Preventing Male Violence Against Women Through Communication: A Comparative Analysis of the Television Campaigns of the Italian and Spanish Governments

Abstract

A growing number of EU countries has recently started implementing social campaigns against men’s violence on women. Among these countries, Italy and Spain share the ideology of machismo as a widespread trait of their national cultures, but have different levels of experience in relation to the time when government actions on intimate partner violence developed. Starting from some research hypotheses, this paper presents the main results of a comparative textual analysis of the Television campaigns implemented by the Governments of Italy and Spain from 2009 to 2017 to prevent male violence against women. Results highlight how the campaigns portrayed the perpetrators of violence against women in the two Countries and what stereotypes about ​​masculinity the campaigns aimed to combat.