Awareness session on sexual exploitation of minors

Last Monday, the Regional Directorate for Women's Rights and Equality (DRDFE) and the association Le Mouvement du Nid organized a morning awareness session at the headquarters of the Petite-Terre Communauté de communes. The session aimed to help field professionals and volunteers better identify cases of sexual exploitation of minors and protect young victims.

Changing the perspective on affected youth

From the first exchanges, the speakers emphasized the need to change the perspective on the affected youth. A minor in a situation of prostitution should not be considered as a young person who has chosen this situation, but as a child victim of sexual exploitation.

Critical context on the island

This awareness session takes place in a critical context on the island. The first results of a study commissioned by the State and presented in September 2026 estimate that 12 out of 10,000 minors are affected on the territory, a rate twice that of La Réunion. A situation that would be exacerbated by economic and administrative precariousness.

Training for field actors

The training, organized by Manarssana Boina, regional director for women's rights and equality, brought together several actors who regularly intervene with young people and families. Among them were the volunteer relay parents of the associations MayMesso and Entr’Aide Paix et Jeunesse, representatives of the Intercommunal Council for Security and Prevention of Delinquency (CISPD), and the mediators of the CCPT.

Mechanisms of sexual exploitation addressed

Beyond words, the morning allowed to address the mechanisms of sexual exploitation and the reactions to adopt when a situation is suspected. The objective is to enable field actors to better identify signs of vulnerability and direct young people to competent professionals.

Ongoing efforts to support at-risk youth

Since 2019, the mediators of the CCPT have accompanied young people in difficulty within the framework of a program co-financed by the European Social Fund (FSE). Their work concerns several areas, from administrative and medical-social procedures to the prevention of addictions, passing through academic success, citizenship, sexual health, and risky behaviors.