On Tuesday 23rd September, Dr. Carlo Galasso participated as the EU representative of Hospitality Europe in a working meeting with a group of Members of the European Parliament in Brussels concerning the protection of children and minors from web threats.
Hospitality Europe’s special contribution to this topic focussed on the risks and psychophysical and social consequences for children and young people resulting from online contact with sexually explicit images and videos. In addition to Dr. Galasso, Dr. Mar Alvarez Segura, a child neuropsychiatrist at the St. John of God Hospital in Barcelona, spoke by video link. She shared the results of research on psychological trauma and the treatment of psycho-social disorders developed by minors as a consequence of exposure to pornographic material (addiction, compulsive behaviour, low self-esteem, and in adulthood social-relational problems and violence against women). The meeting was in fact a moment of analysis and discussion on the level of implementation of EU legislation for the protection of minors on the web and on the necessary changes to make its protection tools more effective and to combat access to pornography as a public health problem.