More than 450 children are sexually abused in France every day – 80 percent are cases of incest. The government now wants to take action against this with a campaign.
A little girl with a pigtail sits on the edge of her bed. Colorful children’s drawings on the wall. “He told me: This is our little secret, just for the two of us. He came into my room and he told me the two of us can do things that the big ones do.”
She nervously drags one foot across the carpet, kneads her hands and looks up in shock when a car door slams outside her window. “Tonight he’ll look after me again. I don’t really want that. But I can’t say it. It’s a secret,” emphasizes the little girl, holding her knees and a rabbit on her right ear. Her gaze is sad, lost, directed downwards and then directly at the viewer.
“You meet affected children all the time.”
With this educational video, the French government wants to tackle the incest problem in the country. The State Secretary for Children, Charlotte Caubel, is shocked by the extent of the abuse: “You go to a class today and two to three children will suffer incest in the future or are already suffering it. One in ten adults has had to endure incest in his childhood . What does that mean? That you meet affected children all the time – and the aggressors all the time too.”
70 percent of ads come to nothing
The taboo has recently been broken by celebrities. In her 2021 book “La Familia Grande”, author Camille Kouchner revealed the abuse of her brother by his stepfather, a well-known political scientist and ex-European MP.
The “Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children” was then founded. Judge Edouard Durand is its co-president. According to Durand, incest is the story of a denial, of a society that acts as if it doesn’t exist. 70 percent of the ads would come to nothing. Only three percent of reports of rape of minors resulted in a conviction. “We have to fight against the impunity of the aggressors,” is his appeal.
This is also what actress Emmanuelle Béart is doing, who is currently presenting her documentary film “Noisy Silence” not only on her own behalf. It says, among other things: “I am eleven years old. It is night. You tear my sleep like you tear my nightgown – without any noise. And if my mother, my father, my school, my friends can’t see anything, then “It can all happen again. And you’ll be doing it again and again for four years.”
Law aims to deprive perpetrators of custody rights
So the government is now tackling the issue. Since the responsible state secretary came into government over a year ago, Charlotte Caubel has already announced a law that would revoke custody of partners who are accused or convicted of incest or family violence.
She is already relying on education through the campaign. “This campaign is aimed at adults. So that in a few weeks, thanks to the voices, the commitment of strong people, thanks to this campaign, no one will be able to say: I didn’t know that!” For two years now, children in France no longer have to prove in court that they did not consent to sexual assault. You are now considered incapable of giving consent until you are 18 years old.
At the end of the educational video, everyone is held responsible. “Every three minutes a child becomes a victim of incest, rape or sexual violence. If you have the slightest doubt – call 119!”