In Italy children and minors disappear daily: here’s what to do in the event of disappearance

In the first semester of 2024 11,694 disappeared reports were recorded in Italy, with a daily average of 64 cases. The majority of complaints concerns minors under the age of 18, which represent 69.6% of cases (8,143). From the point of view of citizenship 57% of reports concerned foreign citizens, while 43% involved Italian citizens. Among the disappeared foreign minors (5,773 cases), the phenomenon concerns males in a predominant way (88%). The findings are more frequent among the females (58.1%) and the most affected age group is between 16 and 17 years of age, which represents over 70% of cases. This is the photograph contained in the dossier made by Telefono Azzurro and presented the invisible children on the occasion of the conference.

Globally, the phenomenon represents a complex problem and often aggravated by differences in legal definitions, in the collection of data and in institutional responses. In 2024, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) managed almost 30,000 cases of disappeared children, managing to solve 91%. Most of the reports concerned minors fled from home, an extremely vulnerable category exposed to risks such as physical abuses, sexual treatments, homeless and substances consumption.

What to do in case of disappearance

• In case of disappearance, it is necessary to activate immediately by contacting the police and the 116000 service.
• All available information must be provided to facilitate research: physical description, clothing, contacts, social network, habits.
• It is useful to activate the social network (relatives, school, friends) and, if appropriate, also the media to promptly spread the news of the disappearance.
• Families must also be supported from a psychological, social and economic point of view, given the strong emotional pressure and efforts required during research

From 25 May 2009, on the occasion of the first international day of disappeared children, it is The number 116,000 is active in Italyknown as the single European number for disappeared minors. In Italy this service is managed by Telefono Azzurro on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior.

The data of the single European number for minors who disappeared in Italy

In 2024 the emergency number managed 77 cases, with an average of 6 per month. Among the main reasons collected by the reports there are escape from home (36.5%), discovery (25), escape from their community/institute (12.5%), unpleasant disappearance (12.5%), escape from the reception center (7.3%), international subtraction (3.1%), national subtraction (2.1%). In 48.7% of cases managed minors are female, while in 51.25% they are male cases. Taking into consideration the age, it is mainly of children between 0 and 10 years (12.9% of cases), while those involving pre -adolescence (aged between 11 and 14) are 16.7%. The largest percentage – 70.4% concerns teenagers between 15 and 18 years old. Analyzing the origin 56.9% of the reports concerns Italian citizens, while 41.67% are of foreign nationality. By classifying the cases managed according to the geographical origin it emerges how the requests for help have mainly received from Lazio with 23 cases reported, followed by Veneto 11 cases, Piedmont 10 cases and Lombardy 8 cases. The phenomenon of the disappearance of minors is a complex problem that involves family, social and institutional dynamics. Prevention plays an essential role, as well as a quick and coordinated response in emergency cases. The collaboration between minors, families, institutions and civil society is essential to prevent disappearance and guarantee an effective response when they occur. Each actor involved can contribute to strengthening a child protection network.

How to help the families of disappeared children

“The phenomenon of disappeared children has assumed alarming proportions, as demonstrated by international data and those related to Italy that we collect in this dossier, the result of a constant garrison of Telefono Azzurro compared to this issue, through the Helpline of 116,000, activated 24 hours a day on 24 days a week and connected with the European Missing Children Europe network,” says Ernesto Caffo, president of Telefono Azzurro. «The ability to listen and intervention allows you to put in place tools for prevention, contrast and increasingly effective help. Many children flee from wars, poverty and natural catastrophes and, if not accompanied, risk ending victims of exploitation and trafficking or suffering abuses during the journey. But there are increasingly numerous – in Italy – also the cases of disappearance and escape from home for complex family situations or for social conditioning that act in an increasingly negative way, also thanks to the push that invasive digital tools and channels give dramatically on the psychologically more fragile personalities of children and adolescents. The urgency to face the crisis of minors disappearance with a local and global look is evident. International coordinated strategies are needed, to act immediately in taking charge of situations where the timeliness of intervention constitutes a decisive factor. For this reason, an in -depth competence of the phenomenon is needed, a “common alphabet” is necessary which read it correctly and sharedly, and it serves an alliance between the subjects called to take charge of the problem, governments, police forces, territorial social networks, non -profit. AND It is necessary that there is an immediate intervention network throughout the Schengen area, through the exchange between networks of European associations, which can immediately alert on the need for discovery, sharing information on the minor, on its origin. However, the intervention must not stop at the disappearance complaint, it is essential to also activate family accompanying and social and social reintegration paths for those children and adolescents who, in a voluntary or for the constraint of adults, live this dramatic experience “.