Mothers who lost custody of their children for refusing to hand them over to their father, who is suspected of incest, denounced the "judicial dysfunctions" that prevent them from "protecting their children" at a rally in Paris on Tuesday.
"It always happens like this: the mother believes her child who reports sexual violence and decides not to hand the child over to the other parent," explains lawyer Rebecca Royer.
"At that point, the family court judge will decide to remove the mother's residence and place the child in the home of the parent in question," says Royer, who says he follows "dozens of cases" of mothers who "in 100% of cases" lose custody.
"Mothers want to apply the precautionary principle while the investigation is ongoing. However, family court judges transfer residence even while the investigation is ongoing," she says.
"Mothers are expected to remain silent. They are faced with the difficult choice of either stopping handing the child over to the father and risking losing custody, or failing to protect him," Royer emphasizes.
"Criminal investigations take years and the civil courts must decide on the child's residence immediately, often without communicating with the criminal courts," laments Hélène Roche, general delegate of the association Protect the Child.
"When you set the judicial machine in motion, it crushes victims and healthy parents," says Sophie Abida, who lost custody of her four children in 2023, who were handed over to their father, even though he was convicted of physical and psychological violence against his children, and was the subject of a criminal investigation for incestuous rape, according to Royer.
The associations are calling for the creation of a "child safety order" recommended by the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (Ciivise) in its November 2023 report.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, who resigned, announced in August his intention to create a "safety order" to "immediately protect a child from an abusive parent," but this proposal has remained a dead letter.
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