Faced with a number of victims deemed “astronomical”, the government presented on Wednesday the axes of a future plan against violence against children centered on sexual violence, already deemed “timid” and “lacking ambition” by associations. .
“We are in a tragic situation today: a child dies every five days in his family environment as a result of violence. Two to three children per class will suffer from phenomena of incest. This concerns one in ten adults. A child is sexually assaulted every three minutes,” Secretary of State for Children Charlotte Caubel told AFP.
“The fight against violence against children must become a fight worthy of the fight we have waged against violence against women”, declares Ms. Caubel, who presented the main lines of this plan to the Council of Ministers with the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupont-Moretti.
This 2023-27 plan, officially announced in the fall but whose implementation schedule is not specified, will take over from the 2020-22 plan against violence against children launched during the first five-year period, which allowed the creation of the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Abuse of Children (Ciivise).
In the meantime, the Secretary of State wants to broadcast “a road safety type shock campaign” to make society aware of incest, shortly after the start of the school year.
“The figures are astronomical and no one wants to see them. Everyone needs to open their eyes, that all adults feel concerned,” insists Ms. Caubel.
Among the measures, the plan wants to equip professionals in contact with children to better detect and report sexual violence: training will be put in place based on the tools developed by the Ciivise.
Its president, Edouard Durand, told AFP that he wanted an “ambitious initial and continuing training plan, with certification, which will guarantee the competence of professionals at the time of their assignment”.
A platform will be created to support and guide professionals (teachers, doctors, etc.): called upon to better identify sexual violence, they may feel isolated or helpless when they have suspicions.
These measures, already announced last September, correspond to recommendations made in March 2022 by the Ciivise.
On the justice side, the plan should incorporate new measures to better support all child victims during legal proceedings, with, for example, an overhaul of the status of “ad hoc administrators”, who represent children when parents are unable to do so. TO DO. Better compensated, they would be renamed “legal sponsors”, one indicates to the Chancellery.
The Chancellery is considering simplifying the operation of guardianship for orphans and better identifying the “minors” specialization of legal experts. Finally, a reflection is carried out with a view to better compensation for the damage caused to children.
“La Ciivise has allowed us to become aware of the extent of sexual violence. And their impact is massive: we know that a child who suffers from them tends to reproduce them and put themselves in a situation of danger. It is without doubt to be linked to the explosion of child prostitution”, observes Ms. Caubel.
“La Ciivise made 20 recommendations in March 2022. It is a satisfaction to see three of them integrated into an interministerial plan. But they are all made to be implemented so that children are truly protected from incest “, reacted Edouard Durand, who must give a new opinion next Monday.
“A timid plan, communication, measures without means, without quantified objectives. There is no political will to really fight against sexual violence”, reacted for her part Isabelle Aubry, president of Face à l’. Incest.
“Any progress is good to take, but it does not go far enough”, abounds Arnaud Gallais, president of the BeBrave association of “survivors of sexual violence”, regretting “a lack of ambition and political will”.
Colossus with feet of clay, which raises awareness of sexual violence in sports, welcomes “additional progress” with the listening unit and the training of professionals. “Many adults don’t know how to react. The more adults there are trained, the more will be able to guide the victims and identify the aggressors”, according to its founder Sébastien Boueilh.
06/07/2023 20:05:34 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
