37 VOLUME 7 |ISSUE 1 |2016
the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid to
present its activities to the students of
the psychology faculty. A presentation
was also held at the past ICSA
conference in Stockholm in June 2015.
Finally, another important activity
that is still in progress is the start
of a survey among Italian-speaking
former members, for the validation
of psychometric measures of
psychological abuse (the survey
has been published online at
it.surveymonkey.com/r/italianresearch).
Information about the survey has been
given to all the Italian associations and
experts who have contact with former
members.
On July 25, 2014, lawyer Raffaella
Mendicino, associate member of ONAP,
requested the “extinction of the legal
body” of the Christian Congregation
of Jehovah’s Witnesses, an institution
that represents the Confession of
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Italy. The motion
was brought before the Ministry of
the Interior—General Management
Business of non-Catholic Cults, and was
the result of the expulsion of a member
from the congregation. The request
follows another initiative by ONAP
that was taken last year, to facilitate
transparency between the religious
congregation and ONAP members,
through a petition brought before
the Deputy Chamber of the Italian
Parliament.
EXIT scs onlus, partner of SOS Abusi
Psicologici, has continued one of its
missions in countering political and
religious extremism, including its
continued participation in conferences
in Italy and Europe. The organization
gave a presentation of cases of
deradicalization in cult extremism
in Vienna on March 23–24, 2015 at a
conference organized by Radicalization
Awareness Network’s Victims of
Terrorism (RAN VVT). On October 1,
2015, the new Center of Excellence
(CoE) was begun, and EXIT scs onlus is
one of the subcontractors.
Cristina Caparesi participated in
the workshop Countering Violent
Extremism: Online Communications on
October 27, 2015, in Brussels and took
part in the RAN plenary meeting on
November 10. European member states
are investing much effort in finding
exit interventions that can promote
recovery for those young followers who
exit extremist cultic terrorist groups
and sometimes are even returning from
fighting areas. Cultic-studies experts
can share important lessons in this field.
EXIT scs onlus organized a first
roundtable on November 19,
2015, with a representative of local
authorities in Udine, to present to the
RAN the idea of preventing violent
extremism in this area.
Legal Proceedings
Lawsuit Against Il Forteto. For more
than thirty years, Judges have given
children in foster care to the Forteto,
a community based in Mugello (in
northern Tuscany). Rodolfo Fiesoli,
founder and guru of the community,
has been sentenced to 17 and one-half
years of prison for sexual and physical
abuse of minors. Fifteen of the Forteto
employees have also been sentenced
to heavy penalties. This was not the
first conviction for Fiesoli and his right-
hand man, Goffredi, who had already
been convicted of the same crimes in
the past. The Judge argued that, since
its inception, Il Forteto has had the
characteristics of a cult. But then, how
was it possible for the legal system to
continue to entrust dozens of children
in trouble to Il Forteto?
Fiesoli and Il Forteto have enjoyed
support from a network of supporters. A
new investigation called Forteto bis, run
by a commission set by the Regional
Correspondents
,
Reports
the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid to
present its activities to the students of
the psychology faculty. A presentation
was also held at the past ICSA
conference in Stockholm in June 2015.
Finally, another important activity
that is still in progress is the start
of a survey among Italian-speaking
former members, for the validation
of psychometric measures of
psychological abuse (the survey
has been published online at
it.surveymonkey.com/r/italianresearch).
Information about the survey has been
given to all the Italian associations and
experts who have contact with former
members.
On July 25, 2014, lawyer Raffaella
Mendicino, associate member of ONAP,
requested the “extinction of the legal
body” of the Christian Congregation
of Jehovah’s Witnesses, an institution
that represents the Confession of
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Italy. The motion
was brought before the Ministry of
the Interior—General Management
Business of non-Catholic Cults, and was
the result of the expulsion of a member
from the congregation. The request
follows another initiative by ONAP
that was taken last year, to facilitate
transparency between the religious
congregation and ONAP members,
through a petition brought before
the Deputy Chamber of the Italian
Parliament.
EXIT scs onlus, partner of SOS Abusi
Psicologici, has continued one of its
missions in countering political and
religious extremism, including its
continued participation in conferences
in Italy and Europe. The organization
gave a presentation of cases of
deradicalization in cult extremism
in Vienna on March 23–24, 2015 at a
conference organized by Radicalization
Awareness Network’s Victims of
Terrorism (RAN VVT). On October 1,
2015, the new Center of Excellence
(CoE) was begun, and EXIT scs onlus is
one of the subcontractors.
Cristina Caparesi participated in
the workshop Countering Violent
Extremism: Online Communications on
October 27, 2015, in Brussels and took
part in the RAN plenary meeting on
November 10. European member states
are investing much effort in finding
exit interventions that can promote
recovery for those young followers who
exit extremist cultic terrorist groups
and sometimes are even returning from
fighting areas. Cultic-studies experts
can share important lessons in this field.
EXIT scs onlus organized a first
roundtable on November 19,
2015, with a representative of local
authorities in Udine, to present to the
RAN the idea of preventing violent
extremism in this area.
Legal Proceedings
Lawsuit Against Il Forteto. For more
than thirty years, Judges have given
children in foster care to the Forteto,
a community based in Mugello (in
northern Tuscany). Rodolfo Fiesoli,
founder and guru of the community,
has been sentenced to 17 and one-half
years of prison for sexual and physical
abuse of minors. Fifteen of the Forteto
employees have also been sentenced
to heavy penalties. This was not the
first conviction for Fiesoli and his right-
hand man, Goffredi, who had already
been convicted of the same crimes in
the past. The Judge argued that, since
its inception, Il Forteto has had the
characteristics of a cult. But then, how
was it possible for the legal system to
continue to entrust dozens of children
in trouble to Il Forteto?
Fiesoli and Il Forteto have enjoyed
support from a network of supporters. A
new investigation called Forteto bis, run
by a commission set by the Regional
Correspondents
,
Reports
