La partita con papà – The game with dad

Since 2014, Bambinisenzasbarre has organised La partita con papà—a football match played by children and their imprisoned fathers held annually in 70 detention centres across Italy. Organised in collaboration with Italy’s National Penitentiary Administration, the event unites around 2,900 children and 1,700 fathers, bringing families together in an attempt to humanise the experience of imprisonment … Read More

Online Art Workshops

In reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and its relative restrictive measures, including national lockdown and the suspension of prison visits, Bambinisenzasbarre created supportive online spaces for children with a parent in prison and their families. Among them, the “Art Parties”. They consist of biweekly art workshops that take place online. In addition to providing children … Read More

Training programmes for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding

Bambinisenzasbarre is organising training sessions nationwide for prison officers and social workers with the aim of providing child-friendly guidelines in prison and promoting the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed between Bambinisenzasbarre, the Italian Ombudsperson, and the Italian Ministry of Justice. The initiative is also an opportunity to build a network of advocates that … Read More

Statistics Italy

Prison population total and prison rate per 100,000 are retrieved from Aebi, M. F., Cocco, E., Molnar, L. & Tiago, M. M., (2022). SPACE I – 2021 – Council of Europe Annual Penal Statistics: Prison populations. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, Table 7.Estimated number of children separated from an imprisoned parent: extrapolation based on Champsaur, P., … Read More

Italian Charter of the Rights of Children of Imprisoned Parents

Italy’s landmark “Charter of the rights of children of imprisoned parents” has been renewed for an additional four years, following the signature on 16 December 2021 by Italian Justice Minister Marta Cartabia, Child Guarantor Authority Carla Garlatti and Bambinisenzasbarre president Lia Sacerdote. An initiative launched by Bambinisenzasbarre, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which served in … Read More

Telefono Giallo

Bambinisenzasbarre is currently working on a cross-platform digital application for mobile phones, tablets and computers, containing data and useful information on all 195 prisons in Italy. The Yellow Telephone app (Telefono Giallo) will provide information and support, displaying, for example, the contact number to ring if the family member has questions, doubts or needs psychological … Read More

Spazio Giallo

Yellow Spaces (Spazio Giallo) were implemented by Bambinisenzasbarre in prisons in Italy beginning in 2007. These are integrated socio-educational spaces inside prisons for children preparing themselves to visit with their parent who is imprisoned. The initiative gained recognition in Rome and in 2009 was given a Mention of Merit “Premio Amico della Famiglia” by the … Read More