A 45-year-old man was tried this week by the Bas-Rhin Assize Court, accused of having strangled his ex-partner in front of their children in December 2020, after years of domestic violence. How are child victims of this type of incident monitored? The answers of Joachim Müllner, psychiatrist at the Hôtel-Dieu in Paris.
In 2020, a 25-year-old woman died, strangled by her former partner in front of their four children, then aged 7, 5, 3 and 2 years old. The remains of the victim, then found a few days after his disappearance buried in a forest north of Strasbourg, also bore stab wounds to the arm and cheek. The man was tried this week by the Bas-Rhin Assize Court for homicide.
An argument against a backdrop of domestic violence, which turns into tragedy
The two older children, then interviewed as direct witnesses to the scene, described an argument between their parents, while they were watching cartoons, write our colleagues from La Voix du Nord. The reason for the argument: their father had believed that their mother “was in love with another boy” according to the words reported by the children.
At the time of the tragedy, they also explained that they “jumped on the ground to make noise in order to attract the neighbor's attention” without success. The 5-year-old boy was later asked to draw what he had seen. He then represented his father with a knife in his hand and red marks on the one which represented his mother.
How are these children taken care of?
When interviewed, Dr Joachim Müllner describes the psychological care of child victims of such dramatic events. “The first thing that is decided is to withdraw parental authority from the father, in this case“explains the psychiatrist.”Subsequently, justice must place these children. Temporary placement is generally preferred within the immediate family, a grandmother or aunt for example on the mother's side, if this is possible and possible. Otherwise, the children will be placed in foster care.”
Then, child welfare must also intervene. “Educational visits are then organized in the environment in which the children live” adds the expert. “This is what we call open educational assistance, to check that everything is going well.”
Psychological follow-up recommended but not obligatory
At the time of the events, child victims of this type of trauma are interviewed by the juvenile brigade. “It is sometimes possible to put them in contact with a child psychiatrist at the police station. If the child is comfortable with this person, it will be possible to organize follow-up with them. This can be a liberal health professional or a psychiatrist from a medical-psycho-pedagogical center (CMPP)”.
In each region of Europe there are also regional psychotrauma centers. “VSThese establishments also have the capacity to care for minors. However, it must be remembered that support in this type of situation is recommended, but not obligatory: if the child refuses to meet a psychiatrist or psychologist, he has every right to do so.
Fight against post-traumatic stress syndrome
Although it is not obligatory, psychological monitoring of these children will undoubtedly be necessary, due to the disorders that can appear following this type of traumatic event. “The main symptoms described by victims of such a violent shock will be daytime flashbacks, nightmares at night and hypervigilance with signals of stress and anxiety at the slightest stimuli” describes the psychiatrist.
“The victims are also in a permanent avoidance of thought but also of place: they put crazy energy into not thinking about what happened, they are incapable of returning to the scene of the tragedy…”.
So many symptoms, which if they last more than a month after the occurrence of the event, indicate post-traumatic stress disorder.
How can we help victims?
According to the psychiatrist, to limit the phenomenon of reliving and reintegrate the memory into a long-term memory, EMDR therapy works well. “This helps the victim's brain encode what happened as a memory and not a recent event, which constantly comes to mind.” the doctor explains again.
Are drug treatments possible? “As far as possible, we avoid giving medicine to children, but if their condition requires it, it is possible to prescribe them antidepressantsbut also anxiolytics to treat their symptoms and hypnoticsso that they can get back to sleep.” he concludes.
