According to a study, Google searches can be a useful tool for tracking domestic violence, particularly in times of crisis. According to the study, certain search terms may be able to forecast such situations, which might ultimately assist the authorities in responding to them promptly.
Lockdowns were implemented by nations in 2020 as a result of the extraordinary coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak. Numerous reports that surfaced during the lockdown suggested that the frequency of domestic violence has grown.
Data indicated various forms of abuse against women and girls even before the pandemic. However, during the epidemic, these events became more frequent.
Now, a study just published in the European Journal of Population finds that Google searches are an effective tool to track and predict domestic violence. The study refers to the times of crisis, such as the period that followed the Covid outbreak.
According to the report, researchers previously lacked trustworthy data sources to follow the occurrence. But now, academics with expertise in population and gender, like Selin Koksal, a PhD candidate in public policy at Bocconi University in Milan, have a deeper understanding of the problem.
Researchers examined the connections between nine keywords connected to domestic abuse and Google searches. They looked at calls made to the emergency number in Lombardy, 112, as well as the domestic abuse hotline in Italy, 1522.
According to reports, Koksal collaborated with his former PhD student Ebru Sanliturk (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research) and sought the advice of Valentina Rotondi, a former Bocconi scholar (SUPSI and the University of Oxford).
The key phrases were: abuse (abuso), home & abuse (casa & abuso), home & rape (casa & stupro), feminicide (femminicidio), rape (stupro), domestic violence (violenza domestica), gender-based violence (violenza di genere), and sexual violence. In Italy, the domestic violence hotline number is 1522. (violenza sessuale).
Researchers discovered a substantial and positive link between searches for four keywords (1522, abuse, domestic violence, and sexual violence) and calls to the emergency number only after the Covid outbreak.
Koksal said, ‘Forecasts proved more reliable among high socio-economic status population. Because they are better than other socioeconomic strata at googling effectively in this context. It may be the case that individuals with lower socio-economic status use dialect or less targeted keywords, which could prevent them from reaching accurate online resources for seeking help.’
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