Reparation for victims of sexual assault within the Church is a “immense task” told franceinfo Marie Derain de Vaucresson, lawyer specializing in children’s rights, president of the new independent body announced by the conference of bishops of France to deal with the issue of recognition and reparation of victims.
This instance “will be plural, with men and women from the medical profession, the legal world, and also victims”, said the lawyer, highlighting her experience in restorative and restorative justice. This child rights specialist said she is committed to being “alongside the victims.”
franceinfo: How do you imagine this body and what will be its role?
Marie Derain de Vaucresson: It will have an essential role which is to respond to the expectations and needs of victims in terms of recognizing the responsibility of the Church in what they have experienced as victims. It will also have a role of reparation with the immensity of the task, when one thinks of what the report of the Ciase (Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church) calls the prevention of living, the prevention of ‘being, consequences of the sexual violence that these victims suffered. I imagine this plural body in the profiles, with people bringing together men and women from the medical profession, the legal world and then also victims to be always in direct line of the report of the Ciase, which invites to rely on what is often called the experiential knowledge of victims. It is difficult for the moment to say precisely how this will be organized. Everything has to be done in terms of the development process.
Why did you accept? What prompted you to take on this mission?
What pushed me was undoubtedly to be alongside the victims without reserve and not just anyhow. Until Friday’s declaration by the plenary assembly of bishops on the recognition of the responsibility of the Church, I still saw some reservations and some points to be clarified. As long as we did not commit to the recognition of this responsibility, it was not possible to commit to a repair mechanism either. It really had to go through this. From the moment this is posed, I imagine quite calmly that I have the guarantees and the necessary means to make this body work in the interests of the victims. It is also the question of the positioning of the Church and the global approach to this question. When the bishops say that operations must evolve to prevent this from happening again, for the Catholic critical and demanding with the Church that I am, it is a guarantee. A guarantee that things can change and that we can provide appropriate responses.
“The challenge is indeed to be in a safe house, as Pope Francis has said, and that involves the functioning of the structure.”
Marie Derain de Vaucresson, lawyer specializing in children’s rightsto franceinfo
How will your recognized experience as a lawyer, but also your commitment to the protection of children, help you in this task?
You don’t need a Catholic to lead a body like this, you need professional skills, basic knowledge of restorative justice, and then network knowledge and the skills of other people to mobilize. . The experience of restorative justice, the experience of leading project management teams, I can bring it, I have done it for a number of years. I am also known to be attentive to the question of the place of women in the Church, but also of the specific skills that women have to bring in a world which is mainly male. We could also add the question of the laity.