Gender-Based Violence and Child Protection: Italian Research into the Involvement of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators in Helping Interventions

This chapter presents the findings of research conducted in north-\r\nern Italy into child protection services in the years 2021–2023. Through\r\na qualitative analysis of 44 case files from 6 services, the research considers\r\nwhether, during the social investigation ordered by the Juvenile Court,\r\nchild protection social workers involved men who had committed acts of\r\nIPV, by analysing the helping process in terms of contacts with the perpe-\r\ntrators and victims, assessment of parenting skills, and interventions on\r\nbehalf of children, adolescents, mothers, and fathers. The analysis high-\r\nlights challenges of child protection interventions in cases of gender-based\r\nviolence (GBV). The chapter also includes a discussion on how GBV is\r\nconceptualised and described by social workers engaged in a continuous\r\nsearch for balance between addressing the violence against women and\r\nprotection of children and support of parents.