UNECE/UNICEF Expert Meeting on Statistics on Children

Geneva, Switzerland, 4–6 March 2024

Collecting and integrating data on violence against Children. The

Italian case between the national and international level.

Paper prepared by

Sara Corradini, Francesco Gosetti, Maria Giuseppina Muratore, Claudia Villante

Index

1. The state of the art and scoping of «DORA» project

2. Methodological issues: mixed methods and multisource

approach

3. Preliminary results: defining domains and indicators

4. The way forward

2

1. The state of the art and scoping od «DORA» project

DEFINITION OF VAC

still a difficult issue

DATA LACK under

reporting availability

and comparability

DATA HETEROGE

NEITY different

nature and data

producers 3

Data integratiOn for acknowledging Risks And protecting

children from violence (DORA) within the priority 4 of CERV-

2022-DAPHNE "Supporting and improving national data

collection on Violence Against Children (VAC)”

Identifying the existing informative gaps on VAC

and elaborating statistical solutions able to

combine, integrate, and thus produce refined and

of high quality data

The project is in co-partnership with the University of

Bologna, Brescia, Milano Bicocca, Napoli Federico II and

Ares 2.0

MEASURING VAC:

a large data-ecosystem

OFFICIAL STATISTICS – CITIZEN GENERATED

DATA

Admin

data

Survey Registers

base data

NGOs

Istitutions

Stakeholders

Key Actors

DATA

INTEGRATION

DEFINING VAC:

the role of the of experts, stakeholders, data-producers

2. Methodological issues: mixed methods and multisource approach

4

Qualitative research Multisources approach

I C V A C

The added value of mixed methodology

5

The strength of this approach relies on

the direct and participatory involvement

of key actors and reaching a good

representation of the VAC, as well as of

its preventive and protective indicators

Role of both children

and their families in

the production of

data collection

Identifying alternative sources of

data different from those coming

from the official statistics and

discuss their possible integration

within a broader multi-source

data system on VAC

Detecting new

forms of violence,

or how well-

known ones are

changing

Reconstruction of direct and indirect statistical sources containing information on VAC, highlighting strong and weak points of the current situation in Italy

Recognition of data collection and dissemination on VAC in the EU NSO

Increasing understanding of existing data and analysis on VAC

Identification of current gaps in order to highlight the next steps towards improving current statistical data

and indicators on VAC

2. Methodological issues: mixed methods and multisource approach

6

Setting the VAC

domains of analysis

Measuring the

domains

Development of a

strategy to approach

each domain

1

2

3

3. Preliminary results: defining domains

7

➢Homicide of a child

➢Physical violence against a child (including chemical abuse, shaken

baby syndrome, dual harm, isolating a child, female genital

mutilation);

➢Psychological violence against a child (including witnessing

violence, bullying and cyberbullying, Stalking and cyber stalking);

➢Sexual violence against a child (including Cyber violence, child

prostitution, child pornography and sexual grooming);

➢Neglect of a child and pathologies of the care child (including

Munchausen syndrome by proxy);

➢Child trafficking and child labour exploitation (including

abduction of a child, sale of a child);

➢Other forms of violence: forced marriage (and early marriage)

3. Preliminary results: defining domains and indicators

8

a)Definitions from the literature

b)Developing of a new shared definition (also taking

into account the qualitative phase);

c)Defining the core/additional indicators

(metadata);

d)Selecting the Italian data sources, also focus on the

regularity of data availability to measure

indicators;

e)Providing the convergence/divergence between

sources-definition, looking at ICVAC and other

countries main experiences

3. Preliminary results: defining indicators

9

Indicator Forms of

violence

Core

variables

Disaggregation variables

Proportion

of children

0-17 who

experienced

[type of

violence] in

the last 12

month/ 5

years/ life

course

Specific

form of

violence

included

• Cyber-

related

(Y/N/NA

• Setting

• Type of

perpetretor Repetitiveness

Victims Age

Sex

Citizenship

Migration status of foreign

children

Disability status

Perpetrators Age

Sex

Citizenship

Urbanity residence

3. Preliminary results: defining domains and indicators

10

Indicator Forms of

violence

Core

variables

Disaggregation

variables

Proportion of

children 0-17 who

experienced [type

of violence] in the

last 12 month/ 5

years/ life course,

whose violence

has been

disclosed

Specific

form of

violence

included

• Cyber-

related

(Y/N/NA)

Setting

• Type of

perpetretor

• Type of

agency

• Formal/

Informal

Victims Age

Sex

Citizenship

Migration status of

foreign children

Disability status

Perpetrators Age

Sex

Citizenship

Urbanity residence

4. The way forward

11

a) Comparable data collected

b) Systematically organised/disseminated

c) Relevance and/or methodological soundness.

d) New data (e.g. cyber-violence)

EVIDENCES

There are still significant data gaps that must be addressed and that still present a critical barrier to preventing and ending violence against children

NEEDS

Observing VAC in its recent forms and interpreting collected and comparable data with greater depth and meaningfulness.

