Press room

2010 - News

20.10.2010

Public-private network and prevention against missing children phenomenon

Minors, including both children and teenagers, disappear for three main reasons: voluntary leaving their families or communities, abduction by a non-custodial parent, becoming the victim of kidnapping by others. In Italy, most missing children (63%) are non-accompanied minors who almost always voluntarily leave home because of difficult family situations. 40% of children reported to have been contacted by strangers through the Internet.

It is a complex phenomenon whose alarming dimension and figures have been outlined last Monday during a conference entitled ‘La scomparsa dei minori nell’esperienza nazionale e internazionale’ (Domestic and international experiences in tackling the phenomenon of missing children) in Rome. The event , organised by Telefono Azzurro, a non-profit organisation tasked with handling the European hotline number for missing children 116.000 assigned to the Interior Ministry, was held at Palazzo Giustiniani, hosting some offices of the Senate of the Republic.

The workshop, organised in two sessions, has offered the public and operators an opportunity to exchange views on both domestic and international experiences and projects currently underway. The purpose was to highlight a strategy focused on listening and prevention with the aim of setting up a network between institutions, families, police forces, skilled operators and media capable to more effectively respond to emergency cases in an attempt to combat this phenomenon.

Tools at our disposal have been outlined during the first conference session by the major institutional actors involved: the ministries of Interior, Foreign Affairs, Justice and for Equal Opportunities, having all together formed a task force for missing children. The Interior Ministry was represented by the Head of Minister’s Staff Office Giuseppe Procaccini, the Special Commissioner for Missing People Michele Penta and the Director of Institutional Communication of the Interior Ministry Serenella Ravioli. 

GENERAL overview 

Data commented by Mr. Ernesto Caffo, Chairman of Telefono Azzurro, who opened the conference, show that the problem of missing children is steadily increasing. Young people mostly involved are those aged 15 to 18. In 2009, 8,602 cases were reported to the Italian authorities by calling the hotline number 1116.000, currently operated in 16 European countries, with an average number of 23 calls per day. The Internet and ever evolving technologies have developed not only an higher potential but also new risks. According to Caffo, the strategy to be adopted should include prevention and the setting up of a network of institutional and private operators. In line with these suggestions, a National Centre for Missing Children will soon be opened. It will be entrusted with handling the European hotline number 116.000 as well as a series of activities, such as counselling, training and awareness-raising on the issue. At the international level, the 'reference framework' is the U.S.-based International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), leading a global movement to protect children from sexual exploitation and abduction through circulating best practices, forming partnerships and providing support for the setting up of similar centres in other countries.