The Unintended Consequences of Pandemic Lockdowns: Evidence on Domestic Violence in Italy

Abstract

This study examines the effects of Italy’s COVID-19 tiered lockdown system on domestic violence. The policy implemented categorizes regions into different weekly risk levels, imposing corresponding mobility restrictions—the higher the risk, the greater the constraints on mobility outside the home. Leveraging this setting, we employ a difference-in-differences approach with staggered treatment adoption and heterogeneous treatment effects to assess the causal impact of these measures. Our findings reveal a significant increase in domestic violence reporting via helpline, persisting up to five weeks following the intervention, in regions subjected to the highest level of mobility restrictions. Additionally, we observe a heightened likelihood of femicides occurring in the same week the mobility restrictions were enacted. This study contributes new insights into the dynamics of domestic violence under pandemic-related restrictions, highlighting the exacerbated risks associated with prolonged lockdowns.