France is condemned for failing to protect a placed child

The European Court of Human Rights has just condemned France for failing in its duty to protect a child imprisoned from 1976 to 1991. Despite its reports, the young woman has been subjected to sexual violence for 13 years and he had to respect the religious imperatives of his host family, a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Faced with unfairly prescribed facts, the victim seized the ECHR.

If the facts date back to several decades agothe functioning of the ESA is still debated today.

France condemned for several violations

Placed in a family of Tarn-et-Garonne in 1976, France L. was then the victim of sexual violence inflicted by her adoptive father for 13 years. Miss he confides twice in the members of his congregation, without reporting his attacker to the authorities. They just call him to order and nothing changes.

In 1988, the 17-year-old girl suffered a serious accident that required several transfusions, which were then refused by the foster family. This refusal is subject to reporting to social services. This report will also be followed by a simple call to order.

The young woman filed a complaint in 2000 and her father partially acknowledged the facts, but these were already prescribed, so she decided to go to the European Court of Human Rights. The European authority then deplores an inflexible French judicial system that it does not allow victims to obtain compensation and condemns France to compensate the victim.

The lack of resources and its consequences on the functioning of the ESA

In 2021, over 300,000 minors were the subject of an ESA protection measure. Of the 170,000 children placed, 76,000 of them are housed in one of the 40,000 foster families in France. Others go home, sometimes to a hotel or to a nursery for the little ones.

adopted children, already hurt by traumatic family circumstancesthey are oriented in structures that they do not always guarantee their safety and well-being.

Made of violence, prostitution, are regularly observed and the sanitary conditions of some establishments leave much to be desired. The main cause of these malfunctions? As always, lack of resources. ASE deplores a chronic shortage of educators and social workers.

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