Child abuse, in the first 10 months of 2022 almost one molestation per day was reported, an average of 23 per month, both online and offline

ROME – A day against the exploitation and sexual abuse of minors. A conference entitled “The strength of the web: the multidisciplinary approach as a tool to combat sexual abuse”, organized by Foundation Blue Phone. The event greeted the first “European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse”, established by the United Nations as an opportunity to reflect on the rights and protection of minors, a mission which Blue Phone been doing for years. During the conference, the leaders of the Organization which has been fighting for over 30 years for total respect for the rights of children and adolescents presented data in which they describe and explore the issue of abuse and violence against children and adolescents both from a international and national perspective.

The cases of Telefono Azzurro: an average of 23 per month. There Foundation handled 231 online and off-network abuse and exploitation cases in the first ten months of 2022, an average of 23 cases per month. As stated in dossier, “the reasons relating to the online area were 95, those relating to the offline 180 (touching and harassment) for a total of 275. In fact, every single case managed can contain multiple reasons relating to the area of ​​abuse and exploitation offline and online and, equally, every single child assisted may have been involved in situations of harm both offline and online”. In the time frame considered, the minors helped by Foundation there were 271, so almost one a day.

Identikit of the victims. In line with the historical data of the Foundation, the identikit of the child victim of offline sexual abuse and exploitation is predominantly female, aged 11-14 years (pre-adolescents) and victim of intra-family abuse. If we go online, the victims remain predominantly female but of a higher age group, i.e. teenagers over 14 and typically victims of strangers.

Increase in child abuse. In general, cases of exploitation and dissemination of abusive material depicting minors and adolescents have increased in Europe in recent years. From 2019 to 2021, there was an increase of 10 million reports of exploited or missing children, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Also The Internet Center Watch Foundation confirms the trend: reports increased by 20% between 2021 and 2022. Technological means have favored new abuse practices, he warns Blue Phone.

“The Hour of Silence”. It is precisely for the network that the initiative was conceived “the hour of silence”, created yesterday, November 20, on the occasion of the World Children’s Day. The initiative was an invitation to reduce background noise, leaving room for silence, in which young people in difficulty can express themselves and the society of adults can listen. For a few minutes, many network influencers fell silent and turned into listeners, sharing silent content and inviting their followers to make this initiative go viral.