Among the negative consequences of the pandemic there is also that of the increase of cases of abuses and violence, in particular, on minors. May 5 is the National Day against Paedophilia, and Telefono Azzurro [Blue Telephone], an association born in Bologna in 1987 to listen to children’s request for help, has organized a meeting between institutions, the media, national and international experts and high ecclesiastical offices on the theme “The Dignity of Children and Adolescents in the Time of COVID.”
The event will begin at 10:00 am in Rome’s Borromeo Palace, headquarters of Italy’s Embassy to the Holy See. It will be an occasion to reflect on the important steps taken to protect minors and to stress the importance of continuing to act together.
The Internet Risks
A note of Telefono Azzurro states that the “Internet and the new digital technologies have increased the risk for minors of sexual enticements and consequent abuses. It adds that, with the pandemic, an increase of cases of violence, be it online or offline, have increased throughout the world, with considerable social fall-outs.
In fact, victims of sexual violence in infant or adolescent age have a greater probability of developing emotional problems and behaviour and also of attempting suicidal acts. Data of Telefono Azzurro’s Listening and Consultation Center 1.96.96 demonstrates it, which has registered an average of some 6 cases a month of sexual abuses offline and 5 online (2020 data). Such requests for help have come in the first place from Lombardy (20% offline and 26% online). The surveys of the Child Emergency Service 114 also show an increase of episodes of sexual abuse on minors, with an average of close to 8 cases handled a month.
The Challenge for Adults
“Undoubtedly the new technologies are improving the quality of life of millions of children and adolescents in the world, providing an opportunity for their education and their personal growth. At the same time, however, digital technologies also entail risks and negative effects that must be carefully considered,” said Professor Ernesto Caffo, President and Founder of Telefono Azzurro, and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
“The greatest challenge for us adults is to ensure that young people have safe access to these technologies: in fact, the Web is frequented by perpetrators and children, especially the more vulnerable, who can easily become prey of different types of abuse, as sextortion, porn revenge and online solicitation. Governments, the non-profit sector, institutions, the academic world and civil society should join efforts and commit themselves to the protection of the dignity of children and adolescents worldwide,” concluded Caffo.
The event will be live streamed from Telefono Azzurro’s Facebook site and page (https://azzurro.it/news_eventi/5-maggio/https://www.facebook.com/Telefono AzzurroOnlus/), as well as on the site of ANSA, of Avvenire and of “Vatican News” (the initiative’s media partner).
The Program
The morning session, which will be introduced by the institutional greetings of Professor Caffo and of Pietro Sebastiani, Italy’s Ambassador to the Holy See, will be moderated by Monica Maggioni, RAI journalist. Among those intervening are: Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna (remotely); Patrizio Bianchi, Minister of Education; Elena Bonetti, Minister for Equal Opportunities and of the Family; Ivan Scalfarotto, Under-Secretary for the Interior; Valentina Vezzali, Under-Secretary for Sport; Anna Macina, Under-Secretary for Justice; Licia Ronzulli, Senator and President of the Bicameral Commission on Childhood and Adolescence.
Also Carla Garlatti, Supervisory Authority for Childhood and Adolescence; Monsignor Lorenzo Ghizzoni, Archbishop of Ravenna and Cervia, President of the National Service for the Protection of Minors of the Italian Episcopal Conference (remotely); Simonetta Matone, Deputy Attorney General in Rome’s Court of Appeal; Marina Contino, Chief Manager of the Anti-Crime Central Service of the State Police; Giovanni Russo, Deputy Attorney, National Anti-Mafia Investigative Agency; Guido Scorza, member of the Guarantor Authority for the Protection of Personal Data; Maria Monteleone, member of the Superior Council for the Judiciary and of the Senate’s Inquiry Commission on Femicide; Giuseppe Magno, docent of Legislation and Protection of Childhood and Adolescence, La Sapienza University of Rome, and Agostino Santoni, CISCO’s Vice-President. The morning session will end with Marie Collins’ testimony.
Interventions of Cardinals Parolin and O’Malley
Two sessions in English in the afternoon will discuss the main actions implemented at the international level, to reinforce the fight against offline and online abuses. The European Union, which has launched a strategy to combat sexual abuses to the harm of minors, is evaluating the opportunity to propose changes to the existing legislation, creating also a European Center to Prevent and Oppose Sexual Abuse on Minors. Among the interventions programmed, in addition to the Message of the Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, is also that of Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who will describe the important activity of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The academic session will be moderated by Father Hans Zollner, SJ, Director of the Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection.
