With the go-ahead from the House to the bill to combat bullying, a first step forward was taken in the fight against this phenomenon . But the text, approved at first reading in Montecitorio, must now pass to the examination of the Senate . And, at Palazzo Madama, a rapid path is conceivable, also taking into account the fact that the TEXT was approved without any vote against but with 234 votes in favor and 131 abstentions.
During the examination, the audience (but not only) was struck by the speech, heartened by the deputy Pd Filippo Sensi, victim of fatshaming since he was small for his obesity.
Filippo Sensi's speech in the Chamber against bullying
Moreover, Parliament has already dealt with the topic of bullying in the past. Already in the XVII legislature there was a prolonged debate between the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, at the end of which the law n. 71 of 2017 which identifies tools for the prevention and contrast of cyberbullying, defined as any form of pressure, aggression, harassment, blackmail, insult, denigration, defamation, identity theft, alteration, illegal acquisition, manipulation, illicit treatment of personal data to the detriment of minors, carried out electronically, as well as the dissemination of online content concerning also one or more members of the family of the minor whose intentional and predominant purpose is to isolate a minor or a group of minors by implementing a serious abuse, a malicious attack, or ridicule them.
This law privileged socio-educational interventions, which involve the responsibilities of parents and, above all, of the school, over criminal interventions, focusing, in fact, on preventive actions and favoring attention, protection and education towards of the minors involved, regardless of whether they are the victims or the perpetrators of the offenses.
The proposal approved in recent days by the Chamber, while maintaining continuity with law 71 - which is integrated with references not only to cyberbullying but also to bullying - and also containing some socio-educational measures, combines their use with them of criminal instruments and a reform of non-criminal coercive measures applicable by the juvenile court to minors who engage in irregular or aggressive conduct.
Now, after the go-ahead from the Chamber, the text goes to committee in the Senate for the continuation of the exam.
