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Contact the 114 (Childhood Emergency) in the following ways:
Contact the 196196 (Telefono Azzurro) in the following ways:
Phone number: 1522 (national number for victims of violence and stalking; calling is free of charge and the service is available 24/7; you can get assistance in multiple languages, including Russian and Ukrainian).
Other ways to get in touch with the anti-violence centres:
Phone number: 112 (European Emergency Number; calling is free of charge and the service is available 24/7 in multiple languages).
Other ways to contact the police:
Yes. If you are more than 14 years old, you can also formally report the crime yourself.
If you are younger, to formally report the crime you will need a parent or your legal representative. If you have only one parent and that parent is the one that committed violence against you, a tribunal will nominate a special curator that will formally report the crime.
You can also ask help to another adult that has occasionally witnessed the violence and abuses and let them help you—they can report the crime.
N.B. If you do not speak Italian, ask for an interpreter (“Ho bisogno di aiuto, non parlo italiano. Posso parlare con un interprete?”). An interpreter will be provided for free. Italian authorities generally do not speak (well) foreign languages.
As a victim, the law grants you certain rights and powers. See above on rights and powers in general. It is important to emphasize that, in case you are called to testify, you will do so through ‘protected modalities’. You can always be granted free legal aid (see above on the modalities to do so).
Normally no. If you are a minor (so until you turn 18 years old), you will need a parent or, if this is not possible, a guardian to represent you.
Yes.
Normally no.
In case of domestic violence perpetrated by one member of the family, the violent family member will normally be removed from the house (see above more information on this). If the violent situations can not be solved in this way, a judge can decide to have the minor be removed from their family. You could be taken in charge by another family, a single person, a family community, a care institution or a special guardian. Normally, you will anyway maintain contacts with your family, if this is possible. If possible, you will be reassigned to your family when the judge considers this safe for you. If this is not possible, this will not happen and it may be the case that you can be adopted by the family you have been assigned to.
Article 591 Criminal Code – Child abandonment/neglect
Whoever abandons a person under the age of fourteen years […] and for whom he/she has custody or has to take care, shall be punished by imprisonment of from six months to five years. The same punishment applies to anyone who abandons abroad an Italian citizen under the age of eighteen years, entrusted to him/her in the territory of the State for reasons of work. The penalty is imprisonment from one to six years if personal injury results from the act, and from three to eight years if death results. The penalties are increased if the act is committed by the parent, child, guardian or spouse, or by the adoptive parent or adoptee.
Article 572 Criminal Code – Mistreatments against family members or cohabitants
Outside of the cases of the previous Article [abuse of means of correction or discipline], anyone who mistreats a family member or a person living with them, or a person under his authority or entrusted to them for reasons of education, instruction, care, supervision or custody, or for the exercise of a profession or an art, is punished with imprisonment from three to seven years. The penalty is increased by up to half if the offense is committed in the presence or to the detriment of a minor person, a pregnant woman or a person with disabilities as defined in accordance with article 3 of law no. 104, or if the fact is committed with weapons. If the fact results in a serious personal injury, a prison term of between four and nine years is applied; if the result is a very serious injury, imprisonment from seven to fifteen years; if it results in death, imprisonment from twelve to twenty-four years. Anyone under the age of eighteen who witnesses the mistreatment referred to in this article is considered a person offended by the crime.
Article 571 Criminal Code – Abuse of means of correction or discipline
Whoever abuses the means of correction or discipline to the detriment of a person subject to his authority, or entrusted to him for the purposes of education, instruction, care, supervision or custody, or for the exercise of a profession or an art, shall be punished, if the fact results in the danger of physical or mental harm, with imprisonment of up to six months. If personal injury results from the act, the penalties laid down in Articles 582 and 583 shall apply, reduced to one third; if death results, imprisonment for a term of three to eight years shall apply.
