Several difficulties in the first encounters with children presumed to be victims of sexual abuse

Bused on our experience concerning the reception of children presumed to be victims of sexual abuse at the Saint Vincent de Paul hospital of Paris, ze e wish to underline the difficulties such work has brought to light. Should Ice limit ourselves to the role most often demanded of us as expert on the credibility of the child's account and forget our therapeutic functi on ? To signal or not to signal, to act or to remain silent, are these the only possible alternatives ps or is it possible to preserve the ability to recognize the suffering of a family at a particularly critical time We want to insist on the potentially traumatizing consequences for the chil d of the circuit he must follow as soon as there is suspicion sexual abuse with its cortege of investigations centered on the reality his sexuality an d ignorant of the existance of infantile sexuality and its fantasies. The c hild, whatever the reality of the abuse might be, finds himself obliged to admit, to give up his secrets which are, however, essential for the develop ment of his thinking capacities. We don't ask for systematic abstention bat try to find a path without passi on or ignorance between action and listening, between discretion and saying , and we refuse to adhere to any systematic procedure so that ce can fulfil as well as possible the paradoxical objective of disclosing a situation an d at the same time allowing it to be repressed, the best guarantee for the continuing positive development of the child.