Safety aspects in the Italian regions: the gender equality regional index

Using a multidimensional approach, the aim of this work is to investigate the gap between gender equality and safety aspects, including perception (subjective elements) and victims of crime (objective elements). From two different data sources, five core indicators were selected. The study analyses the differences at the Italian regional level, assessing the possible effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on safety. Therefore, we considered a period from 2018 to 2022 with the years 2020/2021 as affected by pandemic. For the construction of the index, a ratio was constructed for each indicator to quantify gender inequality in relation to each selected aspect. In all regions and throughout the period under review, men consistently report a higher perception of safety than women, with some local variations. Finally, the Gender Equality Regional Index (GERI) was built for this domain. The results show no major differences at regional level.