Sexual abuse on minor in France

In French Droit, one names Sexual abuse on minor any abusive sex act made by an adult on a person not having exceeded the lawful age of the sexual Majorité, any sex act of some nature that it is being regarded as abusive when it is carried out by an adult on a sexual minor.

The legislation

The French law fixes the age of the sexual Majorité at 15 years. It envisages three forms of sexual abuses:

the Sexual offense, for which the defect of assent of the victim is not necessary for the constitution of the material element of the infringement. This infringement can however apply only with regard to minors some 15 year old (thus the law nominates the persons of less than 15 years) victims of this attack, one includes/understands then why the proof of a defect of assent is not necessary, since in the absence of sexual majority, the child is not regarded as being able to grant an sex act;
the Sexual assault, which requires to show the absence of assent of the victim (what can be a proof difficult to manage), relates to any act achieved by its author with a sexual aim (such as contacts, etc, but also all the acts of penetration imposed of the author by the victim and those which one cannot prove).
the Rape, finally, requires in addition to the proof of the defect of assent of the victim, the proof of a penetration of the victim by the author of the infringement, this proof can be managed by means of doctor's certificates (gynaecological and gastro-enterologic).

The attack and the aggression are offenses considered to be in correctional, the rape is a Crime judged with the sitted .

As regards the sexual assault and rape, infringements nonspecific to the minors, the age of the victim, like the quality of ascending or holder of an authority on the victim constitute aggravating circumstances of the incurred sorrow (either from 5 to 10 years of imprisonment)

In practice, the rapes, same on minors, for the majority of them are correctionnalisés. Indeed proof of penetration sexual, more and more difficult to prove as time passes (what must thus lead the victims to carry quickly felt sorry for or to go to consult at the hospital in a dedicated service), is sometimes impossible; also, to avoid the payment by sworn with bases, the rape is requalified in sexual assault, to ensure a judgment.

For sexual offenses, i.e. the cases where the victim was agreeing or at least for which the assent are not necessary (what is very protective for the victims), the continuations are rare when the victim is old from 15 to 18 years, because in these cases, one needs that the attack is qualified, i.e. made by ascending or a person having authority. This qualification is used when the proof of the defect of assent of the minor of less than 15 years is announced difficult. However, in the case of child the very young (less than 12 or 13 years) assent is generally regarded as impossible or not valid: an apparent assent will be generally put on the account of a mental handling by the expertise, and thus considered as a surprised form particular of or psychological threat , which qualifies the aggression.

Indeed the proof of the defect of assent is very delicate, since it is necessary to characterize violence, the constraint, a threat or a surprise (what excludes the repeated acts). This proof can be managed only by the consent of the author of the infringement, if this consent is detailed (what wants to say that he admits sexually to have attacked his victim in knowledge of his absence of assent) or by an expertise of credibility of the victim (being added to a beam of convincing index).

In addition to these 3 cases, he one is often forgotten by it: the corruption of minor. It consists in exposing a minor to pornographic representations or sex acts carried out voluntarily in front of him. In the intra-family businesses, it constitutes a very frequent case of continuation and in many situations, a precondition to the 3 other infringements.

Characterization of the sexual abuses on minor in France

The sexual abuse is mainly (nearly 90% according to the majority of the statistics in 2004) the fact of a known person of the victim, most of the time a close relative. Contrary to a popular belief, removals of children by the unknown ones are a very broad minority of the cases of sexual abuses.

Not to make confusion between sexual abuses and removal. If the majority of removals are accompanied by sexual abuses, the very great majority of those Ci are not accompanied by a removal.

In fact, it is to better apprehend sexual violences on minors according to the organization of the Brigades of Protection of the Minors. Concretely and statistically the minors to 70% are attacked sexually by people whom they know and to 30% by the unknown ones. In the section of the 70%,80% are attacked by family members in the broad sense. The 20% remainder being divided between the comrades, neighbors, teaching or sporting framing… etc

This is why the groups of investigations are shared, in France and Europe generally, in 2 divisions: The division of the intra-family businesses and the division of the businesses called against “X”. Although dealing with 30% of the cases of sexual violences on minors, divisions of the businesses against “X” as, more, are even packed as those with the intra-family businesses because of the difficulty of finding the attackers.

Media and social treatment of the sexual abuse on minor in France

Since the end of the year 1990 a general awakening of this damage and dangers of the sexual abuse took place in the Western company: it resulted most of the time in a better listening of the victims as well as a reinforcement of the legislation, as well at the preventive level as at the repressive level.! |date=

Fight against the sexual abuse on minor in France

There exist two complementary approaches: repression and prevention.

Repression

Some propose to lengthen the sorrows with perpetuity and the duration of the regulation, which would cause to longer withdraw of the community the condemned individuals, and to reinforce the dissuasive standards.

Since October 2004, the regulation passed to 20 years after the majority. In other words a victim of rape in its childhood can deposit felt sorry for until it reaches the 38 years age.

Repression is ensured by the police, legal and prison institutions. They have of particular structures with regard to the child welfare, and sometimes specific means (cells of gendarmerie for certain businesses, particular spaces of listening for the child-victims with video recording, public services of call for the descriptions like the 119).

Prevention

If the essential goal is well to limit the number of victims, then the prevention of the pedophilia, can fulfill a complementary role of which the beneficial and longer-term effects let hope that the public authorities will begin in the future with miser more on this promising new approach which already caused a certain interest in the specialized milieux and even policies in France and Switzerland.

It is as advisable to recall as the assassins as well as the rapists of child are above all the criminals, whatever their sexual orientation and attractions, of which they cannot be prevailed to attenuate their crimes: their setting out of state to harm is regarded in all the modern societies as a peremptory necessity|date=

The prevention are ensured by the public authorities, but also per many associations.

Sources

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