Sexual violence: a law in the school environment requested

It is imperative for the Quebec government to put in place a law aimed at combating sexual violence in primary and secondary schools, hammered a group of organizations defending young people on Monday.

• Read also: Coaches accused: They would have taken advantage of the same victim

In response to the arrest of three basketball coaches from Saint-Laurent high school on February 2, the group “Youth voices count” urged the Legault government to act to defend the safety of young people. On this subject, he calls on the Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, and the Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Isabelle Charest, for a law as soon as possible.

“It hurts me every time I see the government’s inaction, because young people are suffering in silence,” said the co-founder of “The voice of young people counts”, Clorianne Augustin, during a press conference at the Center St-Pierre, Monday.

“We have been asking the Minister of Education to act for five years,” she added.

The collective struggles to understand the lack of support offered to young people at the primary or secondary level, whom it considers to be as much at risk as those at other levels of education.

“De facto, nobody can, today, consider that we have ideological debates on the question of the protection of young people. A framework law already exists at the college and university level. All that remains is to complete the [début] of the educational path”, summed up the founder of the organization Pour 3 Points, Fabrice Vil.

Among the measures proposed, we are asking for more consistency in interventions within schools, the establishment of safe spaces to encourage disclosures of sexual violence and awareness-raising work with young people by sexologists or other people. qualified.

The case of Saint-Laurent is far from isolated

Shockwaves shook the world of student sports when Daniel Lacasse, Charles-Xavier Boislard and Robert Luu, who coached underage female basketball players, were arrested for sex crimes committed between 2008 and 2014 at school Saint-Laurent secondary school.

According to Ernest Edmond, founder of the organization Les ballons intensifs, this is not an isolated case, far from it.

“The events that have unfolded are deplorable, sad, but not surprising. Young girls were sacrificed for banners and money. Young people have been at risk for a very, very long time, and we have closed our eyes.”

“The extracurricular has been neglected for a long time, which causes abuse like this.”

Mr. Vil agrees: it is necessary to stop considering sport as a separate entity in the school environment.

“Without including the role of sport globally, we are still going to miss the boat. Coaches are second-rate workers in a school environment, they are not fully integrated. What tools are available to coaches to understand how to interact with young girls and young boys?