Huge coordination with other institutions that do not have a statistical sensibility and culture

DEVELOPMENT OF A DYNAMIC PROPOSAL

Thank you!

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Expert meeting on statistics on children

Geneva, Switzerland, 4–6 March 2024

On the road to inclusion: a survey on schools and

students with disabilities in Italy

Paper prepared by Sara Corradini, Lucia Martinez – Italian National Institute of Statistics - Istat

Index

- Survey “School inclusion of students with disabilities”

- Methodology

- Dimensions of inclusion

- Indicators and main findings of the survey

- Conclusion

2

In order to ensure better monitoring of the UNCRPD, the Italian National

Institute of Statistics has implemented a Survey: “School inclusion of

students with disabilities”

The Survey (started in 2008) is carried out, annually, in cooperation with the

Italian Ministry of Education

It allows monitoring various aspects of the inclusion of students with

disabilities, also observing its evolution over time

Initially, focused only on primary schools, it now involved all levels and

grades of schooling, from kindergarten to upper secondary school, including

both public and private schools 3

The Survey “School inclusion of students with disabilities”

4

Methodology

CENSUS

Italian school of the all level

to Assess the objective

aspects of inclusion

56.000 Schools

SAMPLE

Sample of students with

disabilities

Detect aspects of inclusion such

as participation, relationships and

satisfaction

27.000 Students

SAMPLING DESIGN

2 STAGE with stratification of the first stage units

First stage units: schools stratified by geography

/type of school

The second stage units are students with disabilities –

no control sample

QUESTIONNAIRES

Electronic Questionnaires

CAWI

Closed-ended questions

Filters guiding the response pathway

Dimensions of inclusion

5

ACCESSIBLE ENVIRONMENT

• The school environment is a factor of inclusion based on level of accessibility

• So it’s essential to remove architectural barriers

ROLE OF THE LEARNING SUPPORT TEACHER

• Differentiatiat ion of teaching methods

• Italy: Lack of well-trained teachers

STUDENTS’ LEARNING AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION

• Relationships with peers in and out of school is a resource for inclusive teaching

TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING TOOLS/LEARNIN G MATERIALS

• Technology plays an important "facilitator" role, supporting the students in their learning pathway/pro cess

NETWORK: COLLABORATIO N AMONG SCHOOL, FAMILIES AND TERRITORIES

• The Inclusion Working Group and the Operational Inclusion Working Group have a strategic role in fostering greater school and territorial synergies

Physical barriers:

40% of schools is accessible for pupils with physical disabilities

50% of schools do not have an elevator or do not have one suitable for transporting people with disabilities

Sensory barriers:

17% of schools have visual signs for students with deafness or hearing impairment.

1.2% of schools have relief maps and tactile pathways for students with blindness or visual impairment

Indicators and main findings of the survey (S.Y. 22/23)

ACCESSIBLE ENVIRONMENT

6

7

ROLE OF THE LEARNING SUPPORT TEACHER

228 thousand learning support teachers

338 thousand students with disabilities

(1.6 students-theachers ratio)

Continuity of the teacher-pupil relationship:

60% of pupils changed support teachers from previous year

Learning support teachers with training in inclusive education:

8% of schools have no teachers with training

24% of schools have all teachers with at least one course

12%

of learning support teacher appointed during the school year

8

TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING TOOLS/LEARNING MATERIALS

Aids to facilitate the learning process: 41% of students use IT and devices for personalising teaching

31% of students use educational software for learning

Unfulfilled needs: 7% of students do not have aids, although they would need them

15% of students do not have computer systems for studying and

software that supports skills development

Satisfaction about the aids: 92% of students are satisfied with teaching aids

9

STUDENTS LEARNING AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION

Time in the classroom with the peers: Students spend 28 hours/week in classroom and carry out teaching

activities outside 3 hours/week.

Students with severe limitations spend 7 hours/week outside the

classroom

Learning tools outside the classroom: 52% of schools have computer workstations in specific support

classrooms/laboratories separating students in need of such devices

from the class group

10

(2) STUDENTS LEARNING AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION

Participation in physical education (PE): 92% of students participate in PE activities.

52% of students do not participate in extra-curricular activities

Participation in educational trips: 87% of students participate to short educational trips (no overnight stay)

68% participate to trips that include overnight stays.

