French Commission Finds 22,000 Children Exposed To Sexual Violence Annually

About 22,000 French children are subjected to sexual violence by their fathers every year, with only a fraction of that number facing legal consequences, the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (CIIVISE) said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2021) About 22,000 French children are subjected to sexual violence by their fathers every year, with only a fraction of that number facing legal consequences, the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (CIIVISE) said on Wednesday.

"We estimate that nearly 22,000 children are victims of sexual violence committed by their fathers each year. Yet in 2020, only 1,697 people were prosecuted for incestuous rape of a minor or sexual assault of a minor, regardless of the relationship to the victim," the CIVISE said in a report.

Since its formation in January, the commission has collected some 5,000 witness statements, of which over one-third came from the mothers of victims whose testimonies are often being called into question, it said.

The report came with a set of recommendations for the protection of children from sexual violence. The three recommendations include the suspension of parental rights and the right to visit and accommodate a parent suspected of incest or sexual violence against a child; the suspension of criminal proceedings against one parent for failing to represent the interests of the child when the other parent is being probed for incest or violence; and the systematic deprivation of the parental rights in case of conviction for sexual acts against a minor.