On the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of the Child on Saturday 20 November, the national gendarmerie and the association Face à inceste are launching an unprecedented awareness campaign to fight against sexual violence against minors, and in particular incest . Three videos are broadcast to the general public “for the victim, the witness, and finally, for the person who is sexually attracted to minors, precisely to avoid a passage to the act”, explains on franceinfo the commander Johanna di Pietro, head of the communication cabinet of the Languedoc-Roussillon gendarmerie.
#InternationalChildrenRightsDay
✋ Facing the#incest, let’s mobilize!
Discover the communication campaign of the #gendarmerie of the’# Herault, carried out in partnership with the association @Facealincest #contrincest#facealincest#victimshelp https://t.co/vHBac9MQmi– National Gendarmerie (@Gendarmerie) November 20, 2021
franceinfo: Why this new awareness campaign? Are incest cases on the increase?
Johanna di Pietro: This awareness campaign that we created in the Hérault with the association Face à inceste, had an observation: during the first confinement when the children were no longer going to school, we had an increase in interventions in the family sphere of the gendarmerie. So, we found that children who no longer went to school were necessarily with their potential aggressors. From this observation, we decided to do something to fight and especially to prevent incest. Following an article [du quotidien régional] Midi Libre, in November 2020, that we contacted the Association Facing Incest through its sponsor, Julien Masdoua who is an actor. And we have been working for several months now on this project. There are three different spots. The first is intended for the victim, the second is intended for the witness, and finally, the last video is intended for the person who is sexually attracted to minors, in order to avoid acting out.
#InternationalChildrenRightsDay
The #gendarmerie mobilized in the face of incest!
Discover the second short film directed by our comrades from# Herault, in partnership with the association @Facealincest.# ReplyPresent #victimshelp https://t.co/9OdgvzsaYm– National Gendarmerie (@Gendarmerie) November 20, 2021
According to you, what are the signs, the behaviors which can suggest that there are problems of this kind within a family unit?
Already, we can see that the child can change his behavior. He can isolate himself, he can have a drop in his academic results, he can withdraw into himself. He may also have behavioral problems, be more agitated. We can also ask ourselves the question when the child, in particular during the end of the year holidays which are coming soon, when the child refuses to see a member of his family or refuses to go to that person. There, you have to ask yourself questions and worry.
What should you do when you see this?
Above all, do not go see the member of the family in question since ultimately the problem lies in the family sphere. So, you have to go see professionals. For that, either we contact 119 [dédié à la prévention et à la protection des enfants] when we think that there is a child in danger, we contact the gendarmerie or the police to express our doubts.
✋ #Facealincest, let’s mobilize!
Third short film directed by the #gendarmerie of the’# Herault and @Facealincest ➡️ #agiralasource ‼ ️#Prevention #contrincest https://t.co/ThgTeFCFFH– National Gendarmerie (@Gendarmerie) November 20, 2021
Within the gendarmerie, is there any training? What are the words to say or to avoid?
During schooling, we have elementary training in the various gendarmerie schools. Then, throughout the career, we have ongoing training to take into account the words of the victim. More specifically in the gendarmerie, we have dedicated staff in order to have houses of protection and trust for families in each department. They are able to recover the child’s speech and in particular the hearings for children victims of sexual assault are done in the ‘Mélanie rooms’, these are rooms that are specially dedicated to allow the child to verbalize, that whether by drawings, by games or quite simply by talking. And it will also be able to help the child to better verbalize all this. Likewise, in the gendarmerie, for several months now, we have had a referent on domestic violence and sexual violence.