Details

The Commission was set up to operate for a period of two years and to make recommendations to better prevent sexual violence, better protect child victims and fight against impunity for perpetrators. Its priority was to organise the collection of testimonies from victims.

The aim was to meet two objectives:

• Know and publicise the extent of sexual violence against children and its mechanisms, and raise awareness among society and professionals in contact with children.
• Make recommendations to strengthen the culture of prevention and protection in public policies.

The final report for the first nearly three years' work was delivered on 20 November 2023. One of its recommendations was that the Commission itself be extended; Part 2 of the Inquiry was to commence forthwith, but after a rocky start which saw the resignation of the two new chairs in February 2024, the Inquiry was reconstituted in April 2024 with its mandate extended to October 2026.

The Process

The mission of the Commission was to listen to the victims and to work directly from their testimony to formulate policy recommendations. To this end, on 21 September 2021, an appeal was launched for testimonials regarding persons who had been victims of sexual violence in their childhood, and in January 2022, there was a further appeal for testimonials regarding in particular people who have been victims of childhood sexual violence within an institution.

Work done in the social sciences and published in scholarly literature were also drawn upon.

Inquiry Locations
The monthly meetings are held in regional cities across France.

Public Hearings
Public meetings were held each month in cities and towns across France for victims, their family members, and actors in the field.

Private Sessions
At the monthly public meetings, individual hearings are also conducted as far as possible.

Written Submissions
Written submissions, along with testimony given by telephone and via an online questionnaire, were an important part of the information collected.

Witnesses
Over the course of the two years of part 1 of its work (to November 2023), the Commission received nearly 30 000 testimonials.

In addition, 25 experts (psychologists, psychiatrists, historians) were interviewed in the course of CIIVISE meetings.

Findings

The Commission found that sexual violence against children, and in particular incest, is a crime that the legal establishment, and therefore society as a whole, is blind to, and that the veil finally must be lifted and words given to what hitherto has been unspoken, to look squarely at what incest is, to account for the multitude of forms that this violence takes, as well as its far-reaching consequences.

Recommendations
82 recommendations in the report for part 1 of the Inquiry

Related Inquiries
The Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE) was an influential precursor to this Commission.

Deputy Chair

• Rey-Salmon, Caroline (December 2023 – February 2024)