Paris 2024 Olympics: “Here we can find young girls who come from the provinces”, the increase in prostitution of minors at the center of concerns

Informer sur la prostution des mineurs en milieu scolaire : une nécessité avant les JO. MAXPPP – Guillaume Bonnefont

Le nombre de mineurs prostitués a plus que doublé ces dernières années. Ils seraient entre 7 000 et 10 000, en très grande majorité des jeunes filles de 13 à 16 ans.

"A kid who is shifty with changing relationships, all these signals you will recognize" : in a college in "93", an association focuses on preventing adults from facing the dangers of adolescent prostitution that the Olympics are likely to encourage.

"We can assume that with the arrival of the Olympic Games, there will be an increase in prostitution of minors, particularly in the Seine -Saint-Denis", alerts Constance Benit of the Amicale du Nid, in front of the educational team of the Romain Rolland college in Tremblay-en-France (Seine-Saint- Denis).

A high school principal confirmed to us that she had identified signals

At the initiative of the municipality of this town located around thirty kilometers from Paris, the association fighting prostitution intervened at the end of April in this apparently uneventful establishment. "We know that there is prostitution of minors in the town, moreover a high school principal confirmed to us that she had identified signals", explains Gaëtan Dolce, responsible for delinquency prevention in Tremblay.

The Olympics risk accentuating this phenomenon

"Our fear is that this phenomenon will increase with the Games and we absolutely want to prevent young girls from finding themselves in this situation", he adds. After watching a film featuring a 14-year-old student who falls into prostitution, questions abound among educational staff: "How to identify a student who is in difficulty ? How to talk to her ? How to react if she refuses to confide ? And if she confirms that she is a prostitute ?"

"A kid who is not doing well, who is shifty with changing relationships, all these signals you will recognize them", reassures Julie Durand, social worker at the Villepinte and Tremblay police stations.

"When you have many factors that suggest that a child is in danger, it is absolutely necessary to report the facts", she adds.

Between 7 000 and 10 000

According to associations, the number of minor prostitutes has more than doubled in recent years. They number between 7,000 and 10,000, the vast majority of them young girls aged 13 to 16.

According to the Amicale du Nid, which set up digital monitoring in January, ads have been increasing for several weeks on 'sexemodel', the main site of&rsquo ;prostitution advertisements in France.

This increase mainly concerns "93"

"This increase mainly concerns "93" and in particular the cities which host Olympic sites"< /em>, reports Hanitra Andriamandroso of the Amicale du Nid. – near Roissy- The fear of an upsurge in prostitution during the Olympics is taken very seriously by the government which is due to unveil a combat plan on Thursday with particular attention paid to the issue of digital and minors.

In the immediate vicinity of Paris and the Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport, Tremblay presents several advantages for prostitution networks wishing to operate during the Games.< em> "Here you can find young girls who come from the provinces, who pass through the airport and who then leave for Paris or other large cities", confirms Julie Durand.

More supporters, more potential customers

The town of Seine-Saint-Denis will welcome the Cuban boxing team, "which will attract supporters and therefore potential clients", says Hanitra Andriamandroso who also takes the opportunity to warn the college team about certain prostitution practices.

"We notice an increase in announcements at lunchtime when the girls should be in the canteen and some establishments report cars coming and going in the parking lot at the same hours, that's where the passes take place", says Hanitra Andriamandroso.

Teacher awareness

At the mention of these details "practical", the participants look at each other in silence. Incredulous. "I think that thanks to this awareness there are mistakes that we might have made and that we will be able to avoid", observes Edouardo Perrier, the principal of the Romain Rolland college.

"At the start of my career I was detached from the students, I told myself that it was not my role as mother. interested in their lives", slips Laure Guilleminot, physics-chemistry professor. "But in fact we are often their main adult interlocutor at college and if they come to see us, we have to know how to be present and tell them that we are there and that we are listening to them."