The Cost of Silence: Childhood in Families under Judicial Protective Measures

Both justice collaborators—former offenders who cooperate with authorities—and justice witnesses, law-abiding citizens reporting crimes, play pivotal roles in dismantling organized crime networks. To ensure their safety in exchange for crucial testimony, these individuals often enter state-run protection programs. Although these programs are indispensable for the integrity of the criminal justice system, they impose radical and often traumatic changes on the lives of the collaborators' and witnesses' families, especially children.1 Children of justice collaborators represent an extremely vulnerable and overlooked group within pediatric populations. Despite having committed no crimes and often remaining unaware of their parents’ pasts, these children are forced to adopt new identities, relocate to unfamiliar places, and sever all ties with their previous environments.1,2 This commentary, prepared by members of the Working Group on Social Pediatrics of the European Pediatric Association, Union of National European Pediatric Societies and Associations, discusses the profound and often hidden challenges faced by children whose families are placed under judicial protective measures, such as witness protection programs. The authors briefly discuss available data and scholarly perspectives from various European nations where these programs are active, as well as the United States, highlighting systemic adult-centric biases in program design, pervasive data deficiencies, and significant, often long-lasting costs borne by these vulnerable children. This commentary aims to bring attention to the profound implications for these children, who must navigate isolation, secrecy, and trauma within a system primarily designed for adult safety.