ROME – Chiara Insidioso Monda, 20, has awoken from an 11-month coma after being beaten and buried alive by her boyfriend, hospital officials said Friday.

 The case has drawn widespread media attention at a time when domestic violence in Italy has been under the spotlight. Damning reports released last month revealed that in 2013 a woman was murdered every other day, with the majority of cases involving a family member.

 Chiara’s doctors commented that she “overcame a huge challenge” on Thursday. The young woman was attacked by her boyfriend in their Ostia apartment in February this year after an argument reportedly motivated by jealousy. She was found barely alive having been buried. In the past 11 months she has undergone three separate operations for her injuries.

 Her former boyfriend, Maurizio Falcioni, is awaiting trial for abuse and attempted murder.

 The International Day against violence towards women, on Nov. 25, saw protestors take to the streets of Rome. Awareness campaigns have also dominated buses in the city, bringing the issue into the public sphere.