Gender violence, which occurs at the physical and/or psychological level, cannot be erased from the mind and memory, even the genes of women who experience it do not ‘forget’ the violence. In fact, more than half of women who are victims of violence experience post-traumatic stress disorder several years later, a quarter experience symptoms of depression, and a third are at high risk of experiencing violence again. The data was collected thanks to the first hundred women who agreed to donate blood samples to the research project EpiWE, Epigenetics for women, coordinated by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) and financed by the Ministry of Health to investigate whether, how much and for how long violence affects gene activity and harms women’s psycho-physical health. Thanks to collaboration with the region of Puglia, the project has now also been extended to minors who have witnessed violence, an experience that in this case also, according to first results, had profound psychological consequences.
The information, explained the ISS, was collected from 76 victims of violence, while the remaining sample was used as a control, applying EpiWEAT, an innovative electronic questionnaire developed by the ISS in Italian and in four other languages (English, French, Spanish, German) to encourage its distribution among immigrant women and linguistic mediators. The questionnaire will then be integrated with sample analysis to look for epigenetic ‘scars’ in DNA, molecular traces that do not change the structure of a gene, but modify its function. Currently EpiWE has involved the regions of Lazio, Lombardy, Campania, Puglia and Liguria, where women can still participate and help research by donating samples. The study showed that more than half of the victims suffered from severe post-traumatic disorder (PTSD): 27% of the women were diagnosed with PTSD and 28.4% suffered from complex PTSD, 23% of the victims showed symptoms of depression, 32% were at high risk of experiencing violence again, more than half had an educational level equal to or higher than a high school diploma and 34% had permanent employment, 82% had Italian citizenship. In 97% of cases, the attacker was a man, and in 71% of cases it was the partner. In 90% of cases, violence (sexual, physical, psychological and economic) recurs over time. “Domestic violence leaves epigenetic traces that change the expression of genes, that is, their activity, without changing the DNA sequence – explains Simona Gaudi, ISS project manager -. Studying these modifications allows us to predict the long-term effects of violence and develop personalized preventive interventions before chronic pathologies appear.” The EpiWE project, Gaudi also underlined, “has led to the development of a second innovative digital tool, EpicHILD, in addition to EpiWEAT, designed for children and adolescents. EpicCHILD has so far been administered to 26 minors aged 7-17 years who have witnessed family violence, registered in the Apulian region after collaboration with the Puglia Region and as part of the ESMiVA study, Health Outcomes in Minors Exposed to Witnessed Violence”. Based on the first results, the expert explained, almost 80% of minors witnessed physical violence in the family as a traumatic event, and several cases of PTSD and depression were identified. 42.3% of the sample had parents who were separated or divorced, and in 92.3% of cases, the perpetrator was the father. “The results – Gaudi concluded – confirm the importance of systematic screening in health and social services facilities, integrated multidisciplinary interventions between health services, schools and social services, personalized prevention protocols based on scientific evidence, monitoring over time to evaluate the evolution of symptoms. The study will continue with a follow-up plan to monitor the evolution of symptoms of violence suffered, and build a database for future research on transgenerational trauma.”
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