After a series of reports of sexual assault in schools, particularly in Paris, the parents' collective "#MeTooÉcole" urges President Emmanuel Macron, in an open letter published Saturday evening, to "protect" children.

Published on: 07/12/2025 - 2:37 p.m.

A collective of parents urges Emmanuel Macron, in an open letter published by La Tribune on Sunday, to "protect" children after a series of reports of sexual assault in schools, particularly in Paris.

"We are #MeTooSchool. The voice of parents, citizens, teachers united in the same fight: to fight against violence against children in schools", we can read in this letter.

“It all starts with tears, fears, nightmares or unusual behavior. We put things into perspective... until the day when information reveals that these changes are the consequences of physical, moral or sexual violence,” adds the collective founded on November 20.

This call for “strong speech and action”, launched both to the Head of State and his wife Brigitte Macron, comes after a series of reports of sexual assaults committed on children in nursery schools, particularly in the extracurricular context.

“Institutions that don’t want to make waves”

In 2025, thirty presenters were suspended, including 16 for suspicion of acts of a sexual nature, a stable figure compared to the previous two years, according to Paris town hall. At the same time, fifteen investigations were opened into sexual assaults in Parisian nursery schools, according to the Paris prosecutor's office.

“How can we imagine that we could entrust our child to school with complete confidence and that such acts could be committed there?” asks the collective. “Behind these facts, there is a whole culture of slapping, of ‘it’s not that serious’, which continues to protect adults rather than children.”

“Parents find themselves distraught and alone with their incomprehension in the face of institutions that do not want to make waves,” we can read in the open letter. “The child is asked to return to class, as if his pain and his words had no value.”

To rereadProtection of children: what to remember from the report of the Bétharram commission

Following the revelations, the city of Paris announced a plan to combat gender-based and sexual violence against children in schools, created a child defender position and promised to strengthen the training of after-school leaders.

The #MeTooÉcole collective is calling for a "systematic check" of the background of professionals in contact with children, a "clear protocol for each school with reporting and immediate protection of the child", or the launch of an administrative investigation and a national audit of schools and after-school structures, "starting with Paris".

With AFP

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