A two-day expert meeting held in Florence on 24th and 25th September, gathering over 30 experts in child rights, with the aim to reflect on prevention of the sale & sexual exploitation of children, its root causes and new manifestations, as well as the relevance and the impact of interventions to eliminate this problem.

The nature of the issue has changed considerably over recent decades with far-reaching impact on children, probably due to the expansion of Internet and new technologies. On the one side, for young people, the internet helps shape their identities and self- image and it also shapes the way they interact, socialize and search for a partner. On the other side, the Web is a prolific ground where new forms of child abuse take place, such as sexting, sextortion, grooming and live distant child abuse.

Professor E. Caffo – Founder and President of SOS Il Telefono Azzuro Onlus - took part in the meeting on the role of digital technology in the sale and sexual exploitation of children, with a contribution on the importance of the hotlines to tackle the problem. In his speech, he pointed out that Italy is the only country where the hotlines have no permission for screening the referrals they get. Not allowing the hotlines to do a prior assessment, implies several consequences, both in terms of effectiveness and response time.