Article 574 Criminal Code – Abduction of incompetent person
Whoever abducts a child under the age of fourteen years, or an insane person, from the parent with parental responsibility, from the guardian, or from the curator, or from those having supervision or custody of him or her, or retains him or her against their will, shall, on complaint by the parent with parental responsibility, the guardian or the curator, be punished by imprisonment from one to three years. To the same punishment shall be subject, on complaint by the same persons, a person who abducts or retains a child who has attained the age of fourteen years, without his or her consent, for any purpose other than that of lechery or marriage.
Article 609 bis Criminal Code – Sexual Violence
Anyone who, by violence or threat or by abuse of authority forces someone to perform or undergo sexual acts is punished with imprisonment from six to twelve years. The same penalty is subject to anyone who induces someone to perform or undergo sexual acts: 1) abusing the physical or mental inferiority of the injured person at the time of the fact; 2) deceiving the injured person for having replaced the guilty person for another person. In less serious cases, the penalty is reduced by no more than two thirds.
Article 609 ter Criminal Code – Aggravated Circumstances
The penalty laid down in Article 609 bis shall be increased by a third if the acts referred to therein are committed:
1) against a person of whom the offender is the ascendant, parent, including adoptive parent, or guardian;
2) with the use of weapons or alcoholic, narcotic or narcotic substances or other instruments or substances seriously injurious to the health of the offended person;
3) by a person disguised or simulating the capacity of public official or person in charge of a public service;
4) on a person otherwise subject to restrictions on personal liberty;
5) on a person who has not attained the age of eighteen years;
5-bis) within or in the immediate vicinity of an educational or training establishment attended by the offended person;
5-ter) against pregnant women;
5-quater) against a person of whom the offender is the spouse, including a separated or divorced spouse, or a person to whom the offender is or has been linked by a relationship of affection, even without cohabitation;
5-quinquies) if the offence is committed by a person who is a member of a criminal organization and for the purpose of facilitating its activity;
5-sexies) if the offence is committed with serious violence or if, due to the repetition of the conduct, serious harm is caused to the child;
5-septies) if the act causes danger to the child’s life.
The penalty laid down in Article 609 bis shall be increased by half if the acts referred to therein are committed against a person under the age of fourteen. The penalty is doubled if the acts referred to in Article 609 bis are committed against a person under ten years of age.
Article 609 quater Criminal Code – Sexual acts with minor
The punishment laid down in Article 609 bis [sexual violence] shall be imposed on anyone who, outside the cases provided for in that Article, engages in sexual acts with a person who, at the time of the act:
1) is under the age of fourteen years;
2) is under the age of sixteen, when the offender is an ascendant, parent, including an adoptive parent, or cohabiting parent, guardian, or other person to whom, for reasons of care, education, instruction, supervision or custody, the child is entrusted or who has a cohabiting relationship with the child.
Apart from the cases provided for in Article 609 bis, an ascendant, parent, including an adoptive parent, or cohabiting parent, guardian, or other person to whom, for reasons of care, education, instruction, supervision or custody, the child is entrusted, or who has a cohabiting relationship with the child, who, by abuse of the powers connected with his or her position, engages in sexual activities with a person who is a child aged sixteen or over, shall be punished by imprisonment of from three to six years.
Apart from the cases provided for in the preceding paragraphs, any person who engages in sexual activities with a child who is over fourteen years of age, abusing the trust placed in him or her or the authority or influence exercised over him or her by reason of his or her position or office held, or family, domestic, employment, cohabitation or hospitality relationships, shall be punished by imprisonment of up to four years.
The penalty shall be increased
1) if the performance of sexual acts with a child who has not attained the age of fourteen years takes place in exchange for money or any other benefit, even if only promised;
2) if the offence is committed by several persons in a group;
3) if the offence is committed by a person who is a member of a criminal organization and for the purpose of facilitating its activity;
4) if, due to the repetition of the conduct, serious harm is caused to the child as a result of the act;
5) if danger to the child’s life derives from the fact.
