Quebec allocates 19 million to help victims
(Quebec) Quebec is continuing its fight against the sexual exploitation of minors by injecting $ 19 million over five years, an amount that will be used to finance organizations and projects intended to come to the aid of victims directly, in accordance with the spirit of the voluminous expert report on the subject made public last December.
However, the Legault government does not undertake to follow up on the 58 recommendations made in this comprehensive report on the sexual exploitation of minors, in most cases of very young girls in the hands of unscrupulous pimps.
Ten months after the report was tabled, the Legault government adopted 17 recommendations from the experts, or 29% of the total of this document which, according to its wishes, was to raise the fight against the sexual exploitation of young people to the rank of national priority. .
At the government level, the file was entrusted to the Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, who made the announcement Tuesday morning, accompanied by the director of the Project intervention prostitution Quebec (PIPQ), Geneviève Quinty, and a former victim of sexual exploitation, Clémentine, who managed to get out of it and preferred to keep her last name silent.
However, the Legault government does not undertake to follow up on the 58 recommendations made in this comprehensive report on the sexual exploitation of minors, in most cases of very young girls in the hands of unscrupulous pimps.
Ten months after the report was tabled, the Legault government adopted 17 recommendations from the experts, or 29% of the total of this document which, according to its wishes, was to raise the fight against the sexual exploitation of young people to the rank of national priority. .
At the government level, the file was entrusted to the Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, who made the announcement Tuesday morning, accompanied by the director of the Project intervention prostitution Quebec (PIPQ), Geneviève Quinty, and a former victim of sexual exploitation, Clémentine, who managed to get out of it and preferred to keep her last name silent.
At a press conference, Minister Guilbault qualified the previous commitment made by the government to follow up on all of the report's recommendations. The next step seems uncertain.
"Sometimes we can take actions, plan measures, which will respond in a certain way to the recommendations, but in a way that is perhaps not the one that had been planned," said the Minister at the conference. press, without wanting to say more.
For her part, Clémentine wanted to tell her story publicly to prevent other young girls like her from experiencing the same fate.
"I think that if I really had been told the 'patterns' of these people, the way they worked, if we had more prevention, I sincerely think that this situation could have been avoided", commented the young woman, who would have appreciated being better accompanied and better informed at the time, in particular by the police.
“It could have made a difference,” she said.
A more comprehensive government action plan, which could be deployed over several years during a possible second term, must be tabled before the end of the fall by Ms. Guilbault.
When the last budget was tabled in March, the government set aside $ 150 million to fight the sexual exploitation of young people. In June, Minister Guilbault announced an investment of nearly $ 100 million to finance the part of government intervention focused on a desired increase in police repression.
But recruiting police officers interested in this type of work, and able to do it, represents a challenge, argued the minister. "Tracking pedophiles online from Monday to Friday, all day long, not everyone has the profile to do these jobs," she admitted.
For 18 months, the special trans-party commission responsible for analyzing this situation of sexual exploitation had been able to read 63 briefs and hear 67 witnesses, including several experts. It was chaired by MP Lucie Lecours and previously by MP Ian Lafrenière, who later became Minister. The latter, a former police officer, indicated last year that Quebec had become the hub of the sexual exploitation of minors in Canada.
Solidarity deputy Alexandre Leduc said he was disappointed to note that "the recommendation to increase funding for the mission rather than by project is not followed and that the Minister keeps the members of the commission in total ignorance
in connection with progress of work ”since December 2020.
“The victims must feel supported and considered, but we must also think of more structuring measures that would first help them get out of this hell. I am thinking in particular of a reform of social assistance to take account
of the specific financial realities with which they have to deal, ”he added.
"Sometimes we can take actions, plan measures, which will respond in a certain way to the recommendations, but in a way that is perhaps not the one that had been planned," said the Minister at the conference. press, without wanting to say more.
For her part, Clémentine wanted to tell her story publicly to prevent other young girls like her from experiencing the same fate.
"I think that if I really had been told the 'patterns' of these people, the way they worked, if we had more prevention, I sincerely think that this situation could have been avoided", commented the young woman, who would have appreciated being better accompanied and better informed at the time, in particular by the police.
“It could have made a difference,” she said.
A more comprehensive government action plan, which could be deployed over several years during a possible second term, must be tabled before the end of the fall by Ms. Guilbault.
When the last budget was tabled in March, the government set aside $ 150 million to fight the sexual exploitation of young people. In June, Minister Guilbault announced an investment of nearly $ 100 million to finance the part of government intervention focused on a desired increase in police repression.
But recruiting police officers interested in this type of work, and able to do it, represents a challenge, argued the minister. "Tracking pedophiles online from Monday to Friday, all day long, not everyone has the profile to do these jobs," she admitted.
For 18 months, the special trans-party commission responsible for analyzing this situation of sexual exploitation had been able to read 63 briefs and hear 67 witnesses, including several experts. It was chaired by MP Lucie Lecours and previously by MP Ian Lafrenière, who later became Minister. The latter, a former police officer, indicated last year that Quebec had become the hub of the sexual exploitation of minors in Canada.
Solidarity deputy Alexandre Leduc said he was disappointed to note that "the recommendation to increase funding for the mission rather than by project is not followed and that the Minister keeps the members of the commission in total ignorance
in connection with progress of work ”since December 2020.
“The victims must feel supported and considered, but we must also think of more structuring measures that would first help them get out of this hell. I am thinking in particular of a reform of social assistance to take account
of the specific financial realities with which they have to deal, ”he added.
JOCELYNE RICHER
THE CANADIAN PRESS
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/2021-10-05/exploitation-sexuelle-des-mineurs/quebec-alloue-19-millions-pour-aider-les-victimes.php
THE CANADIAN PRESS
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/2021-10-05/exploitation-sexuelle-des-mineurs/quebec-alloue-19-millions-pour-aider-les-victimes.php
