Redefining the setting of intervention in combating violence against women: The voice of professionals in emergencies

Gender-based violence (GBV) is a worldwide phenomenon, comparable to global epidemics and pandemics. The most widespread form of violence is domestic violence (DV). During the COVID-19 pandemic, DV increased because the former reinforced the underlying risk factors. The most appropriate model to address GBV is the ecological model, which allows addressing individual, relational, collective, and organisational levels of analysis and their interaction. Aim of the study was to identify organizational dimensions to improve the effectiveness of services against GBV in emergencies. To this end, ten professionals from gender-based anti-violence services who served during the lock-out were interviewed. The interviews were conducted and analysed through Thematic Analysis Methodology. Results show that during the pandemic many difficulties arose in the organisation of interventions and settings, and new potentials emerged too, especially in remote work, which offered new possibilities to reorganise the services work. The pandemic results highlight methods and strategies that can be applied to develop an operational model to deal with violence against people during emergencies