The Usage of Mobile Apps to Fight Violence against Women: A Survey on a Sample of Female Students Belonging to an Italian University

Abstract

The prevalence of violence against women continues to grow and this plague has had a huge impact from a clinical, social and judicial point of view. For this reason, alongside the efforts made at the legislative level to prevent the phenomenon and to improve assistance to victims in recent years, efforts to contain and better manage this phenomenon have also grown in the extra-legislative sphere: for example, through the application of new technological solutions and safety planning. In recent years, there has been an increase in the marketing of mobile phone apps dedicated to the prevention of violence against women, with different functions and different objectives. The purpose of this study is to investigate the knowledge and propensity to download this type of app in a group of 1782 Italian female university students. This research was performed using an online questionnaire administered to female students attending four different courses (law, medicine, healthcare professionals and political sciences) at one Italian university. Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test was used to analyze associations between responses to questionnaire and the type and the year of course. The results show that 62.6% of our sample are unaware of the existence of these apps and that 79.5% of the sample would be willing to download one in the future. With regard to whom to turn to after a violent incident, the majority of those interviewed (43.9%) would turn to the police and not to health facilities. According to our findings, law female students (52.7%) think, more than any other category, that the most effective way to improve public safety and reduce the number of victims lies in legislative solutions. Our results suggest that, although this type of technology may be promising, it is necessary to improve the knowledge and dissemination of these apps in order to make them a useful tool for prevention, education and assistance in cases of violence against women.

The use of mobile phone applications to enhance personal safety from interpersonal violence – an overview of available smartphone applications in the United Kingdom

“…In a sample of female Italian University students, only a third of participants were aware of the existence of apps to assist women experiencing violence, and awareness was lower amongst women with little knowledge of the prevalence of violence against women [49]. Personal safety apps are most likely to attract users from already vulnerable groups and those who are already security conscious [49,50]. However, apps may not be accessible to those most in need if such individuals have difficulty using the technology or are unable to afford the technology required to operate such apps.…”

“…Despite the majority of identified apps targeting generic users, over one in ten were marketed specifically for women, families or other vulnerable groups. In a sample of female Italian University students, only a third of participants were aware of the existence of apps to assist women experiencing violence, and awareness was lower amongst women with little knowledge of the prevalence of violence against women [49]. Personal safety apps are most likely to attract users from already vulnerable groups and those who are already security conscious [49,50].…”

“…To date, research on smartphone apps marketed for violence prevention has predominately focused on intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or violence against women (VAW) more broadly [19,[30][31][32][33][34][35]. Findings of such work indicate that apps can assist users in accessing support and resources to increase their personal safety.…”

A Systematic Review of Computer Science Solutions for Addressing Violence Against Women in Educational Institutions

“…The Safecity app, which gathers user-submitted reports of sexual abuse and harassment in public spaces, was the subject of an investigation by [42]. To encourage awareness and community action, the app maps out sites that are both safe and risky.…”