The Lycée de Saint-Cyr l'École (Saône-et-Loire) opened an internal investigation and seized the gendarmerie after accusations of sexual harassment. Young women, preparatory class students in high schools, have been victims of sexual harassment from a classmate, according to an army statement released on Thursday.
A mobilized psychological support unit
"Faced with the clarity of the concordant testimony" against the alleged perpetrator, the corps chief removed the young man from the military college and reported the facts to the gendarmerie. The internal investigation should make it possible to investigate a disciplinary procedure, specifies the press release.
The suspect was "handed over to his family until the end of the ongoing investigations," said Colonel Benoît Brulon on Thursday. The spokesman for the army welcomed the measures taken on Monday, the day of the report. According to the press release, the intervention and psychological support unit of the Army (CISPAT) has been mobilized.
“This event reminds us that the fight against harassment is a priority. The mixed referent has played its role perfectly, ”says the army. "This rapid and coordinated action [...] translates total transparency and zero tolerance, strictly applied to all forms of harassment".
Young women "persecuted"
The prestigious military prep had already been at the heart, in 2018, of a scandal of moral harassment which had sparked a wave of indignation. A 20-year-old girl sent a letter to Emmanuel Macron, confident that she felt "persecuted" by a group of boys, the "tradis".
The French army is one of the most feminized in the world, with 15% of women, but it is not spared from harassment and sexual violence. In 2014, the book "The invisible war" denounced the calamitous management of sexual assaults and rapes within "the great mute". The ministry had set up a "Themis" unit responsible for collecting the testimony of victims and ensuring the application of sanctions.
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