Incest: the Ciivise maintained with new missions, without Judge Edouard Durand at its head

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: LAURE BOYER / HANS LUCAS / HANS LUCAS VIA AFP 19:42 p.m., December 11, 2023

The government announced on Monday that the Ciivise, a commission in charge of fighting incest, would continue its work with new missions (including minors who are victims of prostitution or online paedophilia), with a new pair at its head, acknowledging the departure of judge Edouard Durand. "After three years of work (...), it is essential to maintain the momentum created against sexual violence against children," said Charlotte Caubel, the secretary of state for children, in a statement sent to AFP.

The Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children (Ciivise) will now be chaired by former 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 commission collected nearly 30,000 testimonies

The associations argued in favour of keeping the juvenile judge Edouard Durand, who was appreciated in particular for his independence and outspokenness. Edouard Durand had taken over as head of the commission, alongside the head of the association 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.

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In the space of two years, the commission has 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 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 also look into the care of minors who are victims of prostitution or online child abuse, the care of perpetrators of sexual violence against minors and the training of professionals in contact with children "in the most protective gestures", details a government press release. It will also study judicial practices on this subject in different countries to "assess the possibilities of transposition in France".