Abuse of children and the dangers of using the internet for children and teenagers are at the center of the work of the educational two-day event organized by the pediatric clinic of Karamandanei.

Speaking to the “Peloponnisos” newspaper, the president of the organizing committee of the two-day conference and director of the Pediatric Clinic, Maria Iliopoulou, expressed her concern about the increased cases of child abuse. This is also the reason that, together with her colleagues, they decided to include in the program a special speech on the subject of the early signs of child and adolescent abuse.

“We are recording a large increase in cases of child abuse. On average, we are called upon to deal with at least two cases per week. We observe this increase after the confinement caused by the pandemic and family members were forced to stay together all the time. This increase does not leave us indifferent as pediatricians.

On the contrary, this is why we are trying to mobilize society to spot early the signs of child abuse and inform the competent authorities. Our society must have its antennae raised.”

At the same time, Mrs. Iliopoulou describes that the increase in incidents has resulted in the prosecution authorities ordering the removal of children from their family environment, but without the appropriate structures for hosting them.

“This results in us constantly having children staying in our hospital for long periods of time because they have nowhere to go. We have two children at the moment. You realize what this all means to a child who has been abused and is locked up in a hospital”.