The government announced Wednesday, September 21 in a press release a series of measures to fight against incest and sexual violence against minors, which were recommended by the Incest Commission. A commission co-chaired by the children’s judge Edouard Durand. Asked this Wednesday on franceinfo, he reacts: “We must remain demanding, proactive”, he says a year after receiving more than 16,000 testimonials. “The wave was underground and it emerges”, he assures.
>> Incest: what are the main recommendations of the Ciivise to fight against sexual violence against children?
franceinfo: How do you react to government announcements given the number of testimonials you have received?
Edward Durand: The wave was underground and it emerges. We knew that there was a very important need in society. The Sauvé commission had shown that 5.5 million women and men had been victims of sexual violence in their childhood. And when we opened, a year ago to the day, our telephone platform, people were saying: “I’ve been waiting for this moment all my life.” We are custodians of this trust for a culture of protection. This is why we must remain demanding, proactive and the announcements made by the government are going in the right direction.
How widespread is this violence?
The extent of sexual violence is the number: 160,000 children each year victims of sexual violence in France, it is unacceptable. But magnitude is also gravity. This is why, today, we wanted to insist on the traumatic impact of violence throughout life. It is not a distant memory of the past. It is a perpetual present of suffering which interferes in all spheres of existence, even the most intimate.
The guard of Éric Dupond-Moretti announces the tabling in Parliament of a legislative amendment allowing the withdrawal in principle of the exercise of parental authority in the event of a conviction of a parent for incestuous sexual violence on his child. Is it essential for you?
One does not transgress the law with impunity and parental authority is made to protect the child. You cannot rape your child and decide whether your child can be cured or not. This is why, as soon as there is a condemnation, parental authority must be withdrawn from the incestuous parents. And even more, it is one of our recommendations: parental authority and the right to visit and accommodation must be suspended as of right as soon as criminal proceedings are initiated at the end of the investigation, even before the jugement. Because the question that will always remain is: who do we want to protect?
The government also wants to create a support advice unit for professionals who receive revelations of sexual violence from children. Is this going in the right direction?
Yes, it was one of our first recommendations on March 31st. Its very important. Society is legitimate in requiring professionals, the judge that I am, like teachers or doctors, to be in the identification of child victims, to seek them out to put them in safety. In return, we must help them, because being in the presence of a child who says: “I was raped, I was sexually assaulted”, it generates intense stress. And the professional must be able to call an available, multidisciplinary cell where we will help him diagnose the situation, help him write a report without putting himself in danger to initiate the chain of protection.