Violence. Forced Delinquency: What to Remember from the Report on Exploited Children

"For them, it's a double whammy," UNICEF states in its report published this Wednesday on the occasion of World Day Against Human Trafficking. In essence, the study by the French branch of the UN children's agency estimates that the thousands of children exploited by criminal networks in France are still too often perceived and treated as delinquents and not as victims. They "are too often prosecuted and criminally punished for the offenses committed as a result of their exploitation," the text explains.

According to data from the Interministerial Mission for the Protection of Women Against Violence and the Fight Against Human Trafficking (Miprof), more than two-thirds of people affected by criminal exploitation (pimping, drug trafficking, pickpocketing, burglary, charity scams, fraudulent documents, etc.) in France are under 18 years old.

Among the minors identified by the associations, 92% are believed to be unaccompanied minors (UMs) and are mainly from the African continent (81%) – particularly Algeria and Morocco – and Europe (19%), particularly Eastern and Southern Europe (mainly Romania and Bosnia-Herzegovina). The majority of victims are believed to be boys or young men (89%).

But the situation is deteriorating, warns Geneviève Colas, representative of Secours Catholique-Caritas France: "Before we had teenagers, now we have children aged 8 to 10 who are victims of trafficking."

"Those who exploit them employ various strategies: addiction, blackmail, threats, psychological pressure, and violence," emphasizes Corentin Bailleul, who is in charge of advocacy for UNICEF France. "Exploited young people are often recruited under false promises, or forced to act to survive or repay a debt."

But on the ground, "their exploitation is little recognized, with a few exceptions," he adds, citing the so-called "petty thieves of the Trocadéro" trial of January 2024. The Paris court then described a "modus operandi where minors" were enslaved and "reified," "reduced to the status of tools." Its decision was described as historic and exemplary by the associations, which welcomed the "consecration of the status of victims" of minors.

For UNICEF, it is time for France to "explicitly" include in its penal code "that a person who is a victim of exploitation cannot be criminally liable when the offense committed is a consequence of trafficking." The UN agency also calls on Paris to specify in its civil code "that any minor who is exploited, even occasionally, is deemed to be in danger and falls under the protection of the juvenile court."