At Polytechnique, sexual violence revealed by an internal investigation

by time news

Student parties where alcohol flows freely, the isolation of the Saclay plateau, an imbalance between the number of girls and boys (17% female students), a military culture imbued with sexist stereotypes… And a desire to “let go” after having worked hard to enter the most prestigious engineering school in France. This is the context in which sexist and sexual violence flourishes at Polytechnique, as elsewhere in many major French schools.

Awareness of these abuses, in particular since the survey conducted at CentraleSupélec at the start of the school year in September 2021, prompted Polytechnique to carry out its own internal survey on the subject, at the request of student associations. The results, to which The world had access, were presented internally at the beginning of March. With a significant number of responses (2,100 on a questionnaire sent to 3,400 young people who entered school between 2018 and 2021, all courses combined), it offers an unprecedented photograph of the violence suffered by several female students.

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Thus, 23% of respondents say they were victims of sexual assault during their schooling at Polytechnique: without their consent, they touched their breasts, buttocks, rubbed against them or kissed them; 11% of women who responded to the survey say they have received insistent sexual proposals “despite their refusal”. Three young people say they were drugged without their knowledge during a student party. And 11 people (including 10 women) claim to have been victims of attempted rape or rape during their studies at l’X.

Sexist culture

“We were aware of four situations that had been reported via our dedicated unit. But everything is anonymous: most victims do not want to give their name or that of their attacker. Freedom of speech remains complicated »regrets the director general of the school, François Bouchet, who, following the results of this investigation, made a report to the public prosecutor.

Since the start of his mandate in 2017, he underlines that he has taken individual sanctions in many areas: bans on evenings, days off, obligations of work of general interest… “We also removed from his post a military officer, who behaved inappropriately with young women. It has also happened that military reinforcements, who come during the Courtine [le mois de formation militaire au moment de l’arrivée des élèves sur le campus], are reported to their superiors because of inappropriate remarks towards girls. »

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