On the occasion of the International Day against Sexual Violence towards Children on 18 November, MP Loubna Azghoud (MR) reacts to the latest report by the General Delegate for Children's Rights. This document paints a worrying picture: sexual violence against minors remains widespread, takes many forms and is still too rarely reported.
Every day, behind screens, on the streets or within institutions, children are exposed to increasingly diverse forms of sexual exploitation: prostitution, distribution of intimate images, online grooming… Predators are massively investing social media, video games and digital platforms, while the normalisation of hypersexualised products, such as the sex dolls recently put on the market, contributes to an alarming drift.
The MP also denounces the absence of any mention of incest in the official report: a form of violence that is nonetheless widespread, devastating and too often kept silent. Many children live under control, isolated, threatened, sometimes within families or institutions that are supposed to protect them. Most victims never file a complaint and grow up alone with their trauma.
For Loubna Azghoud, it is urgent that the Wallonia-Brussels Federation adopt a comprehensive and coherent strategy:
“I am calling for an effective inter-federal plan. A stolen childhood can never be repaired, but we can prevent other lives from being shattered.”
She calls on all political leaders to make this fight an absolute priority. Protecting children is not just another issue: it is a moral responsibility and a democratic duty.