Broken children: France confronts crisis of sexual violence against minors

In France, a new "comprehensive law" aims to strengthen preventative measures, the judicial process and support for child victims of sexual violence. Yet advocacy groups, lawyers, and healthcare professionals point out that the legislation has numerous shortcomings. We take a closer look in this edition of France in Focus. Warning: viewers may find parts of this report disturbing.

In France, one child is reportedly raped or sexually assaulted every three minutes.

CIIVISE, the independent commission on incest and sexual violence involving minors, estimates that 160,000 children are victims of these crimes every year.

The murder and rape of 11-year-old Lyhanna in May shocked the country and accelerated the creation of a "comprehensive law". Its aim is to intervene at every level, from preventative measures to the judicial response, including the protection and support of victims.

Silence

Mié Kohiyama was five years old when she was raped by her cousin. She says she lived with traumatic amnesia for 32 years before her memories of the incident returned.

Now a co-founder of the Be Brave France charity, she advocates for the elimination of statutes of limitations.

She explained to the National Assembly in April: "When these victims face a wall of refusal from the justice system, it is an absolutely devastating form of violence. You have to be incredibly strong not to give up and kill yourself." 

Her story illustrates one of the challenges of childhood sexual abuse: it can take some victims decades to speak out and file a complaint.

Since 2018 in France, the statute of limitations for rapes committed against minors has been 30 years from the age of majority, meaning up to age 48. But for victims who were raped before 2018, the law is different.

In the rest of the European Union, half of its member states have abolished statutes of limitations for the most serious sexual crimes.

Carine Durrieu-Diebolt is a lawyer who specialises in defending these victims; she believes the law is too complex. "In France now, a victim who was raped as a minor has 30 years from the time they reach adulthood to take legal action. So, until the age of 48. But that's not the case for every victim, because the law changes and it doesn't apply in the same way to everyone. So abolishing the statute of limitations would simplify the law and give everyone the same legal framework."

The issue is all the more sensitive because DNA evidence diminishes and becomes unusable over time. But Durrieu-Diebolt believes investigators should devote more resources to the preliminary investigation: "Very often, in cases of sexual assault, not everything is done that could be. For example, there isn't always a search of the perpetrator's home. Wiretaps are very rarely used in these cases, whereas in drug cases, all these measures are employed. There is no need for physical evidence of rape on the victim's body to prove that a rape occurred."

Ordinary citizens-turned-cyber vigilantes

Sexual violence against children is rising on the Internet.

"Punisher," a volunteer with Les Enfants d'Argus association, has been tracking child sex offenders on social media for six years. The association says he has helped identify more than 200 individuals.

Volunteers often create fake profiles of children to monitor the requests that they receive and compile files that are then forwarded to the authorities.

But these police forces are facing a huge volume of cases.

In 2025, the Office for Minors (OFMIN) reported receiving approximately 200,000 reports – that's nearly 500 every day. Its director, Division Commissioner Aurélie Besançon, says the office has only about 60 agents.

The investigators' work is complicated further by artificial intelligence. Offenders can now create or modify images and videos in a highly realistic manner using the face of a child or teenager, easily fooling their prey, and making it harder for investigators to track them down.

For AI specialist Ninon Bajard, young internet users must remain cautious. "The rule in 2026 is simple: don't believe anything you see online. If there's even the slightest doubt, don't send anything, so you can't be blackmailed."

Preventative measures

Sexual Violence Resource Centres (CRIAVS) conduct research, compile information, and train professionals on how to deal with perpetrators.

There are 27 of these centres across France. Most have set up a free, confidential helpline for people who are sexually attracted to children.

For healthcare professionals at the CRIAVS Rhône-Alpes, in east-central France, the goal is to intervene before the offence is committed.

Contrary to popular belief, not all perpetrators of sexual violence against minors can be classed as paedophiles, notes Mathias Poiteau, a psychologist at Le Vinatier Hospital in Lyon. "The vast majority of people who commit sexual acts against minors don't have a paedophilic attraction. We're often dealing with either extreme immaturity, or issues of control, aggression and a desire for power and domination because a minor is more vulnerable."

The STOP helpline received more than 4,500 calls in 2025 – triple the number of calls as the year it was launched, 2021.

Laure Vivier, medical secretary at CRIAVS Rhône-Alpes, explains: "Paedophilia is a disorder. That can be difficult to hear, of course. But some people who have these fantasies didn't choose to have them. Without in any way condoning what these people are experiencing, we have to recognise that instead of leaving them on their own, we need to talk to them so that the fantasy remains just a fantasy."

But the programme has its limits: calling the helpline does not mean that the person will subsequently agree to medical or psychological treatment.

Below is a list of free emergency numbers

India 

1098

Child helpline

181

Women's helpline

United Kingdom

0800 1111

ChildLine (for children and young people)

0800 136 663 (for child abuse in education)

0808 800 5000 (advice and support to adults worried about a child)

USA

Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline (to find the number in your state)

RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline, 24/7 1-800-656-4673

Australia

1800 55 1800

Kids Helpline, a 24/7 nationwide support service specifically for children and young people aged 5 to 25.