In Italy there are about 9 million minors and 9% of these suffer ill-treatment, of which 85% psychological, 10% physical and 3% sexual. Alarming data that has worsened further after the start of the pandemic.
Child abuse cannot be tackled from a single perspective. The skills of doctors, psychologists, pedagogues, educators, police forces, magistrates and other figures who come into contact with adolescents can unite to create a coordinated and “tight-knitted” network to support the family and the school to prevent and early intercept any form of discomfort. This is the central proposal launched today by the first meeting “Burnt childhood. Let’s help them smile”, organized by the “On Radar” ThinkTank of the Menarini International Foundation, with the aim of setting in motion real changes, through dialogue between experts, to address the unresolved issues of juvenile hardship.
The meeting operated on four levels involving 28 authoritative figures with a focus on social isolation, physical and psychological abuse, suburbs and poverty and digital violence.
“The creation of a network of skills, which includes all adults who come into contact with children and adolescents, represents the most suitable tool for building a training course aimed at accompanying them in their growth until they become aware citizens, protagonists of their own lives, of own choices and dreams – declares Massimo Scaccabarozzi, director of ThinkTank On Radar -.In the project, the minor becomes the main actor of change so that he is not the victim and/or potential perpetrator of abuse and mistreatment, through a series of training and educational initiatives to help him distinguish, for example, the line between an innocent compliment and appreciation and discriminatory and/or sexual attitudes”.
Among the proposals that emerged was the creation of a permanent Observatory on abuses in the Judicial Bodies with periodic updating meetings and the promotion of a Network between Public Prosecutors and operators in the sector, to encourage dialogue and ensure correct handling of individual situations. But that’s not all: there was also talk of the involvement of paediatricians to introduce potential indicators of discomfort in the preparation of the health report and a possible role of training courses for new mothers on the risk of disseminating photos of their children on social media, often subsequently subjected to child pornography.
“The ambitious intention is to help achieve a global health condition for the child, in line with some of the objectives of the UN 2030 Agenda, including, in particular, overcoming poverty and access to education”, concludes Scaccabarozzi.
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