Violence against children: the Ciivise will continue its missions, co-chaired by a new pair

The government announced Monday, December 11 that the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (Ciivise) would continue its work with new missions. It will notably take care of minors who are victims of prostitution or online child abuse, with a new pair at its head, noting the departure of judge Edouard Durand. “After three years of work (…), it is essential to maintain the momentum created against sexual violence suffered by children,” commented the Secretary of State for Children, Charlotte Caubel, in a statement sent to the ‘France Media Agency.

The Ciivise will now be chaired by ex-rugby player and association leader Sébastien Boueilh. “I am committed to ensuring continuity and entering an operational phase,” he said. He will lead this mission alongside a vice-president, legal expert Caroline Rey-Salmon.

The associations pleaded in favor of maintaining the children’s judge Edouard Durand, appreciated in particular for his independence and his outspokenness. Edouard Durand took the helm of the commission, alongside association manager Nathalie Mathieu, when it was created in March 2021, in the wake of the shock wave caused by the book La Familia grande, by Camille Kouchner, in which the author accuses her father-in-law, the political scientist Olivier Duhamel, of raping her twin brother.

New missions

In the space of two years, the commission collected nearly 30,000 testimonies and submitted a report to the government with 82 recommendations to combat this “mass crime” which, according to it, affects 160,000 children each year.

For a time, the executive kept the future of this commission unclear, to the great concern of the associations who wanted it to continue. He finally promised in mid-November to maintain it with a new roadmap.

In addition to incest, the Ciivise will look into the care of minors victims of prostitution or online child crime, the care of perpetrators of sexual violence against minors and the training of professionals in contact with children “in the most common gestures protectors,” details a government press release. She will also study judicial practices on this subject in different countries to “evaluate the possibilities of transposition in France”.