Child abuse, we talk about France 5
Abuse in France is indeed poorly identified, poorly supported and remains a taboo subject. There are also impotences and dysfunctions at all levels. The abuse of children, beaten, deprived of care or victims of sexual abuse, is always at the origin of family dramas. These dramas pose many questions. How to diagnose abuse? How to take care of these children in danger? Why social services and justice do not always succeed in saving these abused children as in the case of Enzo.
Since the death of Enzo (2 years old), Salim, his father, wants to understand. Understand why, despite the suspicion of abuse reported to the prosecutor by the pediatrician who examined him and his ten days of hospitalization, are son was returned to his mother. He wants to understand why no one was able to shield him from the mortal blows of a father-in-law, dog-handler, who was determined to "train" him like his animals: "I blame my ex-girlfriend who let it die slowly and did not say anything, says Salim, I want a lot of justice that did not know how to protect my son, because it was his duty.I have a feeling of anger against all those who saw Enzo sad, unhappy and who did nothing ". But Enzo is not an isolated case, there was also .... Bastien, Marina, Lorenzo ...
Diagnosing child abuse is a complex task for several reasons, according to Caroline Rey-Salmon, a pediatrician-forensic pathologist and head of the medico-legal unit at Hôtel Dieu (AP-HP). First of all because the words to say his suffering are missing. Then because decrypt suspicious lesions "requires expertise that few doctors own in France". If now the observation of a syndrome of "baby shaken "whose after-effects can be dramatic, forces the practitioner to transmit a report to justice, all toddlers brought to the emergency by a panicked parent are not, far from there, identified as potential victims.
Nowadays, the public authorities remain powerless
Why ? Because the suspicion of medical staff or specialists in charge of the protection of the small childhood pass after the word of the parents. Things must change! This is at least the opinion of Martine Brousse, general delegate of the association The voice of the child: "We keep children in their homes. family in the name of the blood link. (...) What the voice of the child asks is that we respect the parents but that when there is a doubt, when there is abuse, priority is given to the child In addition, the judicial calendar is slow to start and the means devolved to the social or professional workers are missing.The professionals interviewed by Marie Bonhommet do not hide their expectations of a mobilization of all the actors. flat the organization of the protection of thechildhood giving greater responsibility to departmental social services. The law of March 2007 is also overdue. However, the fund of 150 million euros planned for its implementation has still not been released.
Child abuse, what is it?
Abuse is when the child is the victim of threats, intimidations and / or violent interactions of a physical, psychic, social or sexual nature. When we talk about abuse, we think of the physical violence that is easy to spot since it leaves traces on the child's body (bruises, burns or scratches, cuts or wounds too frequent, traces of unexplained blows, multiple fractures , bites and the list is unfortunately not exhaustive). But there are others. Abuse is also:
- lack of food (weight loss, anorexia nervosa ...), hygiene and care,
- verbal aggression and humiliation,
-sexual abuse, very cruel for a child. It is an unbearable physical aggression. Moreover, the risk of serious mental disorders, suicides, depression is important for children who are sexually abused.
Child Abuse: Do We Really Know the Number of Victims?
We know that a woman dies every two days under the blows of her spouse, but there are really no figures concerning child abuse. In 2006, it was estimated that 19,000 children were abused each year. The National Order of Physicians also indicated on its website that the abuse would affect between 40,000 and 50,000 minors and would be responsible for the death of 700 to 800 minors each year.
Child abuse is not always visible
The victims, often too small, are not aware of the harm inflicted. Some older people sometimes feel responsible and guilty of the situation. The victims, often abused by a relative, do not want to denounce them. The aggressor thus has a stranglehold on the child. But the consequences of abuse can last a lifetime when the child survives the abuse.
