Children in danger 'not heard' in France, rights lawyer warns after Lyhanna death
Lyhanna disappeared in the town of Fleurance in southwestern France on 29 May. Her body was found six days later in an abandoned grain silo.
The case has triggered a national debate over child protection and the justice system after it emerged that the main suspect had already been accused nine months earlier of repeatedly raping another schoolgirl.
Despite a complaint being filed, he had still not been questioned, raising questions about the actions of police and prosecutors.
Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said reports by France's justice and gendarmerie inspectorates are expected on 19 June and should help determine whether the failures were the result of individual mistakes or wider systemic problems.
The government has also launched a review of tens of thousands of cases involving children to ensure similar failings are not overlooked.
A former vice-president of the Paris Bar, Attias is a specialist in children's rights and violence against women. She says the Lyhanna case exposes decades of neglect.
RFI: Twelve days after the Lyhanna case shocked France, confusion is mixed with shock and anger. You've spent years fighting for children's rights in France and internationally. What have you felt since this case emerged?
Dominique Attias: Anger, but unfortunately not surprise. Professionals from every field have been warning about this for many years. Lawyers, judges, educators – all of us have been crying for help for children who are in danger, and we are not heard.
I am angry because it takes the death of a little girl for everyone suddenly to wake up. It is a disgrace. It is heartbreaking.
But above all, the pressure must not ease. We need concrete measures and we need to keep watch. Because what usually happens? Emotion. There is an outcry, then interest dies down, and nothing changes.
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RFI: And nothing happens, is that what you're saying?
DA: Nothing happens. For 30 years we have been dismantling the justice system, especially children's justice – justice for children in danger, and even for children who commit offences, because they are often the same children.
We have been trying to raise the alarm for years. Enough is enough.
RFI: The justice minister has spoken of "total dysfunction" in this case. What words would you use? You have already spoken of a national shame...
DA: Before pointing the finger at others, politicians of all parties should examine their own responsibility. Suddenly everyone is acting shocked, including members of parliament. But where have they been all these years?
Every time there is a major news story, the government issues new instructions telling prosecutors what should be treated as a priority. These prioritisation directives have existed for years.
RFI: Instructions from the government telling prosecutors which types of cases should take priority?
DA: Exactly. For the past year and a half, there has been one priority after another – drug trafficking, violence against women, antisemitism, racism.
But we do not have enough prosecutors. We do not have enough gendarmes. The judicial police was dismantled by Darmanin. How can the system cope?
And now every political movement is trying to exploit this case. It is a disgrace. Children have become a political object.
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RFI: You talk about a lack of resources, yet we hear that justice spending has increased in recent years. Over the past decade, the ministry's budget has risen by 53 percent. So what has happened to that money?
DA: People are being misled. Half of that increase has gone into building closed facilities. It has gone into prison infrastructure.
RFI: Into the prison system?
DA: Into prisons. And that does not solve the problem, because we keep locking up more and more people and there are never enough places anyway.
That is not the issue. The issue is prevention – spotting problems early and protecting children before tragedy strikes. Prosecutors do not only deal with crimes after they happen. They also play a role in protecting vulnerable children. But they no longer have the resources to do that properly.
Every time a new law is passed, prosecutors are given more work to do. But everyone knows the figures. France has far fewer prosecutors than most other developed countries.
RFI: France has three prosecutors per 100,000 inhabitants compared with a European average of 11.
DA: And in some countries it is 22, so France has three as opposed to 22.
RFI: What needs to be done? More resources? A real understanding that this is a priority? What should come first?
DA: We need to stop hearing governments, whatever their political persuasion, say they do not have the money. Governments make choices. They decide what matters.
Despite all the grand declarations that children are our main priority for protection in France, that is simply not true.
We want funding ring-fenced for several years so that we can begin repairing the damage that has already been done. The damage is real and repairing it will not be easy.
We also need more training. How can all gendarmes be properly prepared if they are not trained?
We need more specialised paediatric units for child victims. France is short of 45 of these units. They bring everyone together in one place when a child becomes a victim of crime – prosecutors, gendarmes, psychologists, lawyers and judges.
The Gers was also short more than 300 gendarmes. That is what needs to be addressed. And enough with these endless prioritisation directives. Everything else gets neglected.
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RFI: If everything is a priority, then nothing really is. Is what you're describing a situation where violence against children is not taken seriously in France today?
DA: Of course it is not taken seriously. But it is not only violence.
RFI: It is children's rights.
DA: It is children's rights in general that are not taken seriously. Why does a child who is a victim not automatically have the right – and this should be guaranteed by law – to be accompanied by a specialised children's lawyer from the moment a complaint is filed?
A children's lawyer can explain what is going to happen, help the child speak freely and provide support from someone trained for that role.
We have been fighting for this for 20 years and still have not achieved it. It is now or never.
RFI: How do you explain this indifference? You told us at the start that this case did not surprise you, yet the figures are staggering. In France, a child becomes the victim of incest, rape or sexual assault every three minutes. By the time we finish this interview, three more children will have become victims. Why has this issue not received more attention?
DA: And most of those cases happen within the family. Eighty percent of children who suffer violence experience it in their family environment.
RFI: Is this a problem with French society?
DA: It is a societal problem. What kind of future do we want for our children? France is – and I know some people will object to this – still a patriarchal society.
Not so long ago, paternal authority was almost absolute. It came from Roman law, with powers over women and children that were close to life-and-death authority.
This is a genuine social issue. Why have Nordic countries had laws addressing what we call ordinary violence for 30 years, while we took decades to get there?
People mocked us when we campaigned for a ban on smacking. They said we wanted to stop parents from raising their children. But who were they kidding?
This is about male power. I am sorry to put it that way, but that is what it is.
RFI: Is it better elsewhere? You have experience from many countries.
DA: People often say it is better elsewhere. In some places it certainly is.
Take developing countries, for example. They still face many challenges, but many of them have a dedicated children's code. We do not. We have been calling for one for 30 years.
We want a comprehensive framework covering children's rights and responsibilities so that society can decide what it wants for its children.
RFI: One final question. Difficult as it is to say, do you think something good could come from this case?
DA: My God, I hope she did not die for nothing.
If every new law could remind us of Lyhanna, and if every child could one day say: "Lyhanna, you died, but your death was not in vain. It won us our rights."