The subject is sadly topical this week. After the announcement by Elisabeth Borne of the establishment of “specialized centers” in domestic violence, and the International Day of Women’s Rights, the Observatory of violence against women of Seine-Saint-Denis organized this Thursday in Bobigny his 21st meetings. The opportunity for the departmental organization to present its inventory of the year 2022.
The members of the Observatory took the opportunity to reveal a study on sexual violence against children. Based on a sample of one hundred files selected by the department’s Childhood Social Assistance (ASE) inspectors, the study draws a composite portrait of this violence.
Girls, main victims
The vast majority of victims are girls since of the hundred cases studied, 84 concern girls, against 16 boys. If the average age of the children at the time of the consultation by the ASE is 14 years and 7 months, the study of their files reveals that on average, the first violence begins at 9 and a half years. They are experienced earlier by boys, around their sixth year, against the tenth for girls.
Unsurprisingly, it is in the family setting that sexual violence is most often perpetrated. Of the hundred files studied, 72 concern children who have been victims of incest. In more than one out of two cases (58%), it is the father who is one of the aggressors, ahead of the brother (25%), the stepfather (15%), the uncle (9.5 %), mother (4%) and grandfather (2.5%).
Abuse may continue after placement
And when it is not directly a member of the family, the aggressor is almost always a person in the entourage very close to the child since they are 92 to have been the victim of at least least one person they knew: a boyfriend, family friend, or classmate. At least one person, because according to the files, the children are attacked by several people. Of the hundred children in the study, the Observatory lists 234 abusers, 98% of whom are men. The remaining 2% are three women, two of whom acted in complicity with a man.
Even in foster care, children can still be the target of aggression. In the place of placement, like the home in which it is, they can be victimized by other children. Or even at the home of their parents when they have retained the right to visit or stay. Of the 100 children, 57 continued to experience abuse after being taken into care.
Violence that causes trouble
Because sexual violence is not isolated in almost all cases. If it is often difficult for a child to date these events, “these violence is not punctual”, comments Alix Vallot, researcher at the Observatory. Nearly 50% of identified cases show an average period of 3 years and 10 months.
An ordeal which is not without consequences for the victims. On health, first, with numerous psychotraumatic disorders noted, anxieties, signs of depression, suicidal thoughts… Many children also present with sleep disorders, eating behavior and addiction problems (alcohol , narcotics, drugs). The consequences are also felt on their school career since 53% of them are in a situation of delay. Thirty-eight are even out of school.
“Seine-Saint-Denis looks the problem in the face”
To fight against this scourge and improve the action of child welfare, the Observatory offers a series of recommendations. Firstly by developing prevention actions from kindergarten and at all ages among children, but also by training professionals more in understanding, in systematic questioning, to improve the identification and reporting of this violence.
Alix Vallot also recommends informing the child about the legal consequences of the violence he has revealed: “Most often, after a report, the child is not made aware of the consequences of the case. For him, it’s as if nothing was happening. »
“Seine-Saint-Denis is not more affected than the others by this problem but it has the courage to look it in the face”, concludes a spokesperson for the department.