A minor who, outside the cases provided for in Article 609 bis, engages in sexual acts with a minor who has reached the age of thirteen, if the difference in age between the subjects is not more than four years, is not punishable.
In less serious cases, the penalty is reduced by an amount not exceeding two thirds.
The penalty referred to in the second paragraph of Article 609b applies if the offended person has not attained the age of ten years.
Article 609 quinquies Criminal Code – Corruption of minor
Whoever performs sexual acts in the presence of a person under the age of fourteen, in order to have that person witness them, shall be punished by imprisonment of from one to five years.
Unless the act constitutes a more serious offence, the same punishment as in the first paragraph shall apply to any person who causes a person under fourteen years of age to witness sexual acts, or shows pornographic material to that person for the purpose of inducing him or her to perform or undergo sexual acts.
The penalty is increased:
(a) if the offence is committed by several persons in a group;
(b) if the offence is committed by a person who is a member of a criminal conspiracy and for the purpose of facilitating its activities;
(c) if the offence is committed with serious violence or if serious harm is caused to the child as a result of repeated conduct;
(c-bis) if danger to the child’s life derives from the offence.
The penalty shall be increased by up to one half when the offender is an ascendant, a parent, including an adoptive parent, or his or her cohabiting parent, a guardian, or any other person to whom, for reasons of care, education, instruction, supervision or custody, the child is entrusted, or who has a stable cohabiting relationship with the child.
Article 609 sexies Criminal Code – Ignorance of the victim’s age
When the offences envisaged in Articles 609 bis, 609 ter, 609 quater, 609 octies and 609 undecies are committed against a person under 18 years of age, and when the offence referred to in Article 609 quinquies is committed, the offender may not plead ignorance of the age of the offended person as an excuse, unless such ignorance is unavoidable.
Article 609 undecies Criminal Code – Soliciting of minor
Whoever, with a view to committing the offences referred to in Articles 600, 600 bis, 600 ter and 600 quater, including those relating to pornographic material referred to in Article 600 quater 1, 600 quinquies, 609 bis, 609 quater, 609 quinquies and 609 octies [pedopornography crimes and related crimes], solicits a child under the age of sixteen(2), shall be punished, if the act does not constitute a more serious offence, by imprisonment of from one to three years. Solicitation is understood to be any act aimed at gaining the trust of a minor through artifice, flattery or threats carried out also through the use of the Internet or other networks or means of communication.
The penalty shall be increased
1) if the offence is committed by several persons in a group;
2) if the offence is committed by a person who is part of a criminal association and for the purpose of facilitating its activity
3) if, due to the repetition of the conduct, serious harm is caused to the child as a result of the act if danger to the child’s life derives from the offence.
If you have formally reported the crime, a criminal proceedings will be initiated against the perpetrator. There will be an investigation and, if there is evidence that the crime has been committed, a trial, at the end of which they will be considered guilty or innocent.
Telefono Rosa, (website available in multiple languages; you can also leave a message on the website)
+39 0637518282 (service available 24/7), info@telefonorosa.it
Differenza Donna, (website available in English), +39 06 678 0537, d.donna@differenzadonna.it
D.i.Re – Donne in Rete contro la violenza, (website available in multiple languages, including Ukrainian)
+39 392 720 0580, segreteria@direcontrolaviolenza.it
Casa Internazionale delle Donne, (website available in English and Italian), + 39 0668401720
segreteria@casainternazionaledelledonne.org
Associazione Frida, (website available only in Italian), +39 346 75 78 833
apsfrida@gmail.com
These associations work at the national level. They can direct you to one of the numerous (N)GOs and associations that work at the local level, nearby you.
A non-exhaustive list of anti-violence shelters can be also found at this link. Select your region to find the nearest to you.
When compiling the instructions, we relied on the help of volunteers and lawyers from different countries. If something went wrong – the organization didn’t respond to you, you found a bug or the instructions weren’t precise enough – tell us about it. Email us at: help@labirint.online
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