Annual seminar of the Master in Personal Injury Law - Care for women and children victims of sexual violence

April 2, 2021 09:30 - april 2, 2021 17:30

The Antoine Favre Law Research Center atuniversité Savoie Mont Blanc is organizing its annual seminar for the Master's degree in Personal Injury Law (DDC), on the theme of "Taking care of women and children who are victims of sexual violence". It will take place on Friday April 2, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The event is organized via the Zoom online tool. It is free and open to all with registration. [Register now]

about the seminar

This past year, due to the confinement caused by the health crisis, the number of complaints relating to domestic violence against women and children rose to a level unmatched in previous years: 1,468 complaints received in the last 12 months, compared with 747 the previous year.

According to a survey commissioned by the association Face à l'inceste, 6.7 million French people claim to be victims of incest, 78% of them women. These figures are rising sharply. Among women, 1 in 3 is a victim of violence in her lifetime. 3 out of 4 female victims say they have been subjected to repeated acts. 8 out of 10 female victims say they have also been subjected to psychological or verbal abuse.

A survey on sexual violence carried out in 2019 by Ipsos for theassociation Mémoire Traumatique et victimologie reveals that children are the main victims of sexual violence: 81% of assault cases start before the victim's 18th birthday, and before the age of 11 for one victim in two. In 94% of cases, the aggressor is someone close to the victim; in half of all cases, the aggressor is a member of the victim's family. These high figures raise many questions.

Today, our whole society is mobilized to prevent and punish violence. Shame and guilt are often the result of violence that undermines the dignity of victims. Particularly when it comes to women and children, the hold they have over their abusers is an obstacle to their expressing their suffering and speaking out.

If the word is getting out on social networks around #balance ton porc, #metoo, and #Iwas, the question arises as to whether our legal and judicial system is capable of taking care of these victims when we know that only 10% of victims file a complaint, 74% of complaints are closed without follow-up, and of the remaining 26%, the facts are overwhelmingly reclassified as sexual assault.

How can we hear what victims have to say? How can we assess the damage and harm resulting from both physical and psychological violence? What are the specificities of expert appraisal, legal proceedings and reparation? Can the law provide answers to these questions?

These issues will be addressed in presentations and round-table discussions with leading specialists in the field: magistrates, expert psychiatrists, psychologists, lawyers, representatives of the Guarantee Fund and academics will all be present.

The seminar is organized by the Antoine Favre Law Research Center, under the direction of Laurence Clerc-Renaud (head of the Master 2 in Personal Injury Law, lecturer at the USMB) and Lynda Lettat-Ouatah (deputy head of the Master 2 in Personal Injury Law, lawyer at the Lyon Bar).

[View program]

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