“If we really want pedophile cases to be handled properly in court, we will have to admit that we are severely lacking in resources.
The courts are not in a position to deal with the flow of incoming cases ”, warns Pascal Cussigh, secretary of the Children's Collective.
"The prosecution services are overwhelmed, certain investigations are carried out expeditiously and the files are closed without follow-up, for lack of sufficient human resources."
In France, only 1 to 2% of cases opened for rape of minors would lead to a judicial conviction, according to figures made public in 2018 by Marlène Schiappa, then Secretary of State in charge of Equality between women and men .
The reality would be worse, if we are to believe Arnaud Gallais, founder of the Prevent and Protect collective.
"We know that today 4% of child victims of rape file a complaint each year, and of these 4% there are only 0.3% who end up in the assizes. This means that there is total impunity. . "
Faced with the avalanche of testimonies and the excitement triggered by Camille Kouchner's book, “La Familia Grande”, in which she denounces the incest suffered by her twin brother, and the avalanche of testimonies that followed, in particular with #MeTooIncest on social networks, the executive ended up reacting, Monday, January 26, by unveiling the first measures eagerly awaited by associations to better fight against pedocriminality and incest.
Announcements welcomed by associations for the defense of victims of pedophile crime, but deemed “insufficient”, particularly financially.
The non-consent of minors soon enshrined in law?
Among the proposals unveiled Monday is the idea of changing the law currently in force.
The government has opened a consultation aimed at "better punishing the perpetrators", by studying the hypothesis of making child sex crimes imprescriptible.
The limitation period, first of 10 years from the date of the victim's majority, was extended to 20 years in 2004 then 30 years in 2018, but these reforms do not apply to the facts already prescribed.
“This is obviously a step forward”, enthuses Pascal Cussigh.
“The current system has proven its limits.
The case revealed by Camille Kouchner, in which the limitation period has probably passed, illustrates the problem well.
She has been mentioned in a book and in the media when she should be dealt with by a judge.
The victim should have the right to speak and the aggressor to defend himself in court ”.
Within the Understanding, Defending and Protecting Childhood (CDP-Enfance) association, of which he is the president, Pascal Cussigh regularly receives victims and assists them in particular in the context of legal proceedings, by putting them in contact with trained lawyers.
“The prescription system is incredibly violent for victims,” he observes daily.
“Beyond the deadline, they find themselves facing judges who can no longer receive their word.
We tell them 'it's too late to speak, we can no longer hear you' and this goes in the direction of this law of silence used by pedophiles to put pressure on their victims. ”
Another avenue under study within the executive, the systematic non-consent of minors could be enshrined in law, according to the office of Secretary of State for Children Adrien Taquet, so that "it is no longer possible to hear that a child consents to a sexual relationship with an adult ", as is the case today.
“For the moment, this is only a declaration of intent”, tempers Pascal Cussigh, whose collective, bringing together 33 associations, has been campaigning since 2018 for the recognition in French law of “the incapacity of the child to consent to a sexual relationship with an adult ”, which is not currently the case.
Coincidentally, the Senate unanimously adopted on January 21 a bill from centrist Annick Billon aimed at creating a new sexual crime to protect minors under 13.
But this age threshold is still considered insufficient by child protection associations.
“That would mean that at 13 and one day, you could consent to sex with an adult.
What about cases of incest for children over 13, that would mean that they are supposed to consent to their own incest? ”, Denounces Pascal Cussigh.
Obstacles to screening in schools
Judicial reform is not the only lever of this plan to fight against child crime launched by the government in response to the Duhamel affair.
The Head of State expressed his willingness to strengthen the detection of cases of sexual violence against children.
"Two screening and prevention meetings against sexual violence against children - one in primary school, the other in middle school - will be set up for all, in the cycle of existing compulsory medical visits", Emmanuel promised. Macron, Saturday, on social networks.
Once again, the specialized associations denounce an “empty” promise as long as it is not allocated sufficient resources.
The Aubry law of 2001 already provides, from primary to college, three sessions per year of education in sexual and emotional life, which includes prevention against sexual violence.
“But in reality, these sessions do not always take place, it is very disparate", laments Céline Piques, spokesperson for the association Osez le feminisme !, which intervenes in middle and high schools. "It depends subsidies granted by municipalities, departments and regions, as well as the goodwill of teaching teams, teachers, school nurses, and volunteers from the associations that intervene. But the National Education does not provide any means for this ” , she regrets. "It's a real missed date. We could very well use this time to talk to the children about the integrity of their bodies".
School doctors also reacted to Emmanuel Macron's announcement, recalling that the detection device could not rest on their shoulders alone in the current state of affairs.
Indeed, their numbers have been greatly reduced in recent years, as well as the number of compulsory consultations for each student, recalls Dr Jocelyne Grousset, of the SNMSU Unsa Education union.
In some French departments such as Seine-Saint-Denis, only a third of school doctor positions are filled and follow-up appointments are no longer even provided in some municipalities.
"We have unraveled the monitoring of children in primary school", deplores Dr. Jocelyne Grousset, for whom screening should be "multi-professional, networked" work with school nurses and psychologists.
For Pascal Cussigh, “we cannot be satisfied with collecting and freeing the floor.
What are we going to do with this word next?
The hardest part is to get it to be treated by justice at the next stage, yet we lack clerks and magistrates, and professionals are insufficiently trained at all levels. ”
Free psychological care
Last announcement, the most concrete perhaps among the measures formulated by the government, Emmanuel Macron wants to see the "psychological care of children victims of sexual violence" reimbursed.
In fact, such support by Social Security is already possible but only in medico-psychological centers (CMP, often saturated) or in hospitals.
"It is a device little known and little applied", laments Patrick Loiseleur, of Face à incest.
"Many survivors of incest are very destitute, they sometimes spend months and years before getting an appointment", adds this association manager.
However, private consultations are expensive.
“There are a lot of victims, who would like to have a follow-up and who cannot do it because they face a lack of means, with the risks that we know.
Suicide attempts are more frequent among these people ”, comments Pascal Cussigh.
Concretely, the support could be extended to consultations with liberal psychologists, the firm of Adrien Taquet told AFP.
This reflection is carried out with the concern to avoid creating "inequalities" between patients - depending on the type of violence suffered, for example - and to guarantee the competence of the practitioners whose consultations would be reimbursed.
With AFP
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