Non-participation in either type of trip is mainly linked to

to disability (19% and 31% respectively)

11

NETWORK: COLLABORATION AMONG SCHOOL, FAMILIES AND TERRITORY

Number and frequency of meetings between families and teachers:

55% of the families have less than one meeting per month with

curricular teachers outside the Working Group for Inclusion (GLI)

21% of families do not have any meetings

17% of families have more than one meeting per month with learning

support teachers

12

(2)NETWORK: COLLABORATION AMONG SCHOOL, FAMILIES AND TERRITORY

Participation of families and specialists in the drafting of

Individualised Educational Plans (IEP):

For 90% of pupils, families are involved in drafting the IEP

In 61% of cases, the ASL specialists also take part

In 39% of cases, territorial specialists (such as communication

assistants or psycho-pedagogists) are also involved

Research on the conditions facilitating the school inclusion emphasises the

importance of investigating not only the characteristics of students with difficulties, but

also the attitudes and skills of the teachers

It is essential to focus on the social and environmental conditions, technologies and

human relations on which depends the level of school accessibility and inclusiveness

For these reasons, Istat survey analyses various aspects of inclusion over time. For

example, during the Covid-19 pandemic the survey was adapted to include questions

detecting aspects of inclusion in a new context such as remote learning

Finally, the survey results show that we are making significant progress in

understanding all aspects of school inclusion, even though the road to full inclusion of

children with disabilities is still a long one

Conclusions

13

THANK YOU!

[email protected]

[email protected]

Expert meeting on statistics on children

Geneva, Switzerland, 4–6 March 2024

SOCIAL INCLUSION: A NEW SURVEY ON CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES AND THEIR FAMILIES

Paper prepared by Alessandra Battisti, Elena De Palma, Claudia Di Priamo – Italian National Institute of Statistics - Istat

Starting point …

oNSOs are required to fulfil the information needs of policymakers by

measuring the level of social inclusion of children with disabilities.

o In Italy the available data does not provide an exhaustive picture of

children’s social inclusion.

oAssociations of people with disabilities are also calling for a broader

representation of the living conditions, needs and barriers that prevent

children with disabilities from exercising their rights on an equal basis

with other children.

oFamilies stressed the need to capture the difficulties they faced and

the complexity and burden of caring for children with disabilities. 2

Aims of presentation

3

Share the main features of the survey

Questionnaire collect information on social inclusion of children with

disabilities and on any difficulties their families may encounter.

Use of a new disability register to build a sample based on the

demographic structure of the population with disabilities.

Integration between administrative information (disability

certification) and international disability measurement tools.

The questionnaire (1)

4

For each student: information on the level of school and social inclusion,

difficulties in the diagnostic paths to obtain a final diagnosis, type of

social and health services provided to families and any access

difficulties.

Regarding families: socio-demographic and economic information in

order to describe the family context and the workload of caring for a

child with disabilities.

: Health - Diagnostic path - Use of services -Work

flexibility and childcare burden – School inclusion - Social participation -

Socio-demographic information on each family member

The questionnaire (2)

Administered by:

CAWI and CATI

5

Information on:

Children with disabilities

Children without disabilities

Different pathways are provided within the

seven thematic areas and filters lead to the

relevant questions and appropriate answer

categories for the two samples.

Sample size: 40.000 students

20.000 with disabilities

20.000 without disabilities

The primary caregiver of the child (with or without

disabilities) is the survey respondent.

The survey is

planned for April

2024

First time that a sample on disability is designed starting from a

list of persons with disabilities.

The Sample

6

The list was obtained by combining two administrative data sources of

the National Institute for Social Security:

1)Disability Certification Register

2)Disability Pension Beneficiaries Register

Merging this two data sources made it possible to retrieve people

certified before 2010 who were recipients of disability pensions.

The list is based on a medical approach to disability.

The inclusion of the international measures has two

objectives:

• To analyse the functioning of the population with a

standardized scale of measurement.

• To compare data based on perceived and self-

reported survey measures with the results of the

medical approach.

International measures (1)

7

Three different international survey tools are used in the

questionnaire:

GALI

CFM

International measures (2)

8

Index for inclusion:

developing learning

and participation in

schools. (T. Booth,

M. Ainscow)

The items from “Index for inclusion”

measure the level of inclusion in

school using the parent's subjective

point of view on specific aspects,

such as the relationship with

teachers, curricular and learning

support, and peers relations.

UNCRPD, literature, international survey tools as well as the

collaboration with national disability associations were crucial in

identifying the main areas, and within them the specific aspects to be

investigated.

Conclusions (1)

9

The new sample design will make it possible to obtain more accurate

estimates and to evaluate the presence of any distortions in the

assessments coming from other population surveys.

Conclusions (2)

10

The use of GALI and CFM, ICF biopsychosocial approach, makes it

possible to compare the two sub-populations detected by these different

measures with those having a disability certificate, identified by the

medical approach.

