Violences sexuelles chez les mineurs et conséquences psychopathologiques à l’adolescence : aspects historiques et contemporains

Abstract

In recent years, sexual crimes and offenses, in particular among minors, have been the subject of significant media coverage in France as well as a modification of the French law in April 2021. This new law carried several legislative transformations towards a better recognition and protection of children and adolescents who are victims of such violence. This societal and political concern was also exposed by the creation in 2020 by the French government of the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence against Children. In 2022, this commission issued a certain number of recommendations aimed at professionals in contact with minors, particularly in the field of paediatrics and child psychiatry. We propose in this article, in the light of the current context, to review and comment on how the scientific and medical community has been interested in this question since the 19th century, going through several periods of polemics, before arriving at the interest that exists today for this subject. By studying the scientific literature available since the 1990s, it appears that sexual violence among minors and their psychological reactions has constituted a subject of research that is now very topical, yet still complex to study, concerned by very specific ethical and methodological issues. Data concerning the long-term psychological consequences of sexual violence suffered in childhood and adolescence are quite numerous, demonstrating a considerable impact on mental health, with increased risks of anxiety-depressive disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, and an increased suicidal risk. On the other hand, the literature focusing on more immediate consequences is less extensive and appears to be an area in which medical research can still develop. We present an inventory focusing on the psychological and psychiatric consequences in adolescents whose clinical traits of trauma, intertwined with that of adolescence, can be confusing. If medical research has provided much data on the psychopathological impact of sexual violence for over 30 years, many areas of research remain to be considered, in particular in the field of child psychiatry and within the framework of care services, to continue to understand this delicate topic.