“Until now, we lived in a culture of child rape”, interview with magistrate Jérôme Pauzat

What should we do with the indignation caused by the Lyhanna affair, how should we respond to it? The magistrate Jérôme Pausedvice-president en responsible for the enforcement of sentences and coordinator of the “intra-family violence” unit within the Nancy judicial court, created the AMOUR de justice association in 2021, to Å“uvrer to repair the links between the French and the judicial institution. He explains it here, and pleads for a fight against violence against children which involves specialization of professionals.

What is your view on the announcements and proposals for reforms which have multiplied since the Lyhanna affair broke out?

Jérôme Pauzat : A slightly disillusioned look, obviously… How can we not have the feeling that, for years, the same mechanism has been at work in each drama? We are in the onslaught, the media-political unreason… not in the scrupulous analysis of the facts and shortcomings. In this case, this atrocious affair marks the start of the presidential campaign: everyone seizes it and throws out their proposals in public without asking the question of their relevance or their feasibility. Let’s take the framework law on gender-based and sexual violence against women and children, whose examination is urgently requested: is it a catch-all law, a set of incantations aimed at reassuring citizens? Or is it truly an integral program law, which provides for the specialization of all personnel having to deal with these files? I fear a little, I admit, that this text will be swept away in the summer by other emergencies and other dramas – that it will end up being lost in the great magma of current affairs.

 

Do you nevertheless believe that there is a need for such a law? 

I am convinced of it, yes. The example of Spain proves it: in 2004, this country was the first to adopt an ambitious law against violence against women, to make this fight a national priority thanks to dedicated courts, specialized investigators, an overhaul of the chain criminal law, effective warning systems. And femicides have fallen by 35%. Critics of these measures will say that other issues have suffered. No doubt, but it’s inevitable: we always prioritize to the detriment of something! This is also, moreover, what must be explained to the French: the popular anger expressed today clearly shows that, for our fellow citizens, the fight against violence against women and children must come before everything else – even before, for example, the fight against drug trafficking. It is therefore a question of being ambitious but also to assess the impact on the budget of a comprehensive law. Out of 1,000 euros of public spending, 5 go to justice today. More resources will be needed – which will mean taking money elsewhere. And the representatives of the nation will have to vote with full knowledge of the facts.