"Let us pray for the children who lose their smiles in war."The Pediatric Hospital "Bambino Gesù". The Rome Hospital treats more than 100 new cases of children and young people who are victims of abuse and maltreatment every year. This is what emerges from the data released by the same Polyclinic and Pediatric Research Center, owned by the Holy See, on the occasion of the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Assault, which is celebrated on June 4.
In more than 40 years of activity, the Roman facility - a point of reference for the health of children throughout Italy and abroad - has recorded more than 5,000 cases of violence against minors, including 3,000 in the last 15 years alone, according to a press release. These are alarming figures, which illustrate a phenomenon that is unfortunately widespread, affecting both children and adolescents of all social classes.
The most common forms of abuse detected are neglect or excessive care, face-to-face violence, sexual abuse, and physical and psychological abuse. In the majority of cases, more than 80 %, the perpetrators of this type of violence are members of the victim's own family.
Prevention and detection
The average age of the patients admitted to the hospital is 12 years old, and the hospital's caseload also includes traumatized minors from Ukraineand other war-torn countries. To intercept at-risk cases early, the hospital has been applying a special screening procedure for incoming minors since 2009.
"The children who come to us carry the signs of violence in their minds and hearts," explains Paola De Rose, a neuropsychiatrist at Bambino Gesù, "but they all have the opportunity and the right to change the trajectory to which life has exposed them so far. And our task is to contribute to heal those wounds".
In fact, the hospital has developed specific psychological support channels, such as the "Child Care" neuropsychiatric day hospital, to which more than half of the cases intercepted in the emergency department go. There is also the Lucy helpline, a 24-hour hotline for emergency situations.
One project also involves some young patients by having them express their own experiences of violence with drawings: smiling faces surrounded by black, monstrous animals or terrifying figures screaming, crude and direct images of a discomfort that the Bambino Gesù undertakes to accept and treat.
Useful tools and projects
Also in the area of prevention, the hospital's portal offers content developed by the polyclinic's neuropsychiatrists with information for children on how to recognize potential risk situations and an indication of the signs that parents should watch out for to intercept the problem.
Finally, on the research front, the Hospital of the Holy See is promoting projects to study the impact of abuse and maltreatment on children's mental health and to define appropriate treatment programs. A protocol is being developed to support children and adolescents exposed to domestic violence during the Covid 19 pandemic and a series of psychoeducational interventions in schools on the topics of violence, bullying and cyberbullying.
For more than 150 years
The Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital was founded in Rome in 1869 as the first true Italian pediatric hospital, following the model of the Hôpital des Enfants Malades in Paris, on the initiative of the Dukes Salviati. In 1924 it was donated to the Holy See, becoming to all intents and purposes the Pope's Hospital.
In 1985, it received recognition as an Institute for Research and Treatment Science (IRCCS), which combines medical care with intensive research activities. In 2006, it received its first accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI), the institute that certifies excellence in safety and quality of care worldwide.
