Mafia law gives Italian families right to break free from a life of crime

Wives and children offered new identities to try to stop gangsters recruiting down the generations

Children and young adults raised in mafia families will be given a chance to break away from organised crime under new legislation in Italy that aims to stop the inter-generational recruitment of gangsters.

In an unprecedented effort to sever the family chain, the Italian state will offer children aged under 25 and other close relatives of mafia bosses a chance to start over: a new home in another city, a new school and, if necessary, a new identity.