As reports of sexual assaults increase, parent groups in the capital are coming together to denounce the «omerta» still present around violence suffered by children in after-school programs.
For the past week, this active mother of two children aged 8 to 11 enrolled in the 18th district of the capital has been appearing on TV shows and having phone calls with journalists and parents.
Following a surge in the number of reports – with 15 sexual assault investigations opened this year in Parisian nursery schools and on the day of a trial of an after-school program animator in Paris, the co-founder of the SOS Périscolaire collective doesn’t stop.
Rapidly and bluntly, Anne emphasizes the main demands of their collective, which include valuing the profession of animators who are currently recruited «on the fly», adapting training according to the ages of the children, and «improving the reporting chain» through unique contacts with an email provided to parents and animators. «There is still too much omerta,» she denounces.
For this mother, it all started in 2021. Faced with issues of violence against their children in two different public schools, Anne and Elisabeth, the other co-founder of the collective, began exchanging on a neighborhood Facebook group. They then decided to reach out to parent groups on social media across France: from Brest to Rennes, to Marseille, and even in Bourgogne-Franche-Compté, asking «And how is it going for your children during after-school hours?»
Four years later, the collective has gathered 400 testimonies, with about a hundred published on their Instagram account «SOS périscolaire». «Inappropriate gestures in the bathrooms», «spanking», hitting children on the head just «for fun», threats, screams, teasing, lack of supervision, etc. A clear observation is made by the two founders: «the systematic aspect of violence» in after-school programs with a recurring modus operandi.
Alongside this work of speaking out, the two women in their forties help parents find the right person to talk to, write emails, have multiple meetings with elected officials and political advisors, send dozens of emails, often with no effect.
Today, while they appreciate the current «media surge», they find the plan announced in mid-November by the City of Paris against violence towards children at school «opportunistic» and still too opaque.
The measures revealed, following a recent complaint filed by the mother of a four-year-old girl for aggravated rape against a City of Paris animator, include the creation of a children’s defender position, strengthening recruitment and training criteria for animators.
Alongside SOS Périscolaire, other parent groups in the capital are also speaking out to «break the silence on harassment, abuse, and pedocriminality in education». This is the case of the new MeTooEcole collective, which has launched a petition on Change.org that has already gathered over 1200 signatures.
As the 2026 municipal elections approach, the network created by two mothers from the XIth district, Camille and Barka, «aims to place child protection at the heart of public and political debate and calls on candidate lists to address this national issue».
Same fight for the parent representatives of the Bullourde nursery school (Paris 11th) who, in a column published on Mediapart Club on November 20, lament an «old structural and systemic failure». Referring to the cases of sexual violence reported within the institution, which allegedly occurred during the 2024/2025 school year and the 2025 school year.
«Des faits avaient déjà été signalés les années précédentes«.
As for the Federation of Parents’ Councils (FCPE), the most representative in Paris, they have just created a «Act against Violence» commission with the key words being to develop parent training, create a reporting space based on a questionnaire, and carry out an assessment of violence.
Since the beginning of the year, thirty animators have been suspended, including 16 for suspected sexual misconduct, a number consistent with the two previous years, according to the city hall. Des faits avaient déjà été signalés les années précédentes. Les années précédentes avaient déjà signalé des faits.
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