“Justice holds that mothers who believe their child should be silent”: a demonstration in Paris to support protective mothers

The appointment was set for 2 pm, in the Place du Châtelet, in the heart of the capital, to strike a chord and finally move the ranks in their favour. On Saturday 17 June, on the initiative of Balance ton JAF (judge for family affairs), the Collective of single mothers, the Collective of children and the Protégeons les enfants association, a meeting was organized to help those who identify with the sign of the “Protective Mothers”.

Their names are Pauline Bourgoin, Sophie Abida or Heidi Nomis and they have seen, after talking about their little girl, who accused her father of incest, having custody revoked, while a rape or sexual assault complaint is sometimes under investigation.

An inversion of guilt that was at the center of this Saturday’s meeting. “These are women who believed their children, who spoke their word, and today the justice system is turning against them, observes Clémence, the woman behind the Balance ton JAF Instagram account. Justice held that they should be silent and that their word had no value. Since these women said they remained convinced that what their child was saying was true and that they would not hand him over to his abusive and incestuous father, they are the ones doomed. »

Mothers, always guilty

On the podium, installed right in front of the monumental fountain in Place du Châtelet, the mothers took turns at the microphone to tell their story and that of their children, under the gaze of passers-by.

Behind them were signs showing their anger and the injustices they had suffered. “My mother tried to protect me from paternal incest, she was imprisoned”said one of them carried by a teddy bear whose mouth was taped up. “We mothers, when we don’t report, are accomplices. When we report, we are manipulative”summarizes another sign hanging from a tree, which takes up the report issued by judge Édouard Durand, co-president of Ciivise.

Participants were also able to count on the support of Pauline Rongier, a lawyer, activist against violence against women and children, and who represents many of these protective childless mothers, including Sophie Abida, Heidi Nomis and Pauline Bourgoin. This double hat, lawyer and activist, Me Rongier claims it to cause social upheaval. “We no longer ask judges to protect children, but we ask them to let mothers protect their children”the lawyer said in front of the audience.

Together to change the laws

To cause social upheaval and to break the taboo surrounding incest: this is also what Clémence, from Balance ton JAF, wants.

“We want to support these mothers and support these children and say that there is a real problem in the way legal cases are handled on sexual assault of children and more generally on cases involving women, mothers, children. »

Read also: What we already know about the government’s plan to combat violence against children

The aim of the gathering is also to mobilize feminist associations and personalities. “I want to hear We All, I want to hear Dare feminism!, I want to hear Anne-Cécile Mailfert on France Inter. I want more because it’s a real patriarchy issue of owning women and children. Family justice in France is patriarchal, lacks common sense and humanity and does terrible damage to families. It is the children’s lives in question. »

Raise awareness and mobilize beyond militant circles e “put an end to the effects of the announcement”, Balance your JAF will soon become Family Justice. Objective: to lobby effectively for the rights of women and children through “working committees, to make concrete proposals for legislative changes, procedural changes” and therefore change mentality.

Because there is urgency. According to Ciivise, 160,000 children in France are victims of sexual violence every year. Fewer than 7% of child sexual assault complaints today lead to a conviction by the perpetrator.

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