The co-president of the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children, Edouard Durand, was the guest of franceinfo this Thursday.
The work of Ciivise, the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children, “unfortunately will not be finished“in two months, the date on which its two-year mission must end, affirms its co-president Édouard Durand this Thursday on franceinfo. La Ciivise, this independent French commission of inquiry into incest was created in March 2021 , after the emergence of the #MeToo incest movement. His mandate is due to end in November 2023.
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“160,000 children are victims of sexual violence each year in our country. recalls the magistrate, who adds that the work of the Civil Society will not be “fortunately not finished also because it is a magnificent space of solidarity and legitimacy. 27,000 testimonies mean that the Ciivise responds to an expectation and a vital need.”
27,000 testimonials
Two years after its creation, Ciivise, the Commission dedicated to the fight against incest and sexual violence against minors, announces having received 27,000 testimonies. Only 1 in 5 victims say they have taken legal action and 13% of these complaints resulted in the attacker being convicted. Only 13% of these victims say they revealed what they had experienced at the time of the facts and only 8% say they received a positive reception from their confidant or the authorities when they denounced the facts. Even when they were believed, only half of the victims say they were protected and cared for.
Acts of incest also have serious consequences on the health of the victims. 40% of them suffer from drug or alcohol addiction problems and half have developed eating disorders. Conversely, 62% of victims who were protected report no impact on their physical health.
franceinfo: You are publishing a progress report two months from November 20, the date set for the end of the Ciivise mission. But for you, his work must continue?
Édouard Durand: Unfortunately, his work will not be finished: 160,000 children are victims of sexual violence in our country each year. And fortunately, it will not be finished either because it is a magnificent space of solidarity and legitimacy. 27,000 testimonies mean that Ciivise responds to an expectation and a vital need. And I wouldn’t understand why anyone would say to these people, ‘We’ve heard you enough.’ What produces good must be pursued.
So it’s a never-ending job?
Of course. A society can never say ‘We have completely fought against the denial of incest and all sexual violence against children.’
When justice requires a dismissal of the case, does that discourage the victims?
Society constantly sends paradoxical injunctions to victims of sexual violence, and to the adults who support them: ‘You can say the violence, trust us, but we will not protect you and we will say that you are lying.’
However, the doubt must benefit the accused?
We have fundamental principles and the judge that I am obviously respects them. They are what keeps us going, but we interpret them incorrectly: the presumption of innocence was never designed to generate a system of impunity for attackers. I would like to remind you that only 3% of complaints for rape of minors result in the defendant being convicted. We must progress and we are highlighting this today, in this issue of faithfulness to the word given. It is a vital need, that is to say life or death, to be recognized in one’s words. The act of the aggressor is annihilation.