LA European Court of Human Rights condemned France on April 24, by three judgments on the grounds that our authorities of inquiry and jurisdictions failed to protect the applicants who denounced acts of rape. At the time of the facts, they were 13, 14 and 16 years old and would have lacked support, listening and protection during the criminal procedure.
This decision requires to recognize the shortcomings of our system noted by the Court and to initiate, without delay, a real national strategy to better protect children victims of sexual violence. These three judgments of the European Court of Human Rights impose an immediate observation: France must rethink its way of accompanying children victims of sexual offenses.
These are no longer just good intentions, but an urgent need to impose a new ambition in the service of these young victims, to avoid them being confronted with a secondary victimization, born of the slowness and the vicissitude of the criminal procedure.
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The collection of the child’s word must become an absolute priority. The hearings must be conducted in a secure setting, respectful of their dignity and their vulnerability, like the devices already experienced in so -called “Mélanie” rooms, specially designed, in certain gendarmeries, to accommodate hearings of children.
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