renforcement des moyens pour la prise en charge des enfants victimes de violences
In early 2020, a Regional Psychotrauma Center (CRP) was created in Bordeaux as part of a call for projects launched by the President of the Republic two years earlier. Unfortunately, victim of its success, additional means will have to be granted to it.
Children who are victims of physical violence, particularly sexual violence, can now be listened to and cared for by multidisciplinary teams brought together within the same structure in Bordeaux. Like those who have witnessed domestic violence, they will be able to be integrated into a personalized care pathway. The road has been long but the lines are finally moving.
Last November, Adrien Taquet, Secretary of State for Children and the Family, declared “the margins for progress are immense”. Nevertheless, on the ground, care for traumatized children is accelerating. After the announcements, it’s time to take the pulse and take stock.
This Wednesday, January 26, Adrien Taquet therefore went to the CRP in Bordeaux. Was it a communication operation? “ No “, Clearly slice Catherine Bergey. The coordinator of this center notes the commitment of the public authorities from which it has improved over the past two years and the strengthening of the means from which it should soon benefit.
Initially dedicated to adults, the center had only one child psychologist. And very quickly the teams realized, especially with the Covid crisis, that it was necessary to develop a real child psychiatric component in the structure. A child psychiatrist from Paris was therefore recruited last summer.
“At the start, out of 400,000 euros to set up two branches, one in Bordeaux and another in Poitiers” Explain Catherine Bergey. “Here in Bordeaux, the hospital has also benefited with an additional 150,000 euros for the center of Bordeaux. These envelopes are renewable. And resources are arriving to increase with a participation of theRegional Health Agency. We are going to allocate nearly 26 positions in the child psychiatry CMPs in the region, including more than 7 in Gironde. And at the level of the Regional Psychotrauma Center, we will also be strengthened (financially and humanly) to be able to ensure coordination of the care put in place on the territory.
Today the count 15 CRP in France. East–this sufficient ? “This already makes it possible to mesh the territory and to have one per region”, replies the Secretary of State. “We will surely have to develop more. But it is already a good start to be able to have a structure like this with committed professionals with this degree of expertise in each of our regions (…). We are really in digging the baptismal funds for a real policy of taking care of child victims of sexual violence in our country”.
The objective of this policy is to treat and listen to young victims of violence. But what violence are we talking about? These are children who have suffered physical violence, particularly sexual violence. But also the children of abused people. Child witnesses of victims of domestic violence are therefore concerned by this system.
To treat these children or adolescents, a complete course of care is necessary. The government therefore wanted to set up Pediatric Reception Units for Children at Risk (UAPED) located in the pediatric departments of hospitals. Once they have passed through these Uapeds, the children are redirected to medico-psychological centers (CMP) or regional psychotrauma centers such as the one in Bordeaux.
At the Bordeaux CRP, consultations dedicated to child victims of violence take place in a room where toys have been stored. This piece tries to create a reassuring universe so that the child feels, if possible, confident.
The Bordeaux CRP is located at Charles-Perrens Hospital in Bordeaux. It welcomes children but also adults who are victims of psychotrauma. ” We have three missions “, details Catherine Bergey. ” First, there is the care part. It’s about assessing and managing post-traumatic stress disorder.”. Since its creation, 12% of the patients seen have been minors.
“Then, we proceed in place with a mapping of the resources, in particular professionals on psychotraumatology according to techniques references at the international level in particular the EMDR (Eyes Mouvement Desensitization and Processing editor’s note, that is to say the “desensitization and eye movement reprocessing” ) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)”. Currently nearly a hundred professionals are being referenced.
The third mission of the center is to train and raise awareness. A colossal mission as the field of action is vast. As proof, 2300 people registered, 1100 were able to be trained. This concerns people working in national education or the judicial sector, health professionals, or even educators. More than a thousand people were made aware.
The CRP teams are therefore multi-professional. They are made up of a medical secretary, a nurse, psychologists, psychiatrists, an osteopath and a cartographer.
In this team we also note the presence of an “expert victim”. This is a woman who herself has been a victim and who has made enough progress on her trauma to provide specific support for victims. It makes it possible to have a different approach and to help caregivers in their way of caring for victims. ” The work done here between the professionals and the expert victim is to make the professionals aware so that there is a real listening “ explains Marie-José Hay, from the “En parle” association.
” This listening must be done not thanks to what the professionals have learned, with theory in particular, but thanks to what the victims of sexual violence really experience. The objective is for this to have a real impact on the way the victim is received, but also on his care pathway “.
This technique of involving victims in the training of caregivers comes from Canada where, according to Marie-José Hay, it has existed for twenty years.
To be an expert patient, “you have to have already made a lot of progress in your life, have worked a lot on yourself,” she explains. ” You have to be aware of your limits also because it’s not easy to evoke or take up stories in the figure. We talk a lot about re-victimization: speech re-victimizes or can re-victimize. So that means that you have to be calm with your life, with yourself and know where you are “. The main objective of this technique is to “really take into account the words of the victims”. It’s not I come to the doctor and the doctor already has a preconceived idea because you have been a victim of sexual violence of what you should have as a course of care. No “.
It is a question of considering the individual as a full-fledged victim requiring a charge specific to his story.