Incest according to Manon Schick
Manon Schick (MS) is the former Amnesty International Switzerland director and current child and adult protection director of the Vaud canton. What's her take on incest in Switzerland?
I'm not forgetting the series on Christian Fellrath, the ghost of Swiss child abuse, is not finished, read on ...
In January and February 2021 MS went public on the subject of incest. She acknowledged in radio and television interviews that even if her office has strong indications allegations of sexual abuse are not true.
International executionary conventions demand indeed for any allegation to be taken seriously, and children to be protected from the alleged perpetrators until proven not guilty. It puts pressure on the system to ensure the quickest possible resolution, and for cases to not drag on for many years. Conventions are also explicit in the time and urgency in allegations of children and sexual abuse.
This is indeed what the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, its optional protocols, the Council of Europe Lanzarote Convention, and other international instruments command.
What did Manon Schick say to the public?
I'll not spend too much time on this, as you can obviously browse for her accounts in the Swiss media. Bullet-point style, incest is according to her:
- the most difficult to combat form of child abuse, because ...
- taboo in the public sphere, there is no public debate, it is still considered a myth, and therefore people do not know what child sexual abuse is
- 90% of child sexual abuse is committed by someone in the family sphere
- only 2 to 11 condemned per year, very few dare to file criminal complaints
- the most hidden form of child abuse due to threats and hardship if daring to speak. An imposed secret for which the child doesn't know if it is normal, triggering a mechanism of defence to forget, which sometimes only comes back 20-30 years later
- total lack of data in Switzerland, no reason for the data/situation to be different in Switzerland
- lack of political accountability, and federalism is a barrier to tackling the issue
She hoped that in Switzerland the public would keep the subject in the media so things may change. Alas, Swiss confidentiality DNA rules: no one speaks of child sexual abuse perpetrated in the family sphere in Switzerland.
Contacting Manon Schick
On February 24th and 25th 2021 I contacted MS about the child protection services in Neuchatel not acting in the face of evidence of child sexual abuse.
On March 3rd 2021 MS responds:
J’ai transmis vos courriels à M. Christian Fellrath, chef du Service de protection de l'adulte et de la jeunesse de Neuchâtel, comme objet de sa compétence. Celui-ci reviendra vers vous afin de répondre à votre demande.
I have forwarded your e-mails to Mr. Christian Fellrath, Head of the Neuchâtel Adult and Youth Protection Service, as a matter subject to his authority. He will get back to you to answer your request.
On March 9th 2021 she responds:
Je comprends bien la situation difficile dans laquelle vous vous trouvez. Toutefois, les cantons suisses sont des entités différentes dans le domaine de la protection de l'enfance et ils ne peuvent interférer dans les procédures des autres cantons. En d'autres termes, c'est comme si vous demandiez à une cheffe de service en Belgique de s'occuper d'une situation dans un autre pays. C'est pour cela que je vous ai indiqué ne pas pouvoir me prononcer et avoir transmis votre courriel à M. Christian Fellrath, chef du Service de protection de l'adulte et de la jeunesse de Neuchâtel, comme objet de sa compétence. Si vous estimez que le service précité n'agit pas de manière correcte, vous pouvez vous adresser à la conseillère d'Etat du canton de Neuchâtel.
I understand the difficult situation you find yourself in. However, the Swiss cantons are different entities in the field of child protection and cannot interfere in the procedures of other cantons. In other words, it's like asking a head of department in Belgium to deal with a situation in another country. That's why I told you that I couldn't give you an opinion, and that I had forwarded your e-mail to Mr Christian Fellrath, Head of the Neuchâtel Adult and Youth Protection Service, as a matter of his responsibility. If you feel that the aforementioned department is not acting correctly, you can contact the State Councillor of the Canton of Neuchâtel.
On June 1st 2023 I asked whether there was a child sexual abuse protocol in the canton Vaud and/or federal protocol. On June 16th 2021 her secretary responds on behalf of MS:
Il n'y a pas de protocole particulier dans le canton de Vaud en matière d'abus sexuels. Par contre, nous travaillons de manière régulière avec les deux organismes suivants : – Association ESPAS : https://www.espas.info/ – Centre LAVI : https://www.profa.ch/services-2/centre-lavi/ Nous n’avons par ailleurs pas connaissance d'un protocole fédéral à ce sujet.
There is no specific protocol in the canton of Vaud concerning sexual abuse. However, we work regularly with the following two organizations: – Association ESPAS: https://www.espas.info/ – Center LAVI: https://www.profa.ch/services-2/centre-lavi/ We are not aware of any federal protocol on this subject.
I thanked MS for her responses and action, which were coherent with International Instruments: obligation to act, denounce, help victims to the extend possible in light of children victims and perpetrators not physically present in her jurisdiction.
ESPAS was discussed in an earlier post. The gender bias, corrupt and human rights violating LAVI will be the subject of a separate post later.
conclusion
We know from these contacts with MS that CF was duly informed by his inter cantonal colleague on the subject of his office's denial of child sexual abuse, to which he was due to respond to me directly, and to which he never responded. It also acknowledges there is no federal or cantonal child sexual abuse protocol and a lack of political accountability on the subject.
From the previous post we know CF is responsible for having closed the parliamentary sexual abuse commission back in 2007, and nothing has replaced it.
Do you need more elements for CF's omerta on the subject?
Series on Christian Fellrath, director of the Adult and Child Protection Services:
- part 1 { the ghost of child and adult protection services }
- part 2 { the failing of initiatives against child abuse }
- part 3 { (child) sexual violence parliamentary commission: canceled }
- part 4 { Incest according to Manon Schick}
- part 5 { What's the fuss about not bringing children to a court order about?}
A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. This blog gets the proverbial pants on!
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