The Deputy Chief of Police Prefect Vittorio Rizzi, as part of the conference organized at Palazzo Valentini on the occasion of the International Day of Missing Children, wanted to illustrate the operational experience of this tragic phenomenon that affects the world of childhood and that affects all Countries of the World.
In this regard, the reasons for the disappearance of minors are varied and multiple: they range from voluntariness, often to escape situations of abuse or bullying, to abduction by one of the two parents, often from different countries in which, often , the legislation relating to the phenomenon is different.
Following regulatory but also organizational innovations in relation to the abduction of minors, in 2009, in addition to the introduction of the case referred to in art. 574 bis of the Criminal Code, as a multi-offensive and permanent flagrant crime, a task force was set up at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, composed of representatives of the aforementioned Ministry, the Ministry of the Interior and Justice, to carry out interministerial liaison with the aim of coordinating and speeding up the intervention mechanisms in cases of international child abduction and favoring an immediate and homogeneous reaction by the competent institutions.
Finally, particular attention is paid to the category of foreign minors who arrived in Italy following the migratory wave and of which then often traces are lost, once landed, as they flee from the reception centers for minors and end up in the groups. hellish of child labor, organized crime and sexual exploitation, even outside Italy.
The area of the protection of minors requires a "team work", with multidisciplinary skills as aspects of various kinds are highlighted, not only legal but, above all, socio-psychological.
The level of attention of the juvenile universe must be even higher during this dramatic pandemic that has caused so much discomfort, in particular to young people who are even more exposed to a whole series of risks.
It is no coincidence that while in the last year all the main crimes have registered a decrease of up to 70%, those against minors have instead increased. Cases of online child pornography, for example, went from 1.396 to 3.243, 132% more.
Precisely to underline its importance, even at an international level, it was placed as a theme within the activities of the Europol Covid table, co-chaired by Italy.