A Guide to Make Children Aware of the National Plan against Sexual Abuse and Exploitation

An agile publication, written in simple and clear language, to explain to children and young people the National Plan for Preventing and Combating Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Minors and its objectives. The Guida per ragazze e ragazzi, bambine e bambini al Piano nazionale di prevenzione e contrasto dell’abuso e dello sfruttamento sessuale dei minori (2022-2023) (Guide for Children and Adolescents to the National Plan for Preventing and Combating Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation 2022-2023), produced by the Department for Family Policies of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers with the support of the Istituto degli Innocenti, is aimed precisely at them, the youngest. It aims at informing them and making them more aware of the risks they may run in relation to two phenomena that increasingly involve the use of digital technologies.

Young People Have Participated in Drafting the Document, expressing their views and recommendations on how to be protected against sexual abuse and exploitation.

The publication - released on 18 November 2023, on the occasion of the European Day for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse - is the child-friendly version of the Plan adopted in 2022 by the Observatory for the Fight against Paedophilia and Child Pornography. The document is divided into three parts: the first contains definitions of child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation and focuses on policies to prevent and combat the two phenomena; the second describes the consultation process through which children participated in the development of the new National Plan; the third part outlines the objectives and strategies of the Plan.

The Guide, available on the Department's website, will be an annex to the Report that the Prime Minister submits annually to Parliament pursuant to Article 17 of Law 269/1998, prepared by the Department with the technical support of the Istituto degli Innocenti.

The Florentine organisation provides technical assistance to the work of the Observatory for the Fight against Paedophilia and Child Pornography through numerous activities, including support to the drafting of the National Plan to prevent and combat sexual abuse and exploitation of minors.