The Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (Ciivise) is at the heart of a serious controversy.
Franceinfo revealed on Tuesday that its vice-president Caroline Rey-Salmon is the target of a complaint for sexual assault.
Le Parisien, which obtained confirmation this Wednesday of the filing of the complaint, takes stock of what we know about this file.
What is Caroline Rey-Salmon accused of?
Forensic pediatrician and legal expert, Caroline Rey-Salmon is the subject of a complaint filed Tuesday in Marseille.
The healthcare professional is accused of sexual assault by a patient now aged 25.
The young woman denounces the way a gynecological examination was carried out.
This medical procedure was organized following an investigation into the victim for incest.
The alleged events took place in 2020. The young woman explains that she then suffered “another sexual assault”.
Caroline Rey-Salmon would have wanted to show him that she could not have suffered vaginal rape.
To support her demonstration, the expert repeatedly made “back and forth gestures” on the young woman's penis, again according to her account.
“Don’t you think he was making that gesture instead?”
», Reports the patient to Franceinfo.
The alleged victim explains that she “completely forgot the rest of the examination” because she was “stunned”.
She waited several years to file a complaint even though she was already involved in lengthy proceedings regarding the incestuous acts she denounced.
It was the appointment of Caroline Rey-Salmon which would have acted as a triggering factor.
“Being at the head of the Civil Society whose aim is precisely to fight against sexual violence and protect children, I don't have confidence at all.
Once again I feel like society is laughing at me,” she explains.
How does the accusation defend itself?
Caroline Rey-Salmon “does not wish to comment at this time”.
She still declares “to contest all the accusations”.
Franceinfo compares these statements with writings from 2018 written by Caroline Rey-Salmon in a specialized journal.
“Children do not understand their genital anatomy (…) and do not have the words to describe what they have suffered.
“That’s the whole point of doing a kind of reconstruction of the attacker’s actions with the child on the examination table and collecting their feelings to be as close as possible to the unfolding of the events.”
These practices are not at all validated by many peers.
No comments and “support” from the Ciivise side
Questioned Tuesday evening in the Quotidien show on TMC, Sébastien Boueilh, the president of Ciivise did not wish to comment on the substance of the case.
“If the victim has filed a complaint, so much the better, I think Caroline will do so too and the courts will decide.”
However, he took care to provide his “support” to his vice-president.
Relaunched on the fact that the Civil Society believes the victims, he reaffirmed his “support”.
A petition in favor of the complainant has been launched.
She asks Sébastien Boueilh and Catherine Vautrin, the Minister of Health, to “remove” Caroline Rey-Salmon.
In December, the Ciivise already found itself at the center of a controversy when its president Édouard Durand was replaced.
He was known for his independence and outspokenness.
He particularly deplored the judicial treatment of sexual violence.
Under his presidency, the Ciivise advocated for making reporting by doctors compulsory.
Caroline Rey-Salmon opposed it.