected cases of IPV during pregnancy will be the primary outcome of this project.