An investigation was opened after a complaint and a report to the Paris prosecutor’s office on suspicion of rape and sexual assault committed by a student from the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Paris, the prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday April 4. of Paris, confirming an information of Parisian. The investigations were entrusted to the 3e judicial police district (DPJ), according to this source.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the report was made in January by the IEP, and the investigation opened in February. The facts date back to June 2022 and occurred during a trip to Greece, organized by an association linked to Sciences Po Paris, says The Parisian.
The alleged attacker, a student, would have practiced foreplay first “by consent” with a student, before penetrating her when she had signaled her refusal several times, according to the newspaper. This student would also have sexually assaulted two other young girls during this trip.
Report received
In February 2021, students claiming to be victims or witnesses of gender-based behavior and violence, including rape, in several IEPs in France, launched the #sciencesporcs movement.
Contacted by Agence France-Presse, Sciences Po confirmed having received a report. As part of its system to fight against gender-based and sexual violence (VSS), the institution indicated that it had seized the public prosecutor and the disciplinary section of higher education.
At the end of February, in a progress report one year after the implementation of this system introduced after the Duhamel affair, Sciences Po was pleased to “the systematic transmission of all reports made to the administration to the preliminary internal investigation unit (CEIP)” or “delays reduced to two to three months on average, compared to five previously, for the processing of open investigations”. During 2022, the CEIP launched 51 internal preliminary investigations following reports of gender-based and sexual violence, of which 42 were finalized.
Sciences Po had been shaken in 2021 by the incest charges, dismissed due to prescription, brought against Olivier Duhamel, the president of the National Foundation for Political Science (FNSP) which oversees the school. This affair had led to the resignations of Mr. Duhamel and then of the director of Sciences Po, Frédéric Mion, one of his relatives.