Victims or offenders? The principle of non-punishment and the critical protection of unaccompanied minors exploited in criminal activities in Italy

Abstract

This paper deals with young people who committed an offence when they were minors, in the framework of child exploitation or as a result of it. The focus is on art. 18, para. 6, of the Ital-ian Legislative Decree 286/1998, and the current obstacles to its implementation. The specific question addressed by this article is how and by whom trafficked minors, who are exploited in criminal activities, are identified and protected. To do so, the authors will build on the socio-anthropological literature on labelling processes. The empirical material draws from the quali-tative research carried out in Italy within the framework of the INSigHT Action. The discus-sion can be contextualized within the broader topic of the non-punishment principle that has not been transposed into the Italian legislation yet, with the aim to contribute to the ongoing debate on non-punishment and on the protection of unaccompanied minors victims of traffick-ing more generally.