Paris: Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in several French cities on Saturday to protest against sexual violence, the latest manifestation of anger sparked by the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl.
The body of the girl, named Lyhanna, was found last month after she went missing on May 29 in the southwestern city of Fleurance.
The suspect, the 41-year-old father of a school friend of the victim, had twice previously been formally charged with child rape, but investigations had been dropped or stalled.
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The death has sparked outrage and calls for the resignation of Justice Minister Gerald Darman, who has refused to resign but apologized for what he called a “huge failure”.
On Saturday people marched in Paris chanting slogans such as “The truth comes from the mouths of children!” and “160,000 children, what are you doing?”
Organizers said 100,000 people were taking part in the Paris march and called it a “historic mobilization against sexual violence”.
Eline, a 17-year-old high school student, was among the marchers. She said she filed a rape complaint this year.
The police officer told me it wasn’t rape, that it could ruin this man’s life, he made me feel guilty and questioned what I had said,” she said.
“We cannot have an underfunded court system that protects the attackers and not the victims. With 94 percent of rape complaints dismissed without further action, there are too many attackers who are reported to the courts and face no action,” said Anne-Cecile Mailfert, president of the Women’s Foundation, before the demonstration.
Marches were held in around 110 cities across France including Dijon in the east and Toulouse in the south.
coalition
Organizers, embracing 180 associations, are calling for a comprehensive law rather than “piecemeal measures and laws” to combat sexual violence on all fronts, from prevention to support for victims.
Since the Lyhanna case, the coalition has organized weekly protests in front of regional courts in the Gers region where she was found murdered and in front of the justice ministry in Paris.
President Emmanuel Macron has said he feared for confidence in France’s institutions over failures to investigate the main suspect in Lyhanna’s case.
A 2022 government report signaled limited staffing and time to properly investigate allegations of child abuse. He found that in 70 percent of cases, after questioning the suspect, investigators did not conduct further searches for physical evidence from the phone, camera or computer.
