There Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse – also called Lanzarote Convention – is a multilateral treaty of the Council of Europe, with which the member states agree to combat forms of sexual abuse against children.
It is the first international treaty addressing sexual abuse of children that also occurs within the family.
It was signed in 2007 in Spain, in Lanzarote, and then signed by the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, 44 of which have already ratified it. Italy ratified it in 2012.
In addition to the most widespread types of crime in this field (sexual abuse, child prostitution, child pornography, forced participation of children in pornographic shows), the Convention also regulates cases of grooming (internet solicitation) and sex tourism.
The Convention outlines preventive measures which include the screening, the recruitment and training of personnel who can work with children in order to make them aware of the risks they may run and to teach them to protect themselves, also establish victim support programs, encourage reporting of alleged abuse and episodes of exploitation and provides for the establishment of help centers via telephone or via the Internet.
The sexual exploitation and abuse of minors has assumed alarming proportions iin particular as regards the increasing use of information and communication technologies by minors and perpetrators of crime.
The main novelty of the ratification law concerns the introduction into the penal code of two new crimes: the instigation to practices of pedophilia and child pornography (art. 414 bis penal code) and the soliciting of minors or grooming (art. 609 undecies penal code ). The first provides for imprisonment from one year and six months to five years for anyone who, by any means, including the web, instigates minors to commit crimes such as child prostitution, possession of child pornography, corruption of minors or violence against children. The same penalty is foreseen for those who defend these crimes.
The second defines the solicitation of minors as - literally - "any act aimed at gaining the trust of the minor through tricks, flattery or threats even through the use of the Internet or other networks or means of communication"; for this offence, imprisonment from one to three years is foreseen.
The ratification of the Convention has also led to the harsher penalties for a whole series of crimes, from crimes of abuse in the family against minors to crimes of criminal conspiracy aimed at committing sexual offenses against minors.
An increase in the penalties is also envisaged also for the crimes of child prostitution and child pornography and, relevant circumstance, it will no longer be possible to declare that one is unaware of the minor age of the offended person in the case of the commission of one of the crimes committed to the detriment of minors.
The art has also been modified. 609 decies of the Criminal Code: the first paragraph is modified in the sense that, when one of the crimes indicated above is being prosecuted, the Public Prosecutor informs the Juvenile Court; the second paragraph of the article is then replaced by the following: "in the cases provided for in the first paragraph, the emotional and psychological assistance of the injured minor is ensured, in every state and degree of the proceeding, by the presence of the parents or other suitable persons indicated by the minor, as well as by groups, foundations, associations or non-governmental organizations with proven experience in the sector of assistance and support to victims of the crimes referred to in the first paragraph and registered in a specific list of subjects legitimated for this purpose, with the consent of the minor, and admitted by the proceeding judicial authority".
A determining role was given to the presence of experts in child psychology or psychiatry: in fact, in art. 351 cpp the following paragraph is added “In proceedings for the crimes envisaged by articles 600, 600 bis, 600 ter, quater, quinquies of the Criminal Code (reduction into slavery, child prostitution, child pornography, possession of pornographic material, exploitation of child prostitution), 601, 602 of the Criminal Code (sexual violence, sexual acts with minors, corruption of minors, gang rape, soliciting minors) the judicial police, when it has to obtain summary information from minors, makes use of the help of an expert in psychology or child psychiatryappointed by the Public Prosecutor”.
In addition to the art. 362 cpp, relating to the assumption of information, the following paragraph is added: “In the proceedings for the crimes pursuant to art. 351, paragraph 1ter of the Criminal Code (crimes indicated above) the Public Prosecutor, when he has to obtain information from minors, makes use of the assistance of an expert in psychology or child psychiatry”.
The presence of the expert is also foreseen in the procedural part: in art. 391 bis cpp, where the following paragraph is added: “In the proceedings for the crimes pursuant to art. 351 paragraph 1 ter, the defender, when he takes information from minors, avails himself of the help of an expert in child psychology or psychiatry”.
Therefore, the hearing of minors, whether undertaken in the context of summary information or by the defender in the context of defensive investigations, or arranged by the Public Prosecutor, must necessarily provide for the presence of an expert (psychologist or child psychiatrist).
Further emphasis on the presence of the expert is conferred by the law ratifying the amendment to law no. 354/75 on the granting of benefits to prisoners for crimes against minors, where a new article is inserted, namely 13 bis ("Psychological treatment for those convicted of sexual offenses against minors") which reads as follows: “People convicted of crimes …. (listed above) …., if committed to the detriment of a minor, they can undergo psychological treatment for the purpose of recovery and support. Participation in this treatment is evaluated for the purposes of granting the benefits provided for by the same provision”.
Therefore, the submission to psychological treatment by the person convicted of sexual crimes against minors will be aimed not only at recovering the offender, but evaluated in positive terms by the Supervisory Office Magistrate for the purpose of granting benefits.
