of minors recruited from college via social networks, the phenomenon is growing

When she meets on the internet a man in his twenties who will become her pimp, Marion is only 15 years old. The teenager is then in the midst of family and school breakdown. Now released from prostitution after very difficult years, the young woman would like to warn all parents: “You can never be too much on your child’s back. Check the phone, check your internet access because there is a lot going on on the networks.”

“Today, in our own bedroom, much more serious things can happen to us than when we go out on the street. Anything can happen behind a screen.”

Marion, prostitute at 15

to franceinfo

On Instagram, TikTok or even Snapchat, the recruitment of young girls is done insidiously, and often from college, explains Esther Macle, children’s judge in Bobigny. “The minors give intimate photos to their boyfriends and then they post them on social networks. These photos are distributed in the college. There are then individuals who come into contact with them when they are already there. ostracized, put aside, that they have difficulties, that they are vulnerable, to lead them into prostitution, to tell them that they are there for them. To present themselves as resource people and then become their pimp. “

>> The phenomenon of underage prostitution is exploding in France

Young pimps can earn up to 1,500 euros per day. On the networks, the most structured teams even offer “packs” to victims. “This is their language, explains Christophe Molmy, head of the brigade for the protection of minors in Paris. In fact, they try to attract a little bit by saying: I’ll make you a pack, I’ll take care of everything. That is to say, they release the young girl from all constraint. They bring it in, sometimes from the other end of France. They accommodate her, pay for the trip and they take care of the entire internet process to find clients. They go so far as to protect it in situ and take a substantial share, generally half of the profits. “

To put a stop to these practices, the Paris judicial police have just created a group of investigators specializing in the fight against child prostitution. Adrien Taquet, the Secretary of State for Children, presented Monday, November 16 a national plan to fight. In five years, across the country, the number of victims has increased by 70%. Associations estimate the number of minors who are victims of procuring in France at around 10,000, the vast majority of whom are fifteen-year-old girls.