Survey data will be disaggregated: - by status of disability

- by type of functioning limitations.

The control sample of students without disabilities is meant to highlight

persistent disparities and specific difficulties of children with disabilities

and their families, without taking into account disservices that affect all

families in equal measure.

Thank you for attention

Alessandra Battisti | [email protected]

GIVING CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE A VOICE The experience of the sample survey on children and young people in Italy

Geneva, 4 March 2024

Istat

CINZIA CONTI, LUCIANO FANFONI, GABRIELLA FAZZI

UNECE/UNICEF Expert Meeting

on Statistics on Children

1. Statistics on children: following the guidelines

“Countries should include children in regular

data collection, including child focused

surveys, to ensure that the main national

statistical reports highlight the situation and

needs of child and youth in all relevant

policy areas”

2

Statistics on children. Spotlight on children exposed to

violence, in alternative care, and with disabilities

UNECE, 2022, p.19

Field period: from 2 October to 20 December 2023

Target: a statistically representative sample of residents aged between

11 and 19 years (Italian and foreign citizens)

Method: online questionnaire planned to minimize the statistical burden for young respondents and designed to be comfortably filled out even on a smartphone.

Response: approximately 40 thousand residents directly interviewed

Large sample: information about the 5 most numerous citizenships

Dissagregation by sex, age, migration status, educational level,

geographic location, etc.

The survey on Behaviours, attitudes and future plans of children and young people

3

The voice of children

4

“Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the

Rights of the Child states that children have the right

to express views freely in all matters affecting them

and that the views of the child must be given due

weight in accordance with their age and maturity.

Efforts should therefore be made to include children

in data collection activities and to ensure that their

voices are reflected in statistics” (Unece, 2021, p.81)

The voice of children

5

o Information about different dimensions of young people’s

everyday life: school life, social relationships, use of social

networks, leisure time, sport, future projects, etc…

o Vulnerabilities such as bullying, cyberbullying and educational

poverty.

o Efforts to use a simply and clear language

Innovations

6

For the first time, a QR code for direct and personalized access

to the questionnaire was experimented

Two access modes:

A. Using the link https://survey.istat.it/ragazzi,

and entering the access code

B. Scanning the QR code, without the need to

enter the code access

Ethical issues

7

o Questionnaire - completion

time: 23 minutes

o Longer for respondents that

used a PC

o Informed consent of the

parents

o Special attention to layout and

readability of informative

letters

Ethical issues

8

o Proxy respondents not

allowed (only in cases of

disabilities).

o Privacy and confidentiality:

high protection

o Long process with the Italian

Data Protection Authority

2. Statistics on children: following the guidelines

“Specialized methods may be required to

target and include the most vulnerable

groups of children including very young

children. In general, data should capture the

children most at risk of social exclusion….”

9

Statistics on children. Spotlight on children exposed to

violence, in alternative care, and with disabilities

UNECE, 2022, p.19

Innovations: the target of foreigners

10

o Informative letter available

in 11 languages: Albanian,

Arabic, Chinese, French,

English, Italian, Romanian,

Russian, Slovenian, Spanish

and German

o Questionnaire translated into

9 other languages.

Innovations: the target of foreigners

11

Questionnaires filled out by foreigners in languages other than Italian (absolute numbers)

12

Access by PC or smartphone/tablet (percentages)

13

3. Statistics on children: following the guidelines

“Increase and promote the visibility of data on

children and youth through: (….) The development

of user-friendly approaches to disseminating data on

and to children and youth, including the use of

interactive platforms, infographics, videos, and

social media. Children and youth should be

consulted on the design of dissemination products

aimed at them”

14

Statistics on children

Spotlight on children exposed to violence, in alternative

care, and with disabilities,

UNECE, 2022, p.19

Innovations: a special communication campaign

15

✓ Using social networks to raise awareness and encourage

participation in the survey

✓ Stressing out the importance of hearing their voice!

4. Statistics on children: following the guidelines

“Further work in required to promote a structured

collaboration between international organizations

producing statistics on children and youth to

harmonize methods, increase efficiencies, identify

data gaps to be addressed at national and

international levels, and recognize collaborative

opportunities.”

16

Statistics on children

Spotlight on children exposed to violence, in

alternative care, and with disabilities,

UNECE, 2022, p.19

oThe survey has been supported by other institutions: Ministry of

Labour and Social Policy and the Department for youth policy (on

their websites and using their mailing lists)

oThe same strategies for data dissemination

Cooperation

17

Thank you!

List of tables

Table1

Table2

Table 2a

Table 2b

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5

Table 5a

Table 6

Table 6a

Table 6b

Table 6c