Network of 15,000 doctors to fight child abuse

FLORENCE, ITALY – The first healthcare network worldwide against child abuse has been created in Italy with the participation of 13 pediatric hospitals across the country and 15,000 pediatricians and general practitioners trained to recognize signs of physical, sexual and psychological violence against minors.

The project was launched by the multinational pharmaceutical company Menarini, in cooperation with children’s helpline Telefono Azzurro, the Italian Pediatric Society, the Italian Federation of pediatricians and the Italian Association of Pediatric Hospitals.

Today, an estimated 70-80,000 minors suffer some form of violence or abuse but only a minority of these cases are reported. The first phase of the project, called ‘train the trainers’, includes training a group of 1,000 pediatricians through 23 intensive courses to enable them to recognize warning signs of abuse.

According to a survey carried out by children’s helpline Telefono Azzurro and Doxakids and presented in Florence, one third of minors feel their right to be protected against violence and abuse is not sufficiently defended.

The economic downturn impacted family relations, according to the minors polled with 19% reporting that the relationship between their parents had deteriorated and 10% saying their own relationship with parents was affected.

Most of the abuses reported to Telefono Azzurro’s 114 helpline are physical or psychological while one in 10 is sexual. Only one in five of sexual abuse victims and one in three of violence victims are able to report the abuse they have suffered, the